Program, control method and mobile communication terminal

Abstract

To provide customers with appropriate information.SOLUTION: A mobile communication terminal of an embodiment includes communication means and reception means. The communication means receives purchased product information from a management device that manages product information indicating purchased products. The reception means accepts a selection as to whether to receive provision of other product information indicating other products related to the product information for the product information received by the communication means. The communication means further transmits provision request information indicating whether to receive the provision of the other product information according to the selection result by the reception means to the management device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, many large retail stores such as supermarkets have been using point of sale (POS) systems to streamline their operations. In a typical POS system, a store controller is connected to multiple POS terminals, for example, via a LAN. Each POS terminal is an electronic cash register that registers sales based on product data obtained by accessing the store controller, and the store controller tallies sales based on the sales data obtained from this sales registration.

[0003] In recent years, such POS systems have also come to be used for customer management. In this case, customers who regularly shop at a store are asked to register as members, and are issued a membership card with a customer code, such as a membership number, recorded on it. When the customer presents the membership card at the time of payment, the salesperson uses a card reader to read the customer code from the membership card, and adds bonus points corresponding to the sales amount to the customer information managed by the store controller based on this customer code. These bonus points are accumulated with each purchase, and when a certain number of points is reached, they are exchanged for shopping coupons, for example.

[0004] In addition, a service has been proposed in which the POS system holds a product purchase history for each customer and provides information on products related to the products held in the purchase history as products that may be of interest to the customer. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, even if a customer has already purchased a product, there are cases where the customer does not want to receive information related to the product. In such a case, it is necessary to update the history information of the purchased product. To update the history information, the user must access a database that manages the purchase history information, identify the product information in the database, and delete the product information, which imposes a large operational burden on the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment includes a communication means and a receiving means. The communication means receives purchased product information from a management device that manages product information indicating purchased products. The receiving means receives a selection of whether or not to receive other product information indicating other products related to the product information received by the communication means. The communication means further transmits provision request information indicating whether or not to receive the other product information according to the selection result by the receiving means to the management device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an electronic receipt system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the tallying server according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile communication terminal according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a registration screen displayed by a display control unit according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic receipt displayed by the display control unit according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting change screen for providing product information, which is displayed by the display control unit according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a first example of recommended product information transmitted to the mobile communication terminal according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a second example of recommended product information transmitted to the mobile communication terminal according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the overall process in the electronic receipt system according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a registration process in the electronic receipt system according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a process up to correcting product registration information in the electronic receipt system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an electronic receipt system 100 according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the electronic receipt system 100 includes a POS terminal 1 (Point Of Sale) as a payment device installed in a store, a mobile phone terminal 2 as a destination terminal for transaction details such as receipts, and a tallying server 3 for tallying up sales. The network NT is a communication network including a LAN (Local Area Network), an intranet, the Internet, a public communication line, etc. In the electronic receipt system 100, the POS terminal 1, the mobile phone terminal 2, and the tallying server 3 are connected to each other via the network NT so that they can communicate with each other.

[0009] The POS terminal 1 settles the price by completing a closing process for one transaction, prints the details of the settled transaction on a paper receipt P, and notifies the tallying server 3 of transaction information (payment information) indicating the transaction details. Specific examples of transaction information include a transaction number uniquely assigned to identify the transaction, the name of the product involved in the transaction, its price and quantity, the total amount of the transaction, the amount of the deposit, the amount of change, etc.

[0010] Furthermore, when a transaction is made at the POS terminal 1 to issue an electronic receipt, customer identification information is required to identify the customer. This customer identification information may be the customer identification information stored in the mobile phone terminal 2, or the point card number read from the point card presented by the customer when making a transaction. This customer identification information is information uniquely assigned to each customer.

[0011] In addition, the POS terminal 1 generates transaction information indicating the contents of each transaction, and transmits the transaction information to the tallying server 3 together with the customer identification information.

[0012] The tallying server 3 stores a customer master database M1 in which setting information for each customer is stored, and a sales master database M2 in which transaction information notified from the POS terminal 1 is sequentially stored, and tallys up sales based on the transaction information sequentially stored in the sales master database M2. For example, the tallying server 3 calculates the total sales amount by tallying up the total amount of each transaction included in the transaction information stored in the sales master database M2. Note that the setting information for each customer stored in the customer master database M1 includes pre-set information such as a customer ID, receipt necessity information indicating whether or not an electronic receipt is to be sent, and delivery destination information (e.g., email address) indicating the delivery destination of data (including electronic receipts) to be delivered to the customer. Therefore, by referring to the customer master database M1 based on the above-mentioned customer identification information, it is possible to confirm whether or not a customer requires the transmission of an electronic receipt, and to recognize the delivery destination of electronic receipts and product recommendation information for the customer.

[0013] When the POS terminal 1 acquires customer identification information from a customer, it notifies the tallying server 3 of transaction information including the transaction details of the customer and the acquired customer identification information. When the tallying server 3 receives the transaction information, it refers to the customer identification information included in the transaction information and the receipt necessity information associated with the customer master database M1 to determine whether or not an electronic receipt needs to be sent. If an electronic receipt is required, it sends an electronic receipt showing information on each product included in the transaction details shown in the transaction information to the email address shown as the delivery destination stored in the customer master database M1. For a customer who does not require an electronic receipt, a paper receipt P for the transaction is printed at the POS terminal 1 when closing the transaction.

[0014] Specifically, the tallying server 3 tally up transaction details for each customer based on the identification information included in the received transaction information, and delivers the tally up transaction details to the customer's distribution destination as an electronic receipt. This allows the customer to check the transaction details, for example, on the mobile phone terminal 2. The electronic receipt system 100 can achieve paperless operation for customers who do not require paper receipts P. Even if the paper receipt P is not required when closing out a transaction, there are cases where the paper receipt P is required later, such as when the customer wants to check the transaction before the tallying server 3 delivers the transaction details to the customer's distribution destination. In such cases, the customer can later obtain only the paper receipt P they need by having the POS terminal 1 read the transaction history of the mobile phone terminal 2 and selecting the transaction they want to print from the displayed transaction list.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the tallying server 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the tallying server 3 includes a control unit 30, a keyboard 31, a printer 32, a display unit 33, a communication I / F 34, and a storage unit 35, and each unit is connected to each other by a bus 36. The control unit 30 centrally controls various calculations and each unit of the tallying server 3. Specifically, the control unit 30 is a computer that includes a CPU, a ROM that stores various programs and data, a RAM that temporarily stores various programs and rewrites various data, and an RTC unit that clocks the current date and time. The keyboard 31 includes numeric keys, character keys, various input keys, and the like, and is an input device that accepts input from an operator. The input device may include a pointing device such as a mouse in addition to the keyboard 31. The printer 32 is a printer device that prints out tallying results that have been tallying in various batch processes, etc. The display unit 33 is a liquid crystal color display, etc., and displays various information such as the tallying results described above. The memory unit 35 is a storage device such as a HDD, and stores various data such as a customer master database M1 and a sales master database M2 in addition to programs that operate the CPU of the control unit 30.

[0016] Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a mobile communication terminal. As shown in Fig. 3, the mobile phone terminal 2 includes a control unit 10, a non-volatile memory unit 11 for storing information, a display unit 12, an operation unit 13, a telephone communication unit 14, an IC (Integrated Circuit) card unit 15 as a payment means, and a camera 16. The memory unit 11, the display unit 12, the operation unit 13, the telephone communication unit 14, the IC card unit 15, and the camera 16 are connected to the control unit 10 via a bus 17.

[0017] The control unit 10 is a computer composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs various calculations and centrally controls each part of the mobile phone terminal 2, a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores various programs and various data, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores various programs and stores various data in a rewritable manner, and a clock unit that keeps track of the current date and time.

[0018] The display unit 12 is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The operation unit 13 is, for example, various operation keys and a numeric keypad. The operation unit 13 may also be a touch panel provided on the display unit 12. The telephone communication unit 14 is an interface that connects to a public communication line for mobile phones, and has a calling function, an Internet mail function, etc.

[0019] The IC card unit 15 is configured of a non-contact IC card. The IC card unit 15 performs data communication with the POS terminal 1 and performs electronic payment for one transaction with the POS terminal 1. The IC card unit 15 has an antenna and performs short-distance wireless communication with a wireless communication unit 34 of the POS terminal 1, which will be described later. This wireless communication is performed using radio waves for short-distance wireless communication used, for example, in RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).

[0020] The program executed by the control unit 10 of the mobile phone terminal 2 configured as described above includes a reception unit 101, a display control unit 102, a communication control unit 103, and a registration reception unit 104, and in terms of actual hardware, the CPU of the control unit 10 reads out the program from the memory unit 11 and executes it, thereby generating the reception unit 101, the display control unit 102, the communication control unit 103, and the registration reception unit 104 as functional units on the RAM of the control unit 10.

[0021] The communication control unit 103 transmits and receives information to and from the POS terminal 1 and the tallying server 3 via the telephone communication unit 14. For example, the camera 16 photographs a two-dimensional barcode (containing a URL indicating a registration destination, etc.) shown on a paper receipt P given to a user when the user purchases a product, and receives registration screen information for customer registration from the URL obtained. By registering the necessary information on the registration screen, an electronic receipt, etc. is issued to the customer.

[0022] The display control unit 102 displays various information on the display unit 12. For example, the display control unit 102 displays the received registration screen information. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a registration screen displayed by the display control unit 102 on the display unit 12. On this registration screen, a field 403 for accepting registration of customer identification information (point card number) and a field 404 for accepting registration of information for identifying the mobile phone terminal 2 (email address) are displayed.

[0023] The registration acceptance unit 104 accepts the registration of customer identification information (point card number) in field 403 and information identifying the mobile phone terminal 2 (email address) in field 404 on the registration screen displayed by the display unit 12. When the registration acceptance unit 104 accepts the pressing of the registration button 405, it assumes that it has accepted the registration of the customer identification information (point card number) and the information identifying the mobile phone terminal 2 (email address).

[0024] The communication control unit 103 associates the customer identification information (point card number) and the information (email address) for identifying the mobile phone terminal 2, the registration of which has been accepted by the registration acceptance unit 104, and transmits them to the tallying server 3. This updates the customer master database M1 of the tallying server 3.

[0025] The communication control unit 103 associates the customer identification information (point card number) with information identifying the mobile phone terminal 2 (email address) and transmits them to the tallying server 3, and then receives an electronic receipt including a list of purchased product information from the tallying server 3 each time a customer identified by the customer identification information (point card number) purchases a product at the POS terminal 1.

[0026] The display control unit 102 displays the received electronic receipt on the display unit 12. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic receipt displayed by the display control unit 102. As shown in FIG. 5, the electronic receipt displayed by the display control unit 102 displays the character string "Use for product recommendations" and the character string "Changes accepted" for each purchased product information. A product for which the character string "Use for product recommendations" is displayed indicates that the provision of information on other products related to the product information is accepted. The character string "Changes accepted" is a character string displayed for changing a setting of whether or not to accept the provision of other products related to the product as recommendations, and a URL for moving to a screen for changing the setting is attached. After the setting is changed, the character string "Use for product recommendations" is changed to the character string "Do not use for product recommendations".

[0027] The reception unit 101 receives various pieces of information input by the user via the operation unit 13. For example, the reception unit 101 receives the selection of the character string "Change Acceptance" for each piece of product information on the electronic receipt shown in Fig. 5. When the selection is received, the reception unit 101 acquires screen information from the URL assigned to "Change Acceptance."

[0028] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a setting change screen for providing product information, which is displayed by the display control unit 102 when the reception unit 101 receives the selection of the character string "Change Accepted" 501 shown in FIG. 5. The display screen shown in FIG. 6 displays the product name (product information) for which the selection of "Change Accepted" 501 has been received on the electronic receipt. The reception unit 101 then receives a selection of whether or not to receive information on other products related to the product indicated by the product information. Specifically, when the reception unit 101 receives a press of a "Yes" button 601 on the display screen, it is considered that the reception unit 101 has received a selection to suppress the provision of information on other products related to the product.

[0029] Then, the communication control unit 103 transmits provision stop request information, which indicates that provision of information on other products related to the purchased product should be stopped, to the aggregation server 3. With this transmission, the provision of information on other products related to "△△ Water" is stopped in the screen example shown in Fig. 6.

[0030] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a first example of recommended product information transmitted to the mobile phone terminal 2 according to the product purchased with the receipt shown in Fig. 5. The example shown in Fig. 7 is a case where the provision of information on other products related to "△△ water" is not stopped. The products in area 701 in Fig. 7 are recommended products provided based on the product "○○ [music CD]" purchased with the electronic receipt shown in Fig. 5. On the other hand, the products in area 702 are recommended products provided based on the product "△△ water" purchased with the electronic receipt shown in Fig. 5.

[0031] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a second example of recommended product information transmitted to the mobile phone terminal 2 in accordance with the product purchased with the receipt shown in Fig. 5. The example shown in Fig. 8 assumes that the provision of information on other products related to "△△ water" has been stopped by the above-mentioned process. Thus, in the example shown in Fig. 8, "△× water" related to "△△ water" has been excluded from the recommended information.

[0032] In this way, the mobile phone terminal 2 and the tallying server 3 according to this embodiment can provide the user with only other products related to the product desired by the customer among the products purchased as recommended product information. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the customer can easily select whether or not to accept information on other related products.

[0033] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the overall processing in the electronic receipt system 100. The example shown in Fig. 9 shows the process from registering customer information to receiving product information.

[0034] First, a customer purchases a product from the POS terminal 1 (step S901). At this time, the customer receives a paper receipt P issued by the POS terminal 1 (step S902). This paper receipt P is provided with a two-dimensional barcode including a URL for registering customer information. When purchasing the product, the customer may present a point card when making payment, or may make electronic payment using the IC card unit 15 of the mobile phone terminal 2. Note that the paper receipt P is not limited to a two-dimensional barcode as long as it is provided with information that can be linked to a registration screen. For example, a URL may be used.

[0035] After that, the customer uses the mobile phone terminal 2 and the paper receipt P to register for issuing an electronic receipt and receiving product information (step S903). Figure 10 is a sequence diagram showing the registration process in the electronic receipt system.

[0036] First, the camera 16 of the mobile phone terminal 2 captures an image of the two-dimensional barcode on the paper receipt P (step S1001). As a result, the control unit 10 of the mobile phone terminal 2 extracts the URL included in the two-dimensional barcode. Then, the communication control unit 103 of the control unit 10 accesses the extracted URL via the telephone communication unit 14 and sends a request to acquire registration screen information present at the URL (step S1002). Note that in this embodiment, an example is described in which the connection destination indicated by the URL is the tallying server 3, but a server other than the tallying server 3 may be provided as the registration destination.

[0037] Then, the tallying server 3 transmits the registration screen information to the mobile phone terminal 2 (step S1003). Then, when the communication control unit 103 of the mobile phone terminal 2 receives the registration screen information, the display control unit 102 displays the registration screen information on the display unit 12 (step S1004). An example of the registration screen information is the screen example shown in FIG. 4. Note that, as the customer identification information used for registration, when the customer presents a point card when purchasing a product, the point card number is used, and when the customer uses the IC card unit 15 of the mobile phone terminal 2 to make a payment, the IC card identification information stored in the IC card unit 15 is used, but this is not limited to these. The customer identification information may be embedded in a two-dimensional barcode in advance, and automatically entered into the field 403 when the registration screen information is displayed.

[0038] The registration reception unit 104 then receives registration of customer identification information (e.g., point card number) and delivery destination (e.g., email address) of electronic receipt and product information via the operation unit 13 (step S1005). When payment is made using the IC card unit 15, the delivery destination such as an email address may not be registered, and the electronic receipt and information on recommended products may be stored in the mobile phone terminal 2 when the POS terminal 1 and the mobile phone terminal 2 are in contact with each other.

[0039] Then, the communication control unit 103 transmits the registered customer identification information and the delivery destination to the tallying server 3 (step S1006). Next, the tallying server 3 updates the information of the customer identified by the customer identification information in the customer master database M1 (step S1007). This completes the settings required to permit issuance of electronic receipts and provision of product information to the customer.

[0040] Returning to FIG. 9, the process after registration will be described. After registration is completed, the customer purchases a product from the POS terminal 1 (step S904). This transaction information is transmitted from the POS terminal 1 to the tallying server 3. Then, the mobile phone terminal 2 receives the electronic receipt issued by the POS terminal 1 or the tallying server 3 (step S905). Then, the reception unit 101 of the mobile phone terminal 2 receives a selection of whether or not to be provided with product information related to any product information written on the electronic receipt. Then, the communication control unit 103 transmits provision stop request information based on the selection result to the tallying server 3, and corrects the registered information (step S906).

[0041] Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing details of the process up to correcting the registered information. In the example shown in Fig. 11, the electronic receipt is sent from the tallying server 3, but it may be sent from the POS terminal 1.

[0042] First, the tallying server 3 transmits an electronic receipt to the mobile phone terminal 2, which is a destination registered in the customer master database M1 (step S1101). Then, when the communication control unit 103 of the mobile phone terminal 2 receives the electronic receipt, the display control unit 102 displays the electronic receipt on the display unit 12 (step S1102). The displayed electronic receipt is an example screen as shown in FIG. 5. Then, the reception unit 101 receives a selection of product information related to which the provision of the product information is to be stopped from among the product information displayed on the electronic receipt (step S1103). Then, the communication control unit 103 of the mobile phone terminal 2 transmits, to the tallying server 3, provision stop request information for stopping the provision of information related to the product information selected (step S1104). The tallying server 3 that has received the provision stop request information updates the product information indicated by the provision stop request information in the sales master database M2 (step S1105). For example, if the sales master database M2 holds, in association with each other, customer identification information that identifies the customer who purchased the product, product identification information that identifies the product, the purchase date and time when the customer purchased the product, and a provision flag indicating whether or not to provide information, when the aggregation server 3 receives the above-mentioned provision stop request information, it updates the provision flag of the record specified by the customer identification information, product identification information, and purchase date and time to set it to not provide information. After this, information on the product related to the product identified by the product identification information will not be provided. Note that this is not limited to updating the provision flag of the sales master database M2, and the record itself may be deleted to suppress the provision of related information.

[0043] Returning to FIG. 9, the process after the correction of the product information based on the electronic receipt will be described. The tallying server 3 distributes coupons, new product information, etc. to the customer based on the information stored in the sales master database M2 and the customer master database M1 (step S907). If the distributed coupons, new product information, etc. include information about products that the user is not interested in, the user modifies the registered information to the tallying server 3 from the mobile phone terminal 2 (step S908). The distributed coupon can be presented when making a payment at the POS terminal 1, for example, to receive a discount.

[0044] The tallying server 3 and mobile phone terminal 2 according to the present embodiment allow users to easily select products about which they do not want to receive related information and update information about the products. This makes it possible for the electronic receipt system to appropriately provide information of interest to each user.

[0045] Examples of products for which the provision of related products will be suspended, as mentioned above, include products that a customer purchased as a trial but did not particularly like, products for which the customer does not feel the need to receive related information, and products that the customer is not interested in but which he or she purchased as a gift for someone else.

[0046] In the above-mentioned electronic receipt system, by providing related product information with the above-mentioned configuration and processing procedure, it is possible to create and distribute messages that reflect the hobbies and tastes of each customer, even if there are an unspecified number of customers making purchases at the POS terminal 1. This makes it possible for the electronic receipt system to carry out customer attraction activities that meet the needs of the customers.

[0047] The program executed by the mobile phone terminal 2 of this embodiment is provided as a file in an installable or executable format recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

[0048] The program executed by the mobile phone terminal 2 of the present embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. The program executed by the mobile phone terminal 2 of the present embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0049] Furthermore, the program executed by the mobile phone terminal 2 of this embodiment may be provided by being pre-installed in a ROM or the like. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 1... POS terminal, 2... mobile phone terminal, 3... tallying server, 10... control unit, 11... memory unit, 12... display unit, 13... operation unit, 14... telephone communication unit, 15... IC card unit, 16... camera, 17... bus, 101... reception unit, 102... display control unit, 103... communication control unit, 104... registration reception unit [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0051] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-126145 A

Claims

1. A computer of a mobile communication terminal, A first communication means for receiving an electronic receipt including purchased product information from a management device that manages product information indicating purchased products and coupons related to the product information; A display unit that displays the electronic receipt received by the first communication unit on a display unit; a second receiving means for receiving the coupon related to the product information included in the electronic receipt displayed by the display means; a receiving means for receiving an instruction to stop providing the coupon received by the second receiving means; A program to function as a

2. A control method executed in a mobile communication terminal, comprising: a first communication step of receiving an electronic receipt including purchased product information from a management device that manages product information indicating purchased products and coupons related to the product information; a display step of displaying the electronic receipt received in the first communication step on a display unit; a second receiving step of receiving the coupon related to the product information included in the electronic receipt displayed in the display step; a receiving step of receiving an instruction to stop providing the coupon received in the second receiving step; A method for controlling a mobile communication terminal comprising:

3. A first communication means for receiving an electronic receipt including purchased product information from a management device that manages product information indicating purchased products and coupons related to the product information; A display unit that displays the electronic receipt received by the first communication unit on a display unit; a second receiving means for receiving the coupon related to the product information included in the electronic receipt displayed by the display means; a receiving means for receiving an instruction to stop providing the coupon received by the second receiving means; A mobile communication terminal having the above configuration.

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