JP2003331177A - Electronic coupon system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic coupon system which increases the number of access times to an advertiser homepage by limiting the number of times of using an electronic coupon and makes work at a storefront involved in the use of the electronic coupon easier. <P>SOLUTION: An electronic coupon server 30 transmits to a portable terminal 10 the electronic coupon being an application program for providing a user with a special privilege when the user purchases merchandise in such a manner that the merchandise is purchased with the user portable terminal. A price register 40 is connected to the portable terminal 10 when the merchandise is purchased, receives from the portable terminal 10 special privilege information generated on the basis of processing of the electronic coupon and displays a purchase price using a special privilege shown in the special privilege information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a business model using a communication network, and more particularly to a system for providing a user with an electronic coupon via the communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, various companies and many individuals publish homepages on a communication network. The operating cost of the homepage is basically borne by the homepage provider. In addition, homepage providers may also receive advertising revenue from companies. The homepage provider can obtain the advertisement income from the advertiser's company by posting the advertisement on its own homepage. The advertisement on the home page is usually linked to the home page of the advertiser, and the user can access the home page of the advertiser from the advertisement screen. Some homepage providers use such advertising revenues to operate their homepage.

Many advertisements are also posted on homepages accessible by mobile terminals. However, since the display of the mobile terminal is small, the portion where the advertisement is displayed is very small, and it is difficult to obtain a sufficient advertising effect. Moreover, the frequency of users accessing the home page of the advertiser linked from the advertisement screen is low.

As a countermeasure against this, there is a method of enhancing the advertising effect by providing the user with an electronic coupon on the homepage. If the electronic coupon is provided, the number of users who access the home page increases and the advertising effect is improved.

[0005]

As an example of a conventional electronic coupon provided to a user on a home page, there is one in which a user prints an electronic coupon display screen on paper and carries it when purchasing a product. . Further, as another example of the electronic coupon, there is one in which the electronic coupon is displayed on the display of the mobile terminal when the user purchases the product.

However, in the conventional electronic coupon providing method, the user can access the home page of the advertiser and once obtain the electronic coupon, and then use the electronic coupon any number of times thereafter. Therefore, the number of times the advertiser's home page was accessed was not sufficiently increased, and the advertising effect was not sufficiently improved.

Further, in the conventional electronic coupon providing method,
When a user presents an electronic coupon at the time of purchasing a product, it is necessary for a store clerk to check the contents of the electronic coupon at the store and manually input, for example, a discount on the charge into a retail store terminal. For the clerk, the work of checking the contents of the electronic coupon and manually inputting the charge was complicated. In addition, in order to make confirmation and manual input as easy as possible, the benefits obtained by the electronic coupon are often simple contents, and it is difficult for the advertiser to provide various benefits.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic coupon system which limits the number of times electronic coupons are used to increase the number of times an advertiser's home page is accessed, and which facilitates work in stores associated with the use of electronic coupons. Is.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the electronic coupon system of the present invention is executed by a user's mobile terminal to provide a privilege to the user when purchasing a product. An electronic coupon server that transmits an electronic coupon, which is a program, to the mobile terminal, and is connected to the mobile terminal when purchasing a product, receives privilege information generated by processing the electronic coupon from the mobile terminal, and acquires the privilege. It has a price register which displays the purchase price to which the privilege shown in the information is applied.

Therefore, according to the electronic coupon system of the present invention, the electronic coupon is executed by the portable terminal,
The privilege information obtained by executing the electronic coupon is notified to the price register, and the price register calculates the price after the privilege is applied.

Further, another electronic coupon system of the present invention transmits an electronic coupon, which is an application program for providing a privilege to the user when a product is purchased, to the portable terminal by being executed by the user's terminal. An electronic coupon server for managing the usage history of the electronic coupon of each user for each mobile terminal information, and a store server for determining a privilege to be given to each user using the usage history and the mobile terminal information. Connected to the mobile terminal at the time of product purchase, receives the mobile terminal information transmitted by the processing of the electronic coupon from the mobile terminal, transmits the mobile terminal information to the store server, and the store server And a price registration device that receives the privilege information including the privilege determined in 1. from the retail store server and displays the purchase price to which the privilege is applied. That.

Therefore, according to the electronic coupon system of the present invention, the privilege is determined by using the usage history of the electronic coupon that is centrally managed by the store server.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the portable terminal information includes information assigned to each portable terminal in order to identify the portable terminal.

Further, the privilege information may include information on a discount rate of a purchased product, or may include information on a discount amount of the purchased product.

Further, it is desirable that the maximum number of times that the user can receive a privilege is determined for the electronic coupon.

Therefore, according to the electronic coupon system of the present invention, the number of times the downloaded electronic coupon is used is limited.

The electronic coupon server may access the electronic coupon server and transmit the electronic coupon to a mobile terminal that has requested the electronic coupon.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the electronic coupon server further comprises an address public server for publicizing the address of the electronic coupon server.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the publication server publishes the address on a home page on which an advertisement of the electronic coupon provider is posted.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic coupon system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic coupon system 1 includes a mobile terminal 10, an advertisement server 20, an electronic coupon server 30, and a price register 40. The advertisement server 20 and the electronic coupon server 30 are both connected to the communication network 90 and open their homepages. The mobile terminal 10 can access the homepages of the advertisement server 20 and the electronic coupon server 30 via the communication network 90.

The mobile terminal 10 is a terminal used by a user to obtain an electronic coupon and purchase a product, and can be connected to the communication network 90 by wireless communication.

The advertisement server 20 publishes, on the communication network 90, a home page on which advertisements of products and companies are posted in addition to the original contents. The provider of this home page usually earns advertising revenue from the advertiser.

The electronic coupon server 30 is usually owned by an advertiser posted on the home page of the advertisement server 20. The electronic coupon server 30 is the advertisement server 2
The homepage linked from the homepage of No. 0 is open to the communication network 90. On the home page of the electronic coupon server 30, electronic coupons such as discount coupons and exchange coupons are provided to the user. The electronic coupon of this embodiment is an application program, is downloaded from the electronic coupon server 30 to the mobile terminal 20, and is executed by the mobile terminal 10.

The price register 40 is a device for registering the price, which is installed at the retail store where the user of the mobile terminal 10 purchases a product, and is, for example, a register.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the portable terminal of this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 10
Has a display unit 11, a program execution unit 12, a program storage unit 13, an information transmission unit 14, an interface 15, and a wireless communication unit 16.

The display unit 11 is a display for displaying characters and images obtained from the home page.

The program execution unit 12 executes a built-in program or a downloaded program. The program executed here includes an electronic coupon application downloaded from the electronic coupon server 30.

The program storage unit 13 is a memory for storing the downloaded program.

The information transmitting unit 14 transmits to the price register 40 discount information, which is information related to a discount on the purchase price of the product that the user can receive with the electronic coupon. The discount information includes a product to be discounted, a discount rate and a discount amount of the product. The discount rate and the discount amount may be changed depending on the number of times of use.

The interface 15 is an interface connected to the price register 40. This connection may be a wired connection such as a serial cable or a wireless connection.

The wireless communication section 16 transmits and receives information via the communication network 90 by wireless communication.
The information transmitted / received here is processed by the program execution unit 12.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of the price register of this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, the price register 40 includes an interface 41, an information receiving unit 42, a charge calculating unit 43, and a display unit 44.

The interface 41 is an interface connected to the mobile terminal 10.

The information receiving unit 42 sends the discount information to the mobile terminal 1
It is received from 0 and notifies the charge calculation unit 43.

The charge calculation unit 43 discounts the product price (that is, the normal price) of the product name read from the bar code attached to the product, for example, according to the discount information, and calculates the price after using the coupon.

The display section 44 displays the normal price of the product, the fact that the coupon has been used, and the price after the coupon has been used.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic coupon server of this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4, the electronic coupon server 30 has an electronic coupon storage unit 31 and a download control unit 32.

The electronic coupon storage unit 31 stores electronic coupons that can be used as discount coupons for various products of advertisers. A plurality of electronic coupons may be stored in the electronic coupon storage unit 31.

The download control unit 32 transmits an electronic coupon to the mobile terminal 10 in response to a request from the mobile terminal 10 accessed through the communication network 90.

The electronic coupon application program is executed by the mobile terminal 10. Electronic coupon
It has a process of limiting the number of times the coupon is used. Here, the limitation on the number of uses is the maximum number of uses. The maximum number of times of use may be a parameter for each application that the advertiser can freely set. When the electronic coupon is executed, the mobile terminal 10 determines whether or not the number of times of use up to that point has reached the maximum number of times of use, and if not, transmits the discount information to the price register 40.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic coupon system of this embodiment when downloading an electronic coupon. Referring to FIG. 5, first, the mobile terminal 10 accesses the home page of the advertisement server 20 (step A1). The advertisement server 20 transmits the contents of the home page including the advertisement to the mobile terminal 10 (step A2). The mobile terminal 10 displays the homepage content received from the advertisement server 20 on the display unit 11 (step A3).

The mobile terminal 10 accesses the home page of the electronic coupon server 30 linked from the advertisement on the home page of the advertisement server 20 by the operation of the user (step A4). The electronic coupon server 30 transmits the homepage content to the mobile terminal 10 (step A
5). The mobile terminal 10 displays the homepage content received from the electronic coupon server 30 on the display unit 11 (step A6).

Next, the portable terminal 10 requests the electronic coupon server 30 for the electronic coupon application program by the operation of the user who sees the display on the display unit 11 (step A7). The electronic coupon server 30 transmits the electronic coupon application program to the mobile terminal 10 (step A8). The mobile terminal 10 saves the electronic coupon application program received from the electronic coupon server 30 in the program storage unit 13 (step A9).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the electronic coupon system of this embodiment when using the electronic coupon. It is assumed that the electronic coupon (application program) has been downloaded from the electronic coupon server 30 to the mobile terminal 10 before the operation of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, first, the portable terminal 10 and the price register 40 are connected to each other at a store that sells products (step B1).

When connected to the price register 40, the mobile terminal 10 activates the electronic coupon (step B2). When the processing of the electronic coupon is started, the mobile terminal 10 confirms the past number of times the coupon has been used (step B3). Next, the mobile terminal 10 determines whether or not the number of uses in the past has reached the maximum number of uses (step B4).

If the number of times of use has not reached the maximum number of times of use, "1" is added to the number of times of use and stored (step B).
5). Next, the mobile terminal 10 transmits, to the price register 40, discount information including information on a predetermined discount and information on a discount rate or a discount amount (step B6).

If the number of times of use has reached the maximum number of times of use in the determination in step B4, the mobile terminal 10 transmits the discount information including the information that the discount is not to the price register 40 (step B7).

The price registration device 40 receives the discount information transmitted from the portable terminal 10 by the process of step B6 or step B7 (step B8). Next, the price register 4
For 0, the discount shown in the discount information is calculated from the normal charge to calculate and register the price (step B9). Next, the price register 40 displays the discounted price (step B10).
After that, the clerk receives the discounted price displayed on the price register 40 from the user in exchange for the product.

According to the electronic coupon system of the present embodiment, since the number of times the downloaded electronic coupon is used is limited, a user who wants to repeatedly use the electronic coupon repeatedly accesses the home page of the advertiser.
The number of visits to the website increases and the advertising effect increases.

According to the electronic coupon system of this embodiment, the portable terminal 10 executes the electronic coupon, the discount information obtained by executing the electronic coupon is notified to the price register 40, and the price register 40 executes the discount information. Since the discounted price is calculated, the salesclerk and the user can easily exchange the discounted price by using the price.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic coupon system according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, the electronic coupon system 2 includes a mobile terminal 10,
It has an advertisement server 20, an electronic coupon server 30, a price register 50, and a store server 60.

The mobile terminal 10, the advertisement server 20, and the electronic coupon server 30 are the same as those in FIG. However, the processing of the electronic coupon application program provided by the electronic coupon server 30 is different from that of the system of FIG. In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 that has executed the electronic coupon transmits the mobile terminal information for identifying the mobile terminal, not the discount information, to the price register 50.

The price registration device 50 and the store server 60 are connected to each other via a communication network 80. It is possible to connect a plurality of price registration devices 50 to the same store server 60. Those price registration devices 50 may be installed in the same store, or may be installed in different stores. The communication network 80 is the communication network 9
It may be the same network as 0 or a different network.

When the price registration device 50 receives the mobile terminal information from the mobile terminal 10, the price registration device 50 stores the mobile terminal information and the price registration device information for identifying the price registration device.
Send to 0. Further, the price registration device 50 is the sales server 6
The discount information is received from 0, and the discount shown in the discount information is applied to the product purchase price calculated at the normal charge and displayed.

The store server 60 stores the maximum number of times electronic coupons have been used, and also manages the electronic coupon usage history of each user. And the store server 60
When receiving the mobile terminal information and the price registration device information from the price registration device 50, the
Generates discount information including a discount rate and a discount amount to generate a price register 5
Reply to 0.

The operation of the electronic coupon system of this embodiment will be described.

The operation at the time of downloading the electronic coupon is shown in FIG.
Is the same as.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic coupon system of this embodiment when using the electronic coupon. Referring to FIG. 8, first, the mobile terminal 10 and the price registration device 50 are connected at a store that sells products (step C1).

Price registration device 50 connected to the mobile terminal 10
Requests the mobile terminal 10 to start an electronic coupon (application program) (C2). Price register 50
Upon receiving the activation request from the mobile terminal 10, the mobile terminal 10 activates the electronic coupon (C3).

When the electronic coupon is activated, the mobile terminal 10
Sends the mobile terminal information to the price register 50 (C
4). The price registration device 50 receives the mobile terminal information from the mobile terminal 10 (C5).

When the mobile terminal information is received, the price register 5
0 transmits the mobile terminal information and the price registration device information indicating itself to the store server 60 (C6).

The store server 60 receives the portable terminal information and the price registration device information from the price registration device 50 (C
7). Upon receiving such information, the store server 60
Calculates the discount rate or the discount amount from the mobile terminal information (step C8). At that time, the store server 60 searches the user's electronic coupon usage history based on the mobile terminal information, and determines whether or not the number of times the user has used reaches the maximum number of times of use. Then, the retail store server 60 determines the discount rate and the discount amount based on whether the number of times of use has reached the maximum number of times of use. The discount rate or the discount amount is no discount if the number of times the user has used the electronic coupon reaches the maximum number of times of use. If the number of times of use has not reached the maximum number of times of use, a predetermined discount rate or discount amount is obtained. The discount rate and the discount amount may be changed depending on the number of times of use. Further, the discount amount or discount rate may be changed for each user. Further, the discount rate or the discount amount may be changed depending on the period. In addition, points can be realized by discounting when the total number of times of use, number of purchases and total purchase price reaches a predetermined value.

After calculating the discount rate or the discount amount, the store server 60 transmits the discount information including the discount rate or the discount amount to the price register 50 (step C10).

The price register 50 stores the portable terminal information and the price register information in the store server 60 in step C6.
Then, the purchase price of the user's merchandise is calculated by the normal charge (C9).

When the discount information is received from the store server 60, the price calculator 50 applies the discount indicated in the discount information to the product purchase price calculated by the normal charge and displays the discounted price (step C11). ).

According to the electronic coupon system of this embodiment, not only can the number of times the electronic coupon be used be limited, but
Since the discount rate and the discount amount can be determined using the electronic coupon usage history that is centrally managed by the retail store server 60, various benefits such as easily dividing and changing the discount rate and the discount amount can be provided to the user. This can enhance the advertising effect.

[0070]

According to the electronic coupon system of the present invention, the electronic coupon is executed by the mobile terminal, the privilege information obtained by executing the electronic coupon is notified to the price register, and the price register after the privilege is applied. Since the price is calculated, the clerk and the user can easily exchange the price after applying the privilege by using the price.

Further, according to the electronic coupon system of the present invention, the privilege is determined by using the usage history of the electronic coupon centrally managed by the store server, so that the privilege can be easily classified or changed. By providing various benefits to the user, the advertising effect can be enhanced.

Further, according to the electronic coupon system of the present invention, since the number of times the downloaded electronic coupon is used is limited, a user who wants to repeatedly use the electronic coupon repeatedly accesses the electronic coupon server.
The number of access increases and the advertising effect increases.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic coupon system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a price registration device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic coupon server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic coupon system of the present embodiment when downloading an electronic coupon.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the electronic coupon system according to the embodiment of the present invention when using the electronic coupon.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic coupon system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic coupon system of the present embodiment when using the electronic coupon.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 electronic coupon system 10 mobile terminals 11 Display 12 Program execution section 13 Program storage section 14 Information transmitter 15 Interface 16 Wireless communication section 20 Advertising server 30 electronic coupon server 31 Electronic Coupon Store 32 Download control section 40 price register 41 Interface 42 Information receiver 43 Charge calculator 44 Display 50 price register 60 dealer server 80, 90 communication network A1 to A9, B1 to B10, C1 to 11 steps

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An electronic coupon server for transmitting an electronic coupon, which is an application program for providing a privilege to the user when the product is purchased by being executed by the user's mobile terminal, to an electronic coupon server; At that time, the price registration device is connected to the mobile terminal, receives the privilege information generated by the processing of the electronic coupon from the mobile terminal, and displays the purchase price to which the privilege indicated in the privilege information is applied. Electronic coupon system. 2. An electronic coupon server that transmits an electronic coupon, which is an application program that provides a privilege to the user when the product is purchased, by executing the electronic coupon server to the mobile terminal, and the user of each user. A usage history of electronic coupons is centrally managed for each mobile terminal information, and a store server that determines a privilege to be given to each user by using the usage history and the mobile terminal information, and the mobile terminal when purchasing a product The mobile terminal information that is connected and transmitted by the processing of the electronic coupon is received from the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal information is transmitted to the dealer server, and privilege information including the privilege determined by the dealer server is displayed. An electronic coupon system, comprising: a price register that receives the purchase price to which the privilege is applied and that is received from the store server. 3. The mobile terminal information includes information assigned to each mobile terminal to identify the mobile terminal.
Electronic coupon system described. 4. The electronic coupon system according to claim 1, wherein the privilege information includes information on a discount rate of purchased commodities. 5. The electronic coupon system according to claim 1, wherein the privilege information includes information on a discount amount of purchased commodities. 6. The electronic coupon system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic coupon has a maximum number of times that the user can receive a privilege. 7. The electronic coupon server according to claim 1, wherein the electronic coupon server transmits the electronic coupon to a mobile terminal that accesses the electronic coupon server and requests the electronic coupon. Electronic coupon system. 8. The electronic coupon system according to claim 7, further comprising an address disclosure server that discloses an address of the electronic coupon server. 9. The electronic coupon system according to claim 8, wherein the publication server publishes the address on a home page on which an advertisement of the electronic coupon provider is posted.