JPH04290194A - Transaction score system using storage card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the allotment control operation at a member store from becoming complicate. CONSTITUTION:This is a POS system used for a union composed of plural member stores and issue points are controlled by using cards having a storage function; and a host computer 30 stores limit points of issue corresponding to the purchase amounts of the member stores A, store by store and a POS terminal equipment 1 rearranges sent information, store by store, subtracts issue points from the limit points, and calculates and records the remaining limit points.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a POS system used in an association formed by a plurality of member stores, and particularly to a storage card (hereinafter referred to as a card) having a storage function such as a magnetic card or an IC card. The present invention relates to a transaction points management system using a storage card that stores issued points, provides services to customers based on the stored issued points, and manages these issued points and service points using a host computer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, service organizations such as Green Stamp organizations have been known in which retail stores are united. In such a service, a retail store purchases green stamps or service coupons from an association or the like in advance, and the retailer issues service coupons or green stamps to the customer in proportion to the amount purchased by the customer. On the other hand, when the customer has a certain number of service tickets or green stamps, the association or retail store gives them a prize or gives them a discount for the number of tickets and receives the service.

[0003] When a retail store provides a service, for example, the customer takes a service ticket handed over to the retailer to receive the service to an association, etc. for the amount of service provided, and the association purchases the ticket. Services are provided according to this distribution system.

[0004] However, with such services, stamps and service tickets are easily lost, and with green stamps and the like, payment procedures are troublesome. On the retail store side, the process of cutting out stamps and handing them to customers is added to the crowded cash register process, making it more complicated.

[0005] To address these drawbacks, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-273
A solution called ``system for displaying cumulative points on receipts'' disclosed in Publication No. 663 has also been proposed. This content uses a magnetic card to manage the issuance points, and the host computer manages the issuance points and service points for each customer so that if the customer loses the magnetic card, it can be restored.

[0006]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in this system, the burden of each member store with different accounting is calculated by outputting the transaction details for each individual on a host computer, and calculating the amount to be paid by each member store. It is necessary to recalculate.

Furthermore, in order to eliminate this drawback,
Like the "Magnetic Card Transaction Point Settlement System" described in Publication No. 34079, the total transaction points for each member store and the total service points for each transaction store are calculated for a certain period of time, and these totals are calculated. Proposals have also been made to calculate the amount of costs to be borne based on this.

[0008] However, since this system is based on the idea of calculating past points in and out, in order to ensure fairness among all member stores, the amount to be paid for each member store according to the performance must be calculated and recorded at regular intervals. However, it is necessary to display and send the recorded information to all member stores. For this reason, shipping becomes a major undertaking.

[0009]Furthermore, even if the total number of points issued by a particular member store increases, the amount of the contribution will not be known until the payment is made, and depending on how the customer uses the service during that time, the customer may not be able to receive the service. There is a possibility that it may occur even if it is not present. In particular, if a large store joins the franchise and a retailer also joins, the large store will issue a large number of points, and if the retailer's services are concentrated, the operation of the retail store will be affected. There are also problems such as the influence of

[0010] The present invention aims to eliminate the drawbacks of both of the above systems, to provide a system that can provide fairness to member stores without using a settlement system, and that does not make shipping complicated.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a POS terminal and a host computer.

[0012] Furthermore, the POS terminal is installed in each of a plurality of member stores, and has the function of writing issuance points proportional to the transaction amount on the memory card submitted by the customer, and the function of writing the issuance points proportional to the transaction amount on the memory card submitted by the customer. It has a function to deduct received points, and a function to send and receive information that allows identification of the issuing points and service points written on the memory card.

[0013] The host computer is connected to the POS terminal via a line, and for each of the plurality of member stores,
A memory function that stores in advance the maximum number of points that can be issued corresponding to the amount purchased by the member store, and the information sent from the POS terminal is organized for each member store, and the number of points issued is subtracted from the maximum number of points. It has at least a function of calculating and recording the remaining limit points, and independently calculating and recording the cumulative total for each fixed period of service points.

Furthermore, as a second invention, means is provided for specifying a member store and inputting the number of points that can be issued, and the host computer inputs the limit number of points input by the input means.
A function is provided for accumulating the limit points of the applicable member store stored in the memory function.

[0015] Furthermore, the host computer is provided with means for outputting a limit number of points at regular intervals, and displaying and outputting information indicating the overdraft condition when the number of issued points exceeds the limit number and the card is in an overdraft condition.

[0016]

[Operation] According to the present invention, the center stores and manages the limit points. Therefore, if the cumulative number of issued points exceeds this limit, the association can issue an alarm.

[0017] Furthermore, since the point limit is updated in cumulative form when issued points are purchased for each member store, it is possible to use an advance purchase method and it is fair for each store. Furthermore, since the cooperative saves collateral money, even if a situation arises in which there is a surplus of large-scale stores issuing bonds, the cooperative savings can be used to rescue retail stores.

[0018] Also, there is no need for periodic settlement, and the balance is managed, so when the number of issued points exceeds the limit and the balance becomes negative, only the member points that have become negative are notified. Enough.

Furthermore, since member stores can update their limit points at any time, management is easy even for member stores with different accounting periods.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a card, which stores the customer's membership code information, balance points, etc. Furthermore, this card is
A magnetic card may be used, or a so-called IC card with built-in memory and a microcomputer may be used.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a POS terminal, which can be thought of as a so-called cash register that is placed in different member stores and used to conduct commercial transactions. The POS terminal 1 is provided with a reader/writer 14 for reading information stored in the card 10 and updating the stored information. Further, it is provided with an external storage device 1b that stores information on one day's worth of transactions, particularly regarding the present invention, the number of points issued to a customer and the number of service points provided to a customer for each transaction. The external storage device is a floppy disk or the like.

[0022] When a customer purchases a product, he/she presents the card 10 along with the cash. The clerk inserts the card 10 into the reader/writer 14 to register the product using a known cash register method.

[0023] The control unit 11 issues points proportional to the purchase amount, such as a ratio of 5 points for 100 yen, for example, according to the total purchase amount as a processing result, and stores it in the card 10. At this time,
If the number of issued points is already stored in the card 10, the memory is updated by cumulatively adding the number of points corresponding to the current purchase amount to the already stored number of points. At this time, if the customer requests a service based on the cumulative service points, the control unit 11 displays the cumulative issued points read from the card 10 on a display (not shown), confirms with the customer, and then requests the service. The corresponding points (referred to as service points) are input from the keyboard provided in the POS terminal 1, and the control section 11 subtracts them from the points stored in the card.

On the other hand, the control unit 11 stores the number of issued points proportional to the purchase amount of the current transaction and the number of serviced points in the external storage device 1b. Repeat this until the end of the day. As a result, the external storage device stores each transaction statement for one day, that is, the number of issued points and the number of service points.

At the end of the day, the clerk activates the control unit 11 from the keyboard of the POS terminal 1 and issues a transfer instruction to the host computer 30. The transfer control unit 12 of the POS terminal 1 reads each issuing point and each service point stored in the external storage device 1b, and adds the code of the member store where the POS terminal 1 is installed to these data. It is added to the host computer 30 as transaction detail information.
Transfer to.

The host computer 30 has a storage device 32
, a printer 30, and a keyboard 31 are connected. In addition, the host computer 30 organizes the information transmitted from the POS terminal 1 of each member store for each member store, and subtracts the issuance points from the limit points C stored in the storage device 32 to obtain the remaining limit points. It has at least a function of calculating and recording service points, and independently calculating and recording the cumulative total for each fixed period using the storage area D for service points.

The host computer 30 processes the transaction details information described above, but before that, the system performs the following. That is, each affiliated store purchases the number of issued points in advance from the association where the center is located, in the same way as conventional stamp tickets and service tickets are purchased from the association. The purchased number of issuance points is input from the keyboard 31 by an employee of the association.

From the keyboard 31, the member store code and the number of purchased points are input as information on the number of points issued by the association to the member store. The host computer 30 searches the area of the storage device 32 using the member store code as a search key, reads the limit number of points from area A where the limit number of points to be issued for the relevant member point is stored, and stores the number of points purchased this time. Add and redo area A
Store in.

[0029] Therefore, the affiliated store can increase the maximum number of points at any time by purchasing issuing points whenever he or she has the money. On the other hand, as described above, upon receiving transaction details information from the POS terminal 1, the host computer 30
Performs various summation and subtraction processing.

That is, for each issue point, the storage device 32
Each issued score is sequentially subtracted from the limit score stored in area A of , and then stored in area A. As a result, the maximum number of points will decrease.

On the other hand, regarding the service points, the service points for each transaction are cumulatively added to the cumulative service points stored in area B, and the result is stored again in the storage device 32.
It is stored in area B of .

When the host computer 30 calculates the issuance points and the result is negative, that is, if the result is an overdraft state, the host computer 30 prints out the information of the affiliated points using the printer 33. This allows you to display rental information. Note that the shipping procedure will be easier if printing paper in the form of a postal envelope is used for this output so that printing can be directly printed on and shipped.

The cumulative total of service points, that is, the points stored in the storage area B of the storage device 32, is periodically printed by the printer 33 for each member point. Regarding these service points, an amount commensurate with the service points will be refunded to each member store from the cash paid by each member store to the association in advance to purchase the issued points. When this rebate processing is completed, storage area B is cleared to 0.

In this case, a function such as so-called firm banking is provided in the host computer 30, and this host computer 30 and a host computer provided at a bank etc. are connected, and the By instructing automatic transfer of an amount proportional to the service points of each member store from the association's account to each member store's account, the exchange of service points into cash can be done automatically without much trouble. It will be possible to process it.

[0035] In the above embodiment, printing of each score to the printer 33 is started when the number of issued points exceeds the limit number of points. However, the present invention is not limited to this. , the entire storage area of the storage device 32 for each member store may be searched and supplied to the printer 33.

Furthermore, in accordance with a request from an affiliated store, the information may be output to the printer 33 under instructions from the keyboard 31 in order to inquire about the current point limit of the affiliated store. Furthermore, the POS terminal 1 is provided with an inquiry instruction function, so that when a manager of a member store operates the POS terminal 1 and inputs an inquiry instruction, the inquiry instruction is transferred from the POS terminal 1 to the host computer. Based on the instructions, the host computer 30 reads the information of the member store from the storage area and stores the information on the PO.
S is sent back to terminal 1. It is convenient to display the returned information on a display included in the POS terminal, a receipt, etc.

Furthermore, the information to be output can be specified from the keyboard 31 or the POS terminal 1, for example, by instructing to display and output only the cumulative total of service shops, and only the instructed information can be printed out on the printer. You can also do it. This provides a guideline for, for example, how many new issuance points the affiliated store should purchase through the association.

[0038]

According to the present invention, the center stores and manages the limit points. Therefore, if the cumulative number of issued points exceeds this limit, the association can issue an alarm.

[0039] Furthermore, since the limit points are updated in total when issuing points are purchased for each affiliated store, it is possible to use a pre-purchase system and it is fair for each store. Furthermore, since the cooperative saves collateral money, even if a situation arises in which there is a surplus of large-scale stores issuing bonds, the cooperative savings can be used to rescue retail stores.

[0040] Also, there is no need for periodic settlement, and the balance is managed, so only when the number of issued points exceeds the limit and the balance becomes negative, only the member points that have become negative are notified. Enough.

Furthermore, since member stores can update their limit points at any time, management is easy even for member stores with different accounting periods.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Claims (3)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A function that is installed in each of a plurality of member stores and writes issuance points proportional to the transaction amount on a memory card submitted by the customer, based on the already written issuance points, the service points received by the customer. A POS terminal connected to the POS terminal via a line, which has the function of deducting points and transmitting and receiving information that can identify the issuing points and service points written on the memory card. a host computer, a memory function that stores in advance a limit number of points that can be issued for each of the plurality of member stores;
The information sent from the POS terminals is organized for each member store, the issuing points are subtracted from the limit points, the remaining limit points are calculated and recorded, and the service points are calculated and recorded independently for each fixed period. 1. A transaction score management system using a memory card, characterized in that it has at least a function of calculating and recording the transaction points. 2. A means for specifying a member store and inputting a limit number of points that can be issued is provided, and the host computer stores the limit number of points input by the input means for the corresponding member store stored in the storage function. 2. The system for managing the number of stores with a memory card according to claim 1, further comprising a function of accumulating a limit number of points for a store. 3. Transaction points management using a memory card, characterized in that the host computer is equipped with a means for outputting a limit number of points and, when the number of issued points exceeds the limit number of points, displaying and outputting information indicating the state. system.