Settlement processing device, settlement processing system, settlement processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide a settlement processing device, a settlement processing system, a settlement processing method, and a program that can increase the number of customers visiting a franchise store and reduce the amount of discarded products. 【Solution means】A settlement processing unit that performs electronic settlement based on settlement information including a settlement amount, an acquisition unit that acquires inventory information indicating the inventory quantity of products purchased by a user in the electronic settlement and expiration date information indicating the expiration date of the products, a privilege determination unit that determines a privilege to be granted to the user who has performed the electronic settlement based on the inventory information and the expiration date information, and a privilege granting unit that grants the determined privilege to the user who has performed the electronic settlement. A settlement processing device comprising:

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a settlement processing device, a settlement processing system, a settlement processing method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, for products whose expiration date is approaching, in order to sell them early, dynamic pricing techniques such as selling at a discounted price are known. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a coupon issuing device that changes the discount amount over time and issues a coupon printed with the discount amount.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the conventional technology, since a user cannot receive a discount unless the issued coupon is used, there are cases where it is not possible to effectively encourage the purchase of products whose expiration date is approaching. For this reason, in the conventional technology, there are cases where it is not possible to increase the number of customers visiting the store of a franchisee or reduce the amount of products to be discarded.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a settlement processing device, a settlement processing system, a settlement processing method, and a program that can increase the number of customers visiting the store of a franchisee and reduce the amount of products to be discarded.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a settlement processing device including a settlement processing unit that performs electronic settlement based on settlement information including a settlement amount, an acquisition unit that acquires inventory information indicating the inventory quantity of a product purchased by a user in the electronic settlement and expiration date information indicating the expiration date of the product, a privilege determination unit that determines a privilege to be given to the user who has performed the electronic settlement based on the inventory information and the expiration date information, and a privilege granting unit that grants the determined privilege to the user who has performed the electronic settlement.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a settlement processing device, a settlement processing system, a settlement processing method, and a program that can increase the number of customers visiting a franchise store and reduce the amount of products to be discarded.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of the payment processing apparatus, payment processing system, payment processing method, and program of the present invention will be described. Various apparatuses such as various apparatuses, servers, etc. that appear below for providing services to users or performing internal analysis may be realized by a decentralized group of apparatuses, and the operators of each apparatus may be different. Also, the holder of the hardware of the apparatus (provider of the cloud server) and the operator who actually operates may be different. The payment processing apparatus is an apparatus that provides an electronic payment service. In the following description, the payment processing apparatus is referred to as a payment server. The electronic payment service is a service that supports the payment related to the purchase of goods and services in a store. The store is, for example, a physical store (actual store) existing in the real space, but may include a virtual store for e-commerce. The virtual store may include those provided by a subject different from the operator of the electronic payment service. In that case, at the time of payment for shopping in the virtual store, it is controlled to transition to the interface screen of the electronic payment service. In the electronic payment service, a store is, for example, treated as belonging to a franchise (brand), and processes such as payment when a purchase action is performed in the store are mainly carried out between the user and the franchise.

[0010] [Electronic Payment Service] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electronic payment system that realizes an electronic payment service. The electronic payment service is realized centering around a payment server 100. An electronic payment system that realizes the electronic payment service includes, for example, one or more user terminal devices 10, one or more first store terminal devices 50, one or more second store terminal devices 70, a payment server 100, and a franchise server 200. These devices communicate with each other via, for example, a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless base station, a provider device, and the like.

[0011] The user terminal device 10 is, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. The user terminal device 10 is a computer device having at least an optical reading function, a communication function, a display function, an input reception function, and a program execution function. In the following description, the configurations for realizing these functions are respectively referred to as a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and the like. In the user terminal device 10, by executing a payment application 20 by a processor such as a CPU, it operates to provide an electronic payment service to the user in cooperation with the payment server 100. Also, in the user terminal device 10, by executing a franchise application 30 by a processor such as a CPU, it operates to provide a shopping service for purchasing goods at a franchise to the user in cooperation with the franchise server 200. The payment application 20 and the franchise application 30 are installed in the user terminal device 10 from, for example, an application store, and control a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, and the like.

[0012] The first store terminal device 50 is installed in a store, for example. The first store terminal device 50 is a computer device having at least a product price acquisition function, an optical reading function, a program execution function, and a communication function. The first store terminal device 50 includes a so-called POS (Point of Sale) device, and the product price acquisition function and the optical reading function may be realized by the POS device. The store code image 60 is placed in the store and is a code image such as a QR code (registered trademark) printed on a paper or plastic medium. Note that the store code image 60 may be displayed by a display placed in the store (which may be a display of a terminal device such as a smartphone).

[0013] The second store terminal device 70 is used by the operator of the franchise store. The second store terminal device 70 is a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, or the like. In the second store terminal device 70, the interface 72 for franchise stores operates. The interface 72 for franchise stores may be an application for franchise stores or a browser. The interface 72 for franchise stores accepts settings such as campaigns and coupons by the operator of the franchise store and transmits them to the settlement server 100. The second store terminal device 70, which is a smartphone, has a function of displaying a code image corresponding to the store code image or reading the code image displayed by the user terminal device 10 by executing an application for franchise stores.

[0014] The settlement server 100 realizes electronic settlement based on the settlement information received from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The first store terminal device 50 may include a POS device and a franchise store server. In that case, the settlement information is transmitted from the POS device to the settlement server 100 via the franchise store server. In the following description, without particularly distinguishing this, it is assumed that the settlement information is transmitted from the first store terminal device 50.

[0015] The franchise store server 200 is a server that provides a shopping service to users through the franchise app 30 installed on the user terminal device 10. Although details will be described later, when a time sale is being held at the franchise store, the franchise store server 200 provides information regarding the time sale to users through the franchise app 30. For example, the time sale may be a limited-time sale held immediately before the time period when the number of food waste increases, for the purpose of reducing the food waste loss. The user may actually visit the franchise store to purchase goods, or may purchase goods at the virtual store of the franchise using the franchise app 30.

[0016] FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating a general flow of electronic payment. There may be two patterns, Pattern 1 and Pattern 2, for electronic payment.

[0017] In the case of pattern 1 shown in FIG. 2 (hereinafter referred to as user scan), the user terminal device 10 in the state where the payment application 20 is activated decodes the store code image 60 by means of an optical reading function (S1). The store code image 60 contains information on the store URL (Uniform Resource Locator). This store URL is obtained by adding information that can identify the store to the domain of the electronic payment service, and is associated with the franchise store ID, store ID, etc. in the payment server 100 (described later). The payment application 20 transmits first payment information including the store URL and the account ID to the payment server 100 (S2). The payment server 100 searches for store information (described later) from the franchise store ID and store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires information on the franchise store name and store name (S3), and transmits it to the payment application 20 (S4). The user inputs the payment amount into the user terminal device 10 on the screen where the franchise store name and store name are displayed (S5). Then, the user terminal device 10 generates second payment information including at least the payment amount and transmits it to the payment server 100 (S6). The payment server 100 performs an electronic payment based on the received second payment information (S7). Then, the payment server 100 transmits a payment completion notification (information for displaying a payment completion screen) to the payment application 20 (S8), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S9). When the store code image 60 is displayed by a display placed in the store, the store code image 60 may contain not only the store URL but also payment amount information. In this case, the procedure for the user to input the payment amount is omitted, and the payment amount information is included in the first payment information and transmitted to the payment server 100. Information on the franchise store name and store name may be included and displayed on the payment completion screen.

[0018] In the case of Pattern 2 shown in FIG. 3 (hereinafter referred to as store scan), when the payment application 20 is launched, when a payment operation is performed in the payment application 20, when the automatic update timing (for example, every minute) is reached, and at other timings, the payment application 20 sends a one-time code issuance request to the payment server 100 (S11). The payment server 100 generates a one-time code (S12) and sends it to the payment application 20 (S13). The payment application 20 displays a code image such as a QR code or a barcode generated based on the one-time code (S14). The user shields (presents) the display surface of the user terminal device 10 against the first store terminal device 50, and the first store terminal device 50 decodes the code image by an optical reading function and acquires a one-time code or the like (S15). Then, the first store terminal device 50 generates payment information including a one-time code, a payment amount, a franchise ID, a store ID, etc., and sends it to the payment server 100 (S16). The information on the payment amount has been acquired in advance by barcode reading, manual input, or the like. The payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code based on the received information and performs an electronic payment (S17). Then, the payment server 100 sends a payment completion notification to the payment application 20 (S18), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S19).

[0019] Note that the electronic payment may be performed in only one of the above patterns. Also, the "account ID" described in FIG. 2 may be other information (for example, a telephone number) that can be used as the identification information of the user. Further, in the store scan, the issuance of the one-time code may be omitted, and the payment application 20 may display a code image generated based on the user's account ID. In that case, instead of identifying the user corresponding to the one-time code, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the account ID.

[0020] [Payment Server] FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the payment server 100. The payment server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a payment content providing unit 120, a payment processing unit 130, an information management unit 140, an acquisition unit 150, a privilege determination unit 160, a privilege granting unit 170, a notification unit 180, and a storage unit 190. Components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 190 are realized, for example, when a hardware processor such as a CPU executes a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit; circuitry) such as LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), and SOC (System On Chip), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed in the storage device when the storage medium is mounted on a drive device.

[0021] The storage unit 190 is an HDD, a flash memory, a RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like. The storage unit 190 may be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device accessible by the payment server 100 via a network. Information such as user information 192, payment content information 194, affiliated store / store information 196, and time sale information 198 is stored in the storage unit 190.

[0022] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW. The communication unit 110 is, for example, a network interface card.

[0023] The settlement content providing unit 120 has, for example, the function of a web server and provides information (content) for displaying various screens of the electronic payment service to the user terminal device 10. The settlement content providing unit 120 appropriately reads necessary content from the settlement content information 194 and provides it to the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 receives various inputs by the user in a state where the content is reproduced by the payment application 20, and transmits the above-mentioned payment information and the like to the payment server 100. The above content may be generated by the payment application 20. In this case, the settlement content providing unit 120 provides information necessary for content generation to the payment application 20.

[0024] The settlement processing unit 130 performs settlement processing based on the settlement information transmitted by the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50. The settlement processing unit 130 performs settlement processing while referring to the user information 192.

[0025] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the content of the user information 192. The user information 192 is an example of the user's registration information. The user information 192 includes, for example, a user URL, an account ID, a telephone number, a password, as well as an email address, a user ID, name, address, date of birth, registration date, remaining recharge amount, credit payment setting, credit payment limit, credit payment usage amount, available credit payment amount, payment method setting, bank account, credit card number, recharge history information, payment history information, and information such as the points held are associated. The user URL is used for money transfer processing between users. When newly registering for the electronic payment service, registration of a telephone number and a password is required. The account ID is issued to the user by the payment server 100, and the user ID is an ID that the user can arbitrarily set (not necessarily set). Similarly, the email address, and the name, address, and date of birth are also information that the user can arbitrarily set (not necessarily set). The registration date is the date when the user registered for the electronic payment service (the date when the account was created). Hereinafter, an instance of the user (electronic payment account) in which these pieces of information are associated is referred to as an account.

[0026] The remaining charge amount is information indicating the remaining amount of electronic money set by the user making a transfer to the account in advance. As means of transfer, there are transfers from the ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of a designated operator (bank), transfers from a registered bank account, etc. The credit payment setting is information indicating whether the setting for electronic settlement by credit payment has been completed or not, and is set to either "completed" or "not completed". The credit payment limit is the limit amount of credit payment available per month, the credit payment usage amount is the amount of credit payment already used in the current month, and the available credit payment amount is the amount of credit payment available in the current month obtained by subtracting the credit payment usage amount from the credit payment limit. Although only one credit payment limit is shown in the figure, in reality, there are further upper limits per day, etc., and the lower of them may be set as the credit payment limit. Further details of credit payment will be described later. The settlement method setting is setting information indicating whether the user performs an electronic settlement using the remaining charge amount or a settlement by credit payment at that time. Each of the bank account and credit card number is information (account number, card number) of a bank account or credit card number that can receive deposits for the electronic settlement service. The charge history information is the history of the user making a transfer to the electronic settlement service in advance to increase the remaining charge amount. The settlement history information is information showing the breakdown of the settlements made by the user (settlement ID, settlement date and time, franchise store ID of the franchise store where the purchase action was taken, store ID of the store, settlement amount, settlement method, etc.) for each settlement.

[0027] The held points are information indicating the points held by the user. Points are given to the user by purchasing target products of a campaign or coupon. Also, points are given to the user by purchasing target products of a time sale. The user can use the held points as electronic money in the electronic settlement service.

[0028] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the content of the affiliated store / store information 196. The affiliated store / store information 196 includes, for example, a first table 196A in which an affiliated store ID and a store ID are associated with a store URL, a second table 196B in which an affiliated store name and sales amount (described above) are associated with the affiliated store ID, and a third table 196C in which a store name is associated with the store ID. In addition to these pieces of information, the affiliated store / store information 196 may include information such as the category of the affiliated store or store, the location of the store, and the settlement pattern. The above-mentioned affiliated store name may be, for example, information registered by the affiliated store or information registered by the administrator of the electronic payment service. The above-mentioned affiliated store name and store name may be managed integrally. The above-mentioned affiliated store name may be, for example, a combination of the affiliated store name and the store name. It is preferable that the above-mentioned affiliated store name is an official name or a detailed name. In the affiliated store / store information 196, an icon of the affiliated store or other detailed information of the affiliated store may be associated with the affiliated store ID or the store ID.

[0029] The information management unit 140 acquires information provided by other server devices and terminal devices. The information management unit 140 manages the user information 192, the affiliated store / store information 196, and the time sale information 198 based on the information acquired from the user terminal device 10 and the second store terminal device 70. The information management unit 140 performs addition, editing, deletion, etc. of new records for the user information 192, the affiliated store / store information 196, and the time sale information 198.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the content of the time sale information 198. The time sale information 198 includes, for example, a time sale ID, a franchise store ID, a target period, target products, and a point awarding rule. The time sale ID is identification information for identifying the time sale. For example, the time sale may be a time-limited sale conducted immediately before a time period when the amount of food waste increases. The franchise store ID is identification information for identifying the franchise store implementing the time sale, and is the same information as the franchise store ID included in the franchise store / store information 196 in FIG. 6. The target period is information indicating the target period of the time sale. The target products are information for identifying the target products of the time sale, and may be, for example, JAN codes. The point awarding rule is a rule for calculating the points to be awarded to the user when the user purchases the target products of the time sale. For example, it may be information indicating a point reduction rate. The point reduction rate is a value used when calculating the points to be awarded to a user who purchases the target products of the campaign. For example, when the point reduction rate is 10% and the purchase amount of the target product is 1000 yen, 100 points will be awarded to the user. Also, the point awarding rule may be a rule that increases the points awarded to the user as the inventory level of the target product increases and increases the points awarded to the user as the time until the expiration date of the target product decreases.

[0031] [Electronic payment] When the settlement processing unit 130 acquires settlement information from the user terminal device 10 or the first store terminal device 50, it refers to the user information 192 to acquire the "settlement method setting" of the user. For users whose "settlement method setting" is set to "charge balance", the settlement processing unit 130 performs electronic payment as follows. The settlement processing unit 130 performs electronic payment, for example, by reducing the charge balance managed in association with the user ID and increasing the item value of the sales amount of the franchise store. The item value of the sales amount of the franchise store is not, for example, itself used as electronic money, and the amount corresponding to the item value of the sales amount is transferred to the bank account in a cycle according to the agreement between the franchise store and the electronic payment service.

[0032] When the "settlement information" is set to "credit payment" for a user, the settlement processing unit 130 performs electronic settlement as follows. Credit payment is a payment method through cooperation with a credit card company, which is a separate entity from the operator of the electronic payment service. The operator of the electronic payment service acts as the creditor and allows electronic settlement that does not depend on the remaining recharge amount within the credit payment limit. In addition, in order to receive the credit payment service, it may be required to obtain a credit card provided by the operator of the electronic payment service. The amount used for credit payment is settled in one lump sum on the payment date of the following month, for example, by debit from a bank account. In this case, the settlement processing unit 130 performs provisional settlement by adding the settlement amount to the credit payment usage amount and subtracting the same amount from the available credit payment amount. At the end of the month, the processing for debiting the settlement for the current month to the payment date of the following month as described above is performed, or this processing is requested from the operator of the credit card company. If the settlement amount exceeds the available credit payment amount at the time of provisional settlement, an error notification is returned to the settlement application 20.

[0033] [User Terminal Device] FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 includes, for example, a communication unit 11, an input unit 12, a display unit 13, a control unit 14, and a storage unit 15. The communication unit 11 is a communication interface for communicating via the network NW. The input unit 12 and the display unit 13 are realized by, for example, a touch panel display.

[0034] The control unit 14 is realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuit parts) such as LSI, ASIC, FPGA, GPU, etc., or may be realized by the cooperation of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed in the storage device by mounting the storage medium on a drive device.

[0035] The storage unit 15 is an HDD, a flash memory, or a RAM, etc. The storage unit 15 may be a NAS device accessible by the user terminal device 10 via a network. The storage unit 15 stores user information 16, the payment application 20, the franchise application 30, etc. The user information 16 is part or all of the information of the record corresponding to the user who owns the user terminal device 10 among the user information 192 shown in FIG. 5. The payment application 20 and the franchise application 30 are read and executed by a hardware processor (such as a CPU) in the user terminal device 10.

[0036] [Screen of user terminal device] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the screen of the user terminal device 10. As shown in FIG. 9, an area A1 for notifying information about the time sale is displayed on the screen of the user terminal device 10. In the example shown in FIG. 9, messages such as "Get up to 20% points when buying with electronic money" and "AA Convenience Store BB store etc." are displayed in the area A1. Here, "up to 20% points" means the maximum value (upper limit) of the preset point reduction rate and may be information included in the time sale information 198.

[0037] When a time sale is being held at a store of a franchisee, the settlement server 100 transmits information regarding the time sale to the user terminal device 10. For example, the settlement server 100 may transmit information regarding the time sale to the user terminal device 10 by push notification. The communication unit 11 of the user terminal device 10 receives information regarding the time sale from the settlement server 100. Further, the control unit 14 causes the display unit 13 to display the information regarding the time sale. The information regarding the time sale may include, for example, information regarding the franchisee and store where the time sale is being held, information regarding the point reduction rate, and the like. As a result, the screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display unit 13 of the user terminal device 10.

[0038] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a time sale notification screen of the settlement application 20. For example, when the user selects (taps) the area A1 shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 14 activates the settlement application 20 and causes the time sale notification screen shown in FIG. 10 to be displayed on the display unit 13 of the user terminal device 10.

[0039] On the time sale notification screen, information indicating that a time sale is being held and a button B1 are displayed. The button B1 is a button for instructing to search for a store of a franchisee near where the time sale is being held.

[0040] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a time sale list screen of the settlement application 20. For example, when the user selects (taps) the button B1 shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 14 causes the time sale list screen shown in FIG. 11 to be displayed on the display unit 13 of the user terminal device 10. The time sale list screen is a screen showing a list of stores holding the time sale.

[0041] Details will be described later, but when the user purchases a target product of a time sale implemented at a store of a franchisee of the electronic payment service, the user is given a privilege (points) is provided. As shown in the time sale list screen of FIG. 11, the display unit 13 of the user terminal device 10 displays a map around the current location M of the user terminal device 10 and also displays an icon indicating a store where a time sale is being conducted on the map.

[0042] The time sale list screen includes a map display area, a button B2, and a sheet SH. The map display area A2 is an area where a map around the user terminal device 10 is displayed. A plurality of icons indicating stores around the user terminal device 10 are also displayed in the map display area. When one of the plurality of icons is selected (tapped), detailed information about the store corresponding to the selected (tapped) icon is displayed.

[0043] The button B2 is a button for instructing to display stores where a time sale is being conducted. When the user selects (taps) the button B1, the control unit 14 controls the display unit 13 to display only the icons of the stores where a time sale is being conducted among the plurality of stores around the user terminal device 10 in the map display area A2.

[0044] In this way, the display unit 13, in response to an instruction from the user, displays only the icons of the stores where a time sale is being conducted among the plurality of stores around the current location M of the user terminal device 10 on the map. As a result, the user can easily grasp the positions of the stores where a time sale is being conducted around the current location M.

[0045] Also, on the time sale list screen, the control unit 14 causes the sheet SH to be displayed on the display unit 13. A list of stores of franchise stores where time sales are being conducted is displayed on the sheet SH. In the example shown in FIG. 11, as the stores of franchise stores where time sales are being conducted, AA Convenience Store BB, CC Supermarket DD, EE Shop FF, and GG Convenience Store HH are displayed on the sheet SH. When one of the plurality of stores displayed on the sheet SH is selected (tapped) by the user, a shopping screen corresponding to the selected (tapped) store is displayed on the display unit 13. Details of the shopping screen will be described later.

[0046] Specifically, the notification unit 180 of the settlement server 100 notifies the user terminal device 10 of the user with privilege information indicating the privilege (points) given when purchasing a product. Based on the privilege information notified by the notification unit 180, the control unit 14 of the user terminal device 10 causes the privilege (points) given when purchasing a product to be displayed on the display unit 13. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the display unit 13 displays on the time sale list screen contents such as "AA Convenience Store BB 20% bonus (maximum), rice balls, bento boxes, side dishes, etc.". This can prompt the user to purchase the target products of the time sale.

[0047] Note that the acquisition unit 150 may acquire position information indicating the current location M of the user terminal device 10. The notification unit 180 may notify the user terminal device 10 of product information regarding products sold in stores around the current location M indicated by the position information acquired by the acquisition unit 150 and privilege information indicating the privilege (points) given when purchasing a product. Based on the product information and privilege information notified by the notification unit 180, the control unit 14 of the user terminal device 10 may cause the privilege (points) given when purchasing a product to be displayed on the display unit 13. This can prompt the user to purchase products sold in stores around the current location M.

[0048] In addition, the acquisition unit 150 may further acquire purchase history information indicating the history of products purchased by the user in the past. The notification unit 180 may notify the user terminal device 10 of product information regarding the products included in the purchase history information and privilege information indicating privileges (points) granted when purchasing the products. The control unit 14 of the user terminal device 10 may cause the display unit 13 to display the privileges (points) granted when purchasing the products based on the product information and privilege information notified by the notification unit 180. Thereby, it is possible to prompt the user to repurchase the products purchased by the user in the past.

[0049] Note that in this embodiment, the display unit 13 is configured to display information on the store where the time sale is being held, but it is not limited to this. For example, the display unit 13 may display advance notice information indicating a notice of the time sale. For example, the control unit 14 may predict the store where the time sale will be held and the time zone when the time sale will be held based on the past history of holding time sales, and cause the display unit 13 to display the advance notice information of the time sale based on the predicted content. Thereby, the user can grasp in advance the store where the time sale is expected to be held.

[0050] In addition, the display unit 13 may display not only information on the store where the time sale is currently being held but also information on the stores where the time sale has been held in the past. For example, the control unit 14 may acquire information on the stores where the time sale has been held in the past based on the past history of holding time sales, and cause the display unit 13 to display the acquired information. Thereby, the user can grasp the time zone when the time sale is held at each store.

[0051] In this embodiment, there are two types of franchise stores: stores that support online shopping (online stores) and stores that do not support online shopping (offline stores). An offline store consists only of a physical store. When a user selects (taps) an offline store from the sheet SH, the settlement app 20 may display details of information regarding the time sale of the selected offline store (franchise store name, store name, target products, discount rate, etc.) on the display unit 13. The discount rate displayed here may be calculated periodically based on the time sale information 198, or may be calculated each time the user views the screen. On the other hand, when the user selects (taps) an online store from the sheet SH, as described above, the shopping screen corresponding to the selected online store will be displayed on the display unit 13. Also, the user can check details of information regarding the time sale of the selected online store from the shopping screen. This will be described below.

[0052] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the shopping screen of the franchise app 30. For example, when a user selects (taps) one of the plurality of stores displayed on the sheet SH shown in FIG. 11, the control unit 14 activates the franchise app 30 and causes the shopping screen shown in FIG. 12 to be displayed on the display unit 13 of the user terminal device 10. The shopping screen is a screen for purchasing the target products of the time sale sold at the store selected (tapped) by the user.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 12, on the shopping screen, together with an image of the target product of the time sale, the name of the target product, the stock quantity, the expiration date, the price, and the benefits (points) given to the user when the target product is purchased are displayed. The user can purchase the target products of the time sale from the shopping screen. When the user purchases the target products of the time sale, benefits (points) will be given to the user.

[0054] For example, when a user purchases a product at an actual store, the payment server 100 acquires product identification information (e.g., JAN code) for identifying the product purchased by the user from the first store terminal device 50. Also, when the user purchases a product from a shopping screen using the affiliated store app 30, the payment server 100 acquires product identification information (e.g., JAN code) for identifying the product purchased by the user from the affiliated store server 200. Further, the payment server 100 determines whether the product identification information for identifying the product purchased by the user matches the identification information of the target product included in the "target product" column of the time sale information 198. If these pieces of information match, the payment server 100 may determine that the user has purchased a target product of the time sale. When the payment server 100 determines that the user has purchased a target product of the time sale, the payment server 100 executes a point awarding process for awarding a privilege (points) to the user. Note that since information regarding the product purchased by the user is personal information, the electronic payment service provider needs to obtain prior permission from the user to acquire such information.

[0055] [Flowchart] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the point awarding process executed by the payment server 100. When the payment server 100 determines that the user has purchased a target product of the time sale, the payment server 100 executes the point awarding process shown in FIG. 13.

[0056] First, the acquisition unit 150 of the payment server 100 acquires inventory information and expiration date information (S101). The inventory information is information indicating the inventory quantity of the target product of the time sale purchased by the user in electronic payment. The expiration date information is information indicating the expiration date of the target product of the time sale purchased by the user in electronic payment. The acquisition unit 150 may acquire the inventory information and the expiration date information from the first store terminal device 50 of the store where the electronic payment was made, or may acquire the inventory information and the expiration date information from the affiliated store server 200 of the affiliated store to which the store where the electronic payment was made belongs. Note that the affiliated store server 200 manages the inventory and expiration dates of products in all stores of the affiliated store in a lump sum.

[0057] Next, the privilege determination unit 160 determines the privilege to be granted to the user who has performed the electronic payment based on the inventory information and the expiration date information (S102). For example, the privilege determination unit 160 acquires the point awarding rule corresponding to the time sale target product purchased by the user from the time sale information 198, and determines the privilege to be granted to the user who has performed the electronic payment based on the acquired point awarding rule. The point awarding rule is a rule arbitrarily set by the affiliated store. The point awarding rule may be, for example, information indicating a point reduction rate.

[0058] Note that the privilege determination unit 160 may change the point reduction rate step by step according to the expiration date and inventory quantity of the target product based on the point awarding rule. For example, in a time-limited time sale held immediately before the time when the number of food waste increases, it is necessary to sell out the products with a near expiration date in order to reduce the food waste loss. Therefore, the privilege determination unit 160 increases the points given to the user as the time until the expiration date of the product indicated by the expiration date information becomes shorter. Thereby, the user can be prompted to purchase products with a short time until the expiration date, and the waste loss due to the remaining inventory of the product can be reduced.

[0059] Also, the risk of waste loss is higher for products with more inventory. For this reason, the privilege determination unit 160 increases the points given to the user as the inventory quantity of the product indicated by the inventory information increases. Thereby, the user can be prompted to purchase products with a large inventory quantity, and the waste loss due to the remaining inventory of the product can be reduced.

[0060] Next, the privilege granting unit 170 grants the privilege (points) determined by the privilege determination unit 160 to the user who has performed the electronic payment (S103). The privilege granting unit 170 grants points that can be used as electronic money in the electronic payment service to the user as a privilege. For example, the privilege granting unit 170 may add the points determined by the privilege determination unit 160 to the points held by the user in the user information 192 stored in the storage unit 190. When the granting of the privilege (points) to the user is completed, the settlement server 100 ends the processing according to this flowchart.

[0061] In this way, the settlement server 100 of the present embodiment can effectively encourage the user to purchase products with an approaching expiration date, increase the number of customers visiting the franchise store, and reduce the amount of product waste.

[0062] The privilege (points) granted to the user by the privilege granting unit 170 will be displayed on the display unit 13. For example, when the user terminal device 10 activates the payment application 20, the home screen of the payment application 20 is displayed on the display unit 13. Also, the points held by the user are displayed on the home screen of the payment application 20. The display unit 13 may display separately the privilege (points) granted by purchasing a product with an approaching expiration date and other privileges (points). Thereby, the user can easily grasp how much their purchase behavior has contributed to reducing the waste loss of the product.

[0063] [Modification Example] In the above description, the privilege determination unit 160 determines the point reduction rate at the timing of electronic payment, but it is not limited to this. For example, the privilege determination unit 160 may determine the point reduction rate at a certain timing based on the expiration date and inventory quantity regardless of the timing of electronic payment, and calculate the points to be given to the user based on the previously determined point reduction rate when the electronic payment is made. As an example, the privilege determination unit 160 may determine the point reduction rate at the timing of the time sale notification shown in FIG. 9. For example, the privilege determination unit 160 may calculate the point reduction rate in advance according to the expiration date and inventory quantity of the target product. When the point reduction rate is not 0, separate from the time sale information 198, privilege information associating information such as the affiliated store, the target product, and the point reduction rate may be generated and stored in the storage unit 190. Further, the privilege determination unit 160 may calculate the points to be given to the user based on the point reduction rate included in the privilege information at the timing of electronic payment at the store of the affiliated store.

[0064] Also, in the above description, the information management unit 140 manages the information regarding the time sales of a plurality of affiliated stores in a single time sale information 198, but it is not limited to this. For example, the information management unit 140 may manage the time sale information separately for each affiliated store.

[0065] Also, in the above description, the acquisition unit 150 acquires the inventory information and expiration date information of the target product at the timing when the user purchases the target product of the time sale, but it is not limited to this. For example, the acquisition unit 150 may acquire the inventory information and expiration date information of the target product from the affiliated store server 200 at a certain timing regardless of the timing of purchasing the target product and store them in the storage unit 190. Further, the privilege determination unit 160 may determine the point reduction rate based on the inventory information and expiration date information stored in the storage unit 190 at the timing of electronic payment at the store of the affiliated store.

[0066] According to the embodiment described above, the settlement server 100 includes a settlement processing unit 130, an acquisition unit 150, a privilege determination unit 160, and a privilege granting unit 170. The settlement processing unit 130 performs electronic settlement based on settlement information including the settlement amount. The acquisition unit 150 acquires inventory information indicating the inventory quantity of the product purchased by the user in the electronic settlement and expiration date information indicating the expiration date of the product. The privilege determination unit 160 determines the privilege (points) to be granted to the user who has performed the electronic settlement based on the inventory information and the expiration date information. The privilege granting unit 170 grants the determined privilege (points) to the user who has performed the electronic settlement. As a result, the settlement server 100 can increase the number of visitors to the franchise store and reduce the amount of products to be discarded.

[0067] As described above, the embodiments for implementing the present invention have been described using the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0068] 10 User terminal device 11 Communication unit 12 Input unit 13 Display unit 14 Control unit 15 Storage unit 20 Settlement application 30 Franchise application 50 First store terminal device 100 Settlement server 110 Communication unit 120 Settlement content providing unit 130 Settlement processing unit 140 Information management unit 150 Acquisition unit 160 Privilege determination unit 170 Privilege granting unit 180 Notification unit 190 Storage unit 200 Franchise server

Claims

1. a payment processing unit that performs electronic payment based on payment information including a payment amount; an acquisition unit that acquires inventory information indicating the amount of inventory of the campaign target product purchased by the user through the electronic payment, expiration date information indicating the expiration date of the campaign target product, and purchase history information indicating a history of past purchases of the campaign target product by the user; a benefit determination unit that determines a benefit to be given to the user who has made the electronic payment based on the inventory information and the expiration date information at the time when the electronic payment is made; a reward provision unit that provides the determined reward to the user who has made the electronic payment; a notification unit that notifies a user terminal device of the user of product information related to the target product of the campaign included in the purchase history information and benefit information indicating the benefit that will be provided when the target product of the campaign included in the purchase history information is purchased, thereby causing the benefit that will be provided when the target product of the campaign included in the purchase history information is purchased to be displayed on a display unit of the user terminal device; A payment processing device comprising:

2. the benefit providing unit provides the user with points that can be used as electronic money in an electronic payment service, as the benefit; The payment processing device according to claim 1.

3. the benefit determination unit increases the number of points to be awarded to the user as the inventory amount of the target product of the campaign indicated by the inventory information increases; The payment processing device according to claim 2.

4. the benefit determination unit increases the number of points to be awarded to the user as the time until the expiration date of the target product of the campaign indicated by the expiration date information becomes shorter; The payment processing device according to claim 2.

5. The acquisition unit further acquires location information indicating a current location of the user terminal device, the notification unit notifies the user terminal device of product information on the target product of the campaign sold in stores around the current location indicated by the location information, and the benefit information indicating the benefit to be granted when the target product of the campaign is purchased. The payment processing device according to claim 1.

6. The payment processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5; a user terminal device including a display unit that displays the privilege granted to the user by the privilege granting unit; A payment processing system comprising:

7. The benefit is given to the user in response to the purchase of a product that is subject to a limited-time sale held at a store of an affiliated store of the electronic payment service, the display unit displays a map of the area surrounding the current location of the user terminal device, and displays an icon indicating the store having the limited-time sale on the map. The payment processing system according to claim 6.

8. the display unit, in response to an instruction from the user, displays on the map only icons of stores that are holding the limited-time sale among a plurality of stores in the vicinity of the current location of the user terminal device. The payment processing system according to claim 7.

9. The display unit displays advance notice information indicating an advance notice of the limited-time sale. The payment processing system according to claim 7.

10. The display unit displays information about the time sales that have been held in the past. The payment processing system according to claim 7.

11. the display unit displays the benefit provided as a result of purchasing the campaign product whose expiration date is approaching separately from other benefits. The payment processing system according to claim 6.

12. A payment processing device Make an electronic payment based on the payment information, including the payment amount; acquiring inventory information indicating the amount of stock of the campaign target product purchased by the user in the electronic payment, expiration date information indicating the expiration date of the campaign target product, and purchase history information indicating the history of past purchases of the campaign target product by the user; determining a benefit to be given to the user who has made the electronic payment based on the inventory information and the expiration date information at the time the electronic payment is made; granting the determined benefit to the user who has made the electronic payment; notifying a user terminal device of the user of product information related to the target product of the campaign included in the purchase history information and benefit information indicating the benefit to be provided when the target product of the campaign included in the purchase history information is purchased, thereby displaying the benefit to be provided when the target product of the campaign included in the purchase history information is purchased on a display unit of the user terminal device; Payment processing methods.

13. The payment processing device Making an electronic payment based on payment information including the payment amount; acquiring inventory information indicating the amount of stock of the campaign target product purchased by the user in the electronic payment, expiration date information indicating the expiration date of the campaign target product, and purchase history information indicating the history of past purchases of the campaign target product by the user; determining a benefit to be given to the user who has made the electronic payment based on the inventory information and the expiration date information at the time when the electronic payment is made; granting the determined benefit to the user who has made the electronic payment; by notifying a user terminal device of the user of product information related to the target product of the campaign, which is included in the purchase history information, and benefit information indicating the benefit that will be provided when the target product of the campaign, which is included in the purchase history information, is purchased, the benefit that will be provided when the target product of the campaign, which is included in the purchase history information, is purchased, on a display unit of the user terminal device; program.

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