Sales promotion method and sales promotion system

Abstract

To provide a sales promotion method and a sales promotion system.SOLUTION: A sales promotion system 100 comprises a member information acquisition unit which acquires member information of a customer 200, a taste information acquisition unit which acquires taste information indicating a taste of the customer in accordance with the member information, a sales promotion information acquisition unit which acquires sales promotion information corresponding to the taste information, and a sales promotion information providing unit which provides the sale promotion information to the customer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sales promotion method and a sales promotion system. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent document 1 states that "we provide a product registration device, a settlement device, and a POS system that can inform a customer that a receipt will be issued by the settlement device on which predetermined guidance information is printed in addition to settlement information." [Prior art document] [Patent documents] Patent Document 1 Patent No. 6176205

[0003] It is preferable to promote sales in accordance with customer preferences. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In a first aspect of the present invention, a promotional method is provided, comprising the steps of: a membership information acquisition unit acquiring membership information of a customer; a preference information acquisition unit acquiring preference information indicating the customer's preferences in accordance with the membership information; a promotional information acquisition unit acquiring promotional information in accordance with the preference information; and a promotional information provision unit providing the promotional information to the customer.

[0005] The customer preference information may include purchase data regarding purchases of products by the customer.

[0006] The customer preference information may include purchase attribute data based on the customer's purchases.

[0007] The customer preference information may include the customer's membership contributions.

[0008] The sales promotion method may include a step of storing linking information between member information and a plurality of plans, and a step of selecting, from the plurality of plans, sales promotion information for a plan corresponding to the member information based on the linking information.

[0009] The sales promotion method may include a step of updating customer preference information in real time, and a step of updating the linking information in response to the update of the customer preference information.

[0010] The promotional method may include a step of linking member information with an issuance status indicating whether or not promotional information is to be provided in accordance with the member information, and a step of determining whether or not to provide the promotional information based on the linking information.

[0011] The linking information may include an issuance status according to the frequency of a customer's visit to the store.

[0012] The sales promotion method may include a step in which a code issuing unit issues a code corresponding to an issuing status in response to a predetermined issuing request.

[0013] The sales promotion information may include sales promotion information for any plan selected from a plurality of plans. In the step of issuing the code, different types of codes may be issued to different customers for the sales promotion information for the same plan.

[0014] The sales promotion method may include a step of updating an issuance status so that a code will be issued next time or later when the code issuing section is no longer able to issue a code.

[0015] The promotional method may further comprise the step of providing different promotional information in response to the customer's use of a code corresponding to the promotional information.

[0016] In a second aspect of the present invention, a promotional system is provided that includes a membership information acquisition unit that acquires customer membership information, a preference information acquisition unit that acquires preference information indicating the customer's preferences according to the membership information, a promotional information acquisition unit that acquires promotional information according to the preference information, and a promotional information provision unit that provides promotional information to the customer.

[0017] The customer preference information may include purchase data regarding purchases of products by the customer.

[0018] The customer preference information may include purchase attribute data based on the customer's purchases.

[0019] The customer preference information may include the customer's membership contributions.

[0020] The sales promotion information acquisition unit may store information linking the member information with a plurality of promotions, and may select sales promotion information for a promotion corresponding to the member information from among the plurality of promotions based on the linking information.

[0021] The linking information may include information linking member information with an issuance status indicating whether or not promotional information is to be provided in accordance with the member information.

[0022] The sales promotion information acquisition unit may determine whether to provide the sales promotion information based on the linking information. The sales promotion system may include a code issuing unit that issues a code corresponding to an issuance status in response to a predetermined issuance request.

[0023] The above summary of the invention does not list all of the features of the present invention. Also, subcombinations of these features may also be inventions. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1A] 1 shows an outline of the configuration of a sales promotion system 100. [Figure 1B] 1 is an example of an operational flowchart of the sales promotion system 100. [Diagram 2] 1 shows an example of a list of plan establishment requirements used by the determination unit 20. [Diagram 3] An example of a method for evaluating the member contribution of the customer 200 will be described. [Figure 4] An example of linking information IL used in the sales promotion information acquisition unit 50 is shown below. [Diagram 5] 1 is an example of a sequence diagram showing the operation of the sales promotion system 100. [Figure 6A] An example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr is shown below. [Figure 6B]An example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr is shown below. [Figure 6C] An example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr is shown below. [Figure 6D] An example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr is shown below. [Figure 7A] 1 is an example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr by the promotional information providing unit 10. [Figure 7B] 1 is an example of promotional information IPr provided by the promotional information providing unit 10. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0026] 1A shows an outline of the configuration of a sales promotion system 100. The sales promotion system 100 includes a sales promotion information providing unit 10, a determination unit 20, a member information acquiring unit 30, a preference information acquiring unit 40, a sales promotion information acquiring unit 50, and a code issuing unit 60.

[0027] The sales promotion information providing unit 10 acquires the purchase information IB of the customer 200 and provides the sales promotion information IPr according to the purchase information IB. In one example, the sales promotion information providing unit 10 is a POS register that manages the purchase information IB. The purchase information IB may include the type of product purchased by the customer 200, the purchase amount, the number of items purchased, or the purchase time, etc. The sales promotion information providing unit 10 may provide the sales promotion information IPr by adding it to a receipt, or may provide the sales promotion information IPr by displaying it on an app on a mobile terminal.

[0028] The determination unit 20 determines whether or not the purchase information IB acquired by the sales promotion information providing unit 10 satisfies a predetermined condition of a plan. The determination unit 20 transmits a determination result to the sales promotion information providing unit 10. For example, the determination unit 20 may determine that the plan condition is satisfied when the customer 200 purchases a predetermined product.

[0029] The member information acquisition unit 30 acquires member information IM of the customer 200. The member information acquisition unit 30 may acquire the member information IM from a database in which the customer 200 has registered as a member. The member information IM may be information that identifies the member, such as a member ID. The member information IM may include information such as the gender, age, or address of the customer 200. The member information IM may also include product purchase information IB by the customer 200.

[0030] The preference information acquisition unit 40 acquires preference information IP indicating the preferences of the customer 200 according to the member information IM. The preference information acquisition unit 40 can set the preference information IP as targeting information for the customer 200 by acquiring the preference information IP for each customer 200. The preference information acquisition unit 40 may transmit the preference information IP to the sales promotion information acquisition unit 50.

[0031] The preference information IP may include at least one of purchase data regarding purchases of products by the customer 200, purchase attribute data based on the purchases of the customer 200, or the member contribution of the customer 200. The purchase data may include purchased products, services, purchase dates and times, reservation dates and times, non-purchase dates and times, purchase locations, use locations, or reservation status. The purchase data may include usage status of the provided promotional information IPr. More specifically, the purchase data may include coupon usage status and information regarding coupon usage media.

[0032] The purchase attribute data may include at least one of consumer attribute data and product attribute data. The consumer attribute data may include tendencies, preferences, tastes (e.g., products), etc. based on the purchase data. The product attribute data may include product characteristics, manufacturers, quantities, or product categories, etc. based on the purchase data. The member contribution level may include information such as the member rank of the customer 200. The member contribution level will be described later.

[0033] The sales promotion information acquisition unit 50 acquires the sales promotion information IPr according to the preference information IP. The sales promotion information acquisition unit 50 may determine the sales promotion information IPr to be provided to the customer 200 from a predetermined list based on the purchase information IB and the preference information IP.

[0034] The sales promotion information IPr is information for promoting products to the customer 200. The sales promotion information IPr may be a coupon or advertisement for the product. The sales promotion in the sales promotion information IPr may be a promotion by discount, a promotion by coupon such as a free exchange ticket, or a promotion by point awarding. The sales promotion information IPr may be a plan selected from a plurality of plans according to the preference information IP of the customer 200. The sales promotion information acquisition unit 50 may generate linking information IL that associates the member information IM and the sales promotion information IPr.

[0035] The linking information IL includes information linking the member information IM with an issuance status indicating whether or not the promotional information IPr is to be provided in accordance with the member information IM. The linking information IL may be generated based on the preference information IP. By using the linking information IL, it is possible to target a specific customer 200 for promotional purposes. The linking information IL may be a list for determining the promotional information IPr to be provided to the customer 200.

[0036] The promotional information acquisition unit 50 selects promotional information IPr of a plan corresponding to the member information IM from among the multiple plans based on the linking information IL. The promotional information acquisition unit 50 may select multiple pieces of promotional information IPr. The promotional information acquisition unit 50 also determines whether to provide the promotional information IPr based on the linking information IL. The promotional information acquisition unit 50 may have a storage unit that stores linking information IL between the member information IM and the multiple plans.

[0037] The code issuing unit 60 issues a code according to the issuing status in response to a predetermined issuing request. The issued code may be attached to the promotional information IPr. The code may be a bar code or a two-dimensional code. The code issuing unit 60 may issue the code only when the promotional information acquiring unit 50 decides to provide the promotional information IPr.

[0038] Each component of the sales promotion system 100 may be provided in a different device, or some of them may be provided in the same device. The sales promotion information providing unit 10 and the preference information acquiring unit 40 may be provided in the same server. The determining unit 20, the sales promotion information acquiring unit 50, and the code issuing unit 60 may be provided in different servers. The sales promotion information providing unit 10 may be provided in a store that sells products, and the other components may be provided outside the store.

[0039] 1B is an example of an operational flowchart of the sales promotion system 100. In step S100, the sales promotion system 100 acquires member information IM of the customer 200. The member information IM may be acquired when the customer 200 registers as a member. In step S102, the sales promotion system 100 acquires preference information IP according to the member information IM. The preference information IP may be updated as the customer 200 visits the store.

[0040] In step S104, promotional information IPr corresponding to the preference information IP is acquired. The promotional information IPr may be acquired based on the preference information IP updated from time to time in response to the visit of the customer 200 to the store. In step S106, the promotional information IPr is provided to the customer 200. The promotional information IPr may be provided when the customer 200 purchases a product, or may be provided via the customer 200's mobile terminal or the like after leaving the store.

[0041] 2 shows an example of a list of plan establishment requirements used by the determination unit 20. The determination unit 20 determines whether or not there is a plan that satisfies the plan establishment requirements for the purchase information IB of the customer 200. Each plan has a predefined establishment requirement, such as the purchase of a specific product. For example, plan 1 has a requirement that it must be purchased with 350ml of cola in order to be established.

[0042] The determination unit 20 may determine that multiple plans apply when multiple plan establishment requirements are met. In this case, the sales promotion information acquisition unit 50 may set priorities for each plan and select the plan with the highest priority from among the multiple applicable plans. The list of plan establishment requirements may be common to all customers 200.

[0043] FIG. 3 shows an example of a method for evaluating the member contribution of a customer 200. The vertical axis indicates the number of members (people), and the horizontal axis indicates the member contribution (points). A loyalty rank for a member may be set according to the member contribution score. In this example, members are assigned to five loyalty ranks, ranks L1 to L5.

[0044] The member contribution level may be quantified using various parameters such as the frequency of store visits. For example, the member contribution level is quantified using a predetermined formula based on the purchase amount, purchased items, loyalty rank, probability of revisiting the store, or frequency of store visits. The member contribution level may be shared in real time among multiple stores, and may be updated every business day.

[0045] The sales promotion system 100 may change the sales promotion information IPr provided depending on the member's contribution level. Even when the same product is purchased, different coupons may be issued to customers 200 with high and low member contribution levels.

[0046] 4 shows an example of the linking information IL used by the sales promotion information acquisition unit 50. The linking information IL includes member information IM, and information related to the plan and issuance status. In this example, the linking information IL uses a member ID as the member information IM, but is not limited to this.

[0047] If the issuance status is "not yet issued", it indicates that the promotional information IPr has not been provided for the corresponding combination of member ID and plan. In the case of an issuance status of not yet issued, when the promotional information acquisition unit 50 determines that the requirements for the plan to be established are met, it permits the promotional information provision unit 10 to provide the promotional information IPr. When the promotional information IPr is provided, the promotional information acquisition unit 50 updates the issuance status to "completed".

[0048] The preference information acquisition unit 40 may update the preference information IP of the customer 200 in real time. The sales promotion information acquisition unit 50 may update the linking information IL in response to updates to the preference information IP of the customer 200. By updating the preference information IP in real time, the sales promotion system 100 can target the customer 200 with high accuracy and promote sales.

[0049] Here, there are cases where the code issuing unit 60 is unable to issue a code due to concentrated access, etc. In such a case, the sales promotion information acquiring unit 50 may update the issuing status to "next visit" so that the code will be issued from the next time onwards. Since the linking information IL can be accessed from multiple stores, the sales promotion information IPr can be acquired when the customer 200 visits a different store.

[0050] The sales promotion system 100 of this example can provide the customer 200 with appropriate sales promotion information IPr according to the preference information IP by appropriately updating the linking information IL. In addition, the sales promotion system 100 links each sales promotion information IPr to each customer 200 and manages the issuance status, so that the sales promotion information IPr can be provided at an appropriate timing according to the situation.

[0051] For example, the linking information IL includes an issuance status according to the frequency of visits of the customer 200. By including the frequency of visits of the customer 200 in the linking information IL, it is possible to propose an optimal plan to the customer 200 who tends to visit less frequently. This makes it possible to increase the frequency of visits of the customer 200 and improve loyalty.

[0052] 5 is an example of a sequence diagram showing the operation of the sales promotion system 100. This example shows an example of the operation of the sales promotion system 100, and the present invention is not limited to this.

[0053] In step S200, the sales promotion information providing unit 10 acquires purchase information IB in response to the purchase of a product by the customer 200. In step S202, the sales promotion information providing unit 10 inquires of the determination unit 20 as to whether or not the purchase information IB of the customer 200 satisfies the requirements for the plan to be established. In step S204, the determination unit 20 transmits the result of the determination as to whether or not the requirements for the plan to be established are satisfied to the sales promotion information providing unit 10.

[0054] In step S206, the promotional information providing unit 10 inquires of the promotional information acquiring unit 50 whether or not promotional information IPr for a plan that satisfies the requirements for success can be provided. In step S208, the promotional information acquiring unit 50 transmits to the promotional information providing unit 10 whether or not the promotional information IPr can be provided. If the promotional information IPr can be provided, the promotional information acquiring unit 50 permits the promotional information providing unit 10 to provide the promotional information IPr. If there is no promotional information IPr that can be provided, the promotional information acquiring unit 50 may notify the promotional information providing unit 10 of that effect.

[0055] In step S210, the sales promotion information providing unit 10 transmits a request for issuing a code corresponding to the sales promotion information IPr to the code issuing unit 60. In step S212, the code issuing unit 60 issues a code corresponding to the sales promotion information IPr and provides it to the sales promotion information providing unit 10.

[0056] In step S214, the sales promotion information providing unit 10 provides the sales promotion information IPr to the customer 200. In this example, the sales promotion information providing unit 10 provides the sales promotion information IPr by adding the sales promotion information IPr to a receipt. However, the method of providing the sales promotion information IPr is not limited to this.

[0057] 6A shows an example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr. In this example, a promotional information provider 10a provides a coupon, and a customer 200 uses the coupon at another promotional information provider 10b. For example, a barcode corresponding to the promotional information IPr is printed on a receipt 210, which the customer 200 can present and use when visiting a store.

[0058] The sales promotion system 100 of this example can provide coupons and the like to the customer 200 based on the preference information IP, thereby promoting sales and proposing specific products in accordance with the preferences of the customer 200. This can improve the loyalty of the customer 200.

[0059] 6B shows an example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr. The sales promotion system 100 issues a receipt 210 to which different promotional information IPr is added for each customer 200. Customer 200a and customer 200b are different customers.

[0060] The sales promotion system 100 of this example issues a receipt 210a to a customer 200a, and issues a receipt 210b to a customer 200b. The receipts 210a and 210b may each include sales promotion information IPr for a promotional plan selected from a plurality of plans. The sales promotion information provider 10 may issue a receipt 210 to which a different type of code is assigned for each customer 200 according to the preference information IP, even if the customers 200a and 200b purchase the same product. This allows the sales promotion system 100 to provide appropriate sales promotion information IPr according to the preference information IP of each customer 200.

[0061] In this example, the sales promotion system 100 provides each customer 200 with a unique barcode, even for the same project, and is therefore able to manage the issuance status for each customer 200. For example, when customer 200a uses a coupon, only customer 200a's issuance status is changed to "used," preventing the code from being reused. The sales promotion system 100 can also restrict customers 200 from using other people's coupons. Since the sales promotion system 100 in this example provides a different code for each customer 200, even if the code issuing unit 60 is unable to issue a code due to connection concentration or other reasons, a coupon can be issued the next time the customer visits the store or later.

[0062] 6C shows an example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr. In this example, the issued receipt 210 is read by the ticket issuing terminal 220 to issue the exchange ticket 225. In this example, the ticket issuing terminal 220 reads the pin code printed on the receipt 210 to issue the exchange ticket 225. The customer 200 can receive a special offer by using the exchange ticket 225 at the promotional information providing unit 10b the next time he or she visits the store. In this way, the sales promotion system 100 may have another device, such as the ticket issuing terminal 220, read the code printed on the receipt 210 to allow the customer 200 to receive a special offer.

[0063] 6D shows an example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr. In this example, different coupons are issued in a rally format depending on the coupons used by the customer 200.

[0064] In this example, the sales promotion system 100 issues a receipt 210b to which different sales promotion information IPr is attached in response to the customer 200 using the code of the receipt 210a to which the sales promotion information IPr is attached. The sales promotion information IPr attached to the receipt 210a may be different from the sales promotion information IPr attached to the receipt 210b. The sales promotion system 100 may manage a rally-style benefit using the linking information IL, and may determine the sales promotion information IPr depending on the number of times a coupon is used, etc. The number of rallies is not particularly limited, and the sales promotion information IPr may be provided three or more times depending on the number of visits to the store.

[0065] 7A shows an example of a method for issuing promotional information IPr by the promotional information provider 10. The promotional system 100 of this example issues two receipts 210c and 210d connected by a connection unit 215. The connection unit 215 may be a partial cut that partially connects the receipts 210c and 210d so that they can be easily separated. When an advertisement is printed on the receipt 210, printing of the code may be omitted.

[0066] 7B is an example of promotional information IPr provided by the promotional information provider 10. The promotional system 100 of this example provides the promotional information IPr to the mobile terminal 230 of the customer 200. For example, the promotional system 100 displays the promotional information IPr on an app installed on the mobile terminal 230. This makes it possible to provide the promotional information IPr to the customer 200 in the same way as when the promotional information IPr is added to the receipt 210. Furthermore, even if the customer 200 forgets to pick up the receipt 210, the promotional information IPr can be provided to the customer 200.

[0067] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the description of the claims that such modifications and improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0068] It should be noted that the order of execution of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before," "prior to," etc., and may be realized in any order unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is explained using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is essential to perform the process in this order. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 10...sales promotion information providing unit, 20...determination unit, 30...membership information acquiring unit, 40...preference information acquiring unit, 50...sales promotion information acquiring unit, 60...code issuing unit, 100...sales promotion system, 200...customer, 210...receipt, 215...connection unit, 220...ticket issuing terminal, 225...exchange ticket, 230...mobile terminal

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented promotional method, comprising: storing information linking customer membership information with a plurality of plans; updating preference information indicative of the customer's preferences in real time; updating the linking information in response to updates of the customer's preference information; acquiring said member information; acquiring the preference information according to the member information; selecting and acquiring promotional information corresponding to the preference information from among the plurality of promotions, the promotional information corresponding to the member information, based on the linking information; providing said promotional information to said customer; A promotional method comprising:

2. A step of linking the member information with an issuance status indicating whether or not the sales promotion information is to be provided in accordance with the member information to obtain the linked information; determining whether to provide the promotional information based on the linking information; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

3. The linking information includes the issuance status according to the frequency of visits of the customer to the store. The sales promotion method according to claim 2.

4. and issuing a code corresponding to the issuance status in response to a predetermined issuance request. The sales promotion method according to claim 2.

5. The sales promotion information includes sales promotion information of an arbitrary plan selected from a plurality of plans, The step of issuing the code includes issuing different types of codes to each of the customers for the sales promotion information of the same plan. The sales promotion method according to claim 4.

6. and updating the issuance status when the code cannot be issued so that the code will be issued next time onward. The sales promotion method according to claim 4.

7. providing different sales promotion information to the customer in response to the customer's use of the code corresponding to the sales promotion information; The sales promotion method according to claim 4.

8. The customer preference information includes purchase data regarding purchases of products by the customer. A sales promotion method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The customer preference information includes purchase attribute data based on purchases of the customer. A sales promotion method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. The customer's preference information includes the customer's membership contribution degree. A sales promotion method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

11. a member information acquisition unit that acquires member information of a customer; a preference information acquisition unit that acquires preference information indicating the preferences of the customer according to the membership information; a sales promotion information acquisition unit that acquires sales promotion information corresponding to the preference information; a sales promotion information providing unit for providing the sales promotion information to the customer; Equipped with The preference information acquisition unit updates preference information indicating the preferences of the customer in real time; The sales promotion information acquisition unit is storing information linking the member information with a plurality of projects; updating the linking information in response to updates of the customer's preference information; selecting the sales promotion information for a plan corresponding to the member information from among the plurality of plans based on the linking information; Promotion system.

12. The linking information includes information linking the member information with an issuance status indicating whether or not the promotional information is to be provided in accordance with the member information, The sales promotion information acquisition unit determines whether or not to provide the sales promotion information based on the linking information. The promotion system of claim 11.

13. The sales promotion system according to claim 12 , further comprising a code issuing unit that issues a code corresponding to the issuance status in response to a predetermined issuance request.

14. The customer preference information includes purchase data regarding purchases of products by the customer. A sales promotion system according to any one of claims 11 to 13.

15. The customer preference information includes purchase attribute data based on purchases of the customer. A sales promotion system according to any one of claims 11 to 13.

16. The customer's preference information includes the customer's membership contribution degree. A sales promotion system according to any one of claims 11 to 13.

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