FR2500943A1 - RATIONAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF MERCHANDISE RETAIL TRADE - Google Patents

Abstract

A. RATIONAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR RETAIL TRADE IN GOODS, INCLUDING CHATES 111 TO 133 CONNECTED TO A COMPUTER INSTALLATION 14, AND A CENTER 141 FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION FROM THE CHECKS. B. SYSTEM CHARACTERIZED IN THAT IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACCOUNT CARDS, RELATING TO CUSTOMERS, IN THAT CAISSES 111 TO 133 INCLUDE ACCOUNT CARD ENTRY MEANS, MEANS OF READING CARD DATA AND RECEPTION INFORMATION RELATING TO PURCHASES MADE AS WELL AS OTHER DATA (DATE, PLACE, PRICE), AND IN THAT THE PROCESSING CENTER 141 INCLUDES MEANS OF RATIONAL CENSUS OF DATA AND INFORMATION RECEIVED, AND MEANS OF OUTPUT SENDING ELEMENTS FOR INFORMATION AT THE MANAGEMENT CENTER 15 AND AT THE CASES 111 TO 133. C. THE INVENTION APPLIES TO MODERN RETAIL TRADE.

Description

The invention relates to a system for the rational management of commercial

  merchandise, and more specifically a system of the type comprising a number of electronic cash register counters and a calculator installation to which the cash registers are connected directly or indirectly, the system being furthermore equipped with a cash register unit. processing of the information sent by the cash registers to the computer installation. This system according to the invention makes it possible to obtain a more rational circulation of information and payments in the retail trade, since it constitutes a completely integrated system in which customers, retailers, suppliers and banks are effectively interconnected. . All links of this system are put

  in order to operate with a higher efficiency than previously

  to contribute to the general interest of using resources more efficiently and reducing

  total costs of trade in: goods.

  The retailing of merchandise has undergone, over the years, radical changes from direct bargaining between the seller and the buyer, with a view to arriving at a reasonable price acceptable to both parties to the sales transactions. modern large scale in which everyone pays in principle the same price for the same goods. This last mode of trade has been reinforced, for example, in self-service shops and

  automatic sale using only a minimum of staff.

  An important element of this development is the development of modern information processing techniques, which have made possible an overall control of the movement of goods between production and sales.

by retail.

  Although it is now possible to evaluate with great precision the different operations implemented in the manufacture of a product and its

  distribution to the retailer's shelves, there is practically no

  not the least information on the relationship between retail and final consumption. Retail trade currently has no means by which it can, on objective criteria, reward well-informed and price-conscious consumers, or any means of rationalizing this trade so that it can benefit both consumers and consumers alike. consumers, suppliers and retailers. It is already known that individual cards of various types, such as for example credit cards, account cards and payment cards, make it possible to eliminate the handling of banknotes or coins to thereby improve the facilities offered. customers and to reduce the risk of armed robbery in stores. We also know the use of similar credit cards to withdraw banknotes from ATMs or ATMs, and we know that the information collected on these cards also allows to know the habits, dates and purchase locations of card owners, particularly when

  whether or not they are at their place of work.

  The object of the invention is to improve the situa-

  of the prior art by providing the retail merchandise store with a system that uses information about consumers' buying patterns, habits, and buying behavior to compensate or reward consumers who have contributed to a more rational and profitable trading, and to provide consumers, traders and suppliers with information selected in a way that allows for a more rational use of goods and means of payment, in order to benefit both consumers and retailers of the gains from this rationalization by distributing equitably

  gains between those who participated in the rationalization.

For this purpose the invention relates to a

  rational management system for the retail trade of goods

  including a number of crates and a

  calculators to which the boxes are connected directly or indirectly, this system being furthermore equipped with a center for processing the information sent by the boxes to the computer installation, a system characterized in that it associates customer account cards that are continuously powered by data about the customers in question; in that the boxes are provided with input means of the account cards, means allowing

  read and analyze the data and receive the informa-

  the purchases made by the customers and possibly other data (date, places, price, etc.); and in that the processing center comprises programmed means according to the distribution of the goods and the economic aspects, to rationally identify and then store these data and the received information, and exit means for sending items of information. information to the system management center and to the credit unions on specific dates

  in advance according to this data and / or this information.

  The invention will be described in detail by means of the drawings herein, in which: FIG. 1 schematically represents a system according to the invention; and FIG. 2 represents in more detail various functional blocks used in the system of FIG. 1. Due to the highly developed technology of modern computers, it is possible, by the system

  according to the invention to indirectly take over the negotia-

  purchase agreements between a buyer and a seller.

  A prerequisite for this is to have easy access to the correct information about consumers, goods and purchases

  performed. With regard to consumers, information

  important questions are those that answer the questions

  OR? WHEN? HOW WHAT? WITH WHAT FREQUENCY the consumer

  he buys, as well as those concerning the age, the family, the residence, the economic means, the purchasing behavior of each individual. As regards goods, these can be divided into several different groups such as for example high-margin goods (articles

  luxury goods), medium-sized goods (articles of excel-

  slow quality), low-margin goods (consumer goods, food), discounted merchandise, etc. Information on purchases made must include, for example, product lines, quantities,

prices, dates (days hours).

  Rationalization is based on better knowledge of consumers and goods in retail channels; to bear fruit this knowledge must be presented to consumers. at store checkouts, stewardship stores, chain stores, manufacturers, advertising agencies and other organizations. This gives a very precise overview of the demand for goods in terms of time, place, price, frequency, etc., this overview being exactly the necessary tool for retailers to improve the desired rationalization. A well-developed and computer-controlled market technique can thus replace, for example, long price haggling

Oriental markets.

  The system shown schematically on

  Figure 1 includes three shops 11, 12, 13 provided with

  number of cases 111, 112, 113, 121, 122, 123 and 131, 132, 133; a computing facility 14 provided with a computing and processing center 141; a management center 15 of the company; a store 16, and a number of sub-suppliers 19. This system is associated with customer account cards represented in FIG. 1 by small triangles. On these cards are permanently entered data relating to the customer in question, such data concerning for example the name, address, age, family status, second home, properties, etc. following information provided by the customer on his own initiative. The boxes 11 ... 133 are provided, in a conventional manner, means for reading these account cards for scanning the data entered, and means allowing (via a keyboard) to receive

  information relating to purchases made by the consumer

  as well as other possible data such as for example day, time, place, product line,

  the quantity, the price, the margin etc ...

  The scheduling and processing center 141 includes means programmed to compile and store this data as well as the information relating to it.

  the distribution of goods and economic aspects.

  The processing center also includes output means providing the details of the information to the management center of the shop and to the crates, at predetermined times depending on the data and / or information. The cash desks of the shop are connected to the entrance of the calculation and processing facility, by lines 114, 124, 134 bringing the customer data and the information relating to the goods, and at the exit of the installation for calculating and processing, lines 115, 125, 135 for receiving customer data and possibly other information. One can also imagine an indirect connection consisting for example of sending once a day the information of bands

  magnetic, in the computing facility.

  The computing installation 14 includes a second output connected by the lines 141, 142, 143 to the management center 15 which, by a line 151, transmits to the magazine 16 the information relating to the stock of goods etc ... and, by a second line 152, transmits to customers

  information relating to funds 11 to 133, this information

  For example, the sub-suppliers 19 receive the orders from the management center 15 via the line 153 and the mails to the magazine 16 in the direction of the arrow 191. The big arrow 161, from shop 16 to shops 11, 12, 13, indicates the direction of transport of goods to

  shops, this transport being carried out on the basis of

  previously received from the management center 15 -

  To complete the system, FIG. 1 also represents a payment loop constituted for example by a banking center 17, and a work center 18. The idea is that the wages and remuneration are transmitted (by calculator) from the work center 18 to the customers' bank accounts via a line 181, and that the cost information of the funds is transmitted via lines 116, 126, 136 to the customer accounts located in the bank center 17. Customers are then informed of these charges. by the banks, such information being for example transmitted by ordinary mail, as indicated by the

arrow 171.

  Special information may be transmitted from the management center to customers by mail, account cards or banks, by means of a personally addressed invoice, when a card is used

  such as, for example, the cash register 111, these informa-

  which may indicate, for example, that the limit bonus has been reached, or give the bonus or information

  relating to previously ordered goods etc ...

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the computing installation may comprise a special client memory intended to store the special information of the account cards, such as, for example, the total purchases made, the credit granted, the bonus reached, etc. This memory occurs automatically when for example a certain total volume of purchases (bonus limit) is reached, or when the credit granted is exceeded, so as to send this special information at the time of reading

  of the corresponding account card, in a cash register.

  This client memory is identified by reference 144 in FIG. 2. The computing installation 14 also comprises a special merchandise memory intended to store the special information relating to

  goods, such as for example the withdrawal of goods from

  goods (product line, quantity / number). This memory occurs automatically when for example the quantity / number of a product line falls below a predetermined value, the information thus obtained being sent to the management center 15 of the system which in turn sends to the store

  16 order to deliver new goods to the shops.

  The customer memory 144 and the merchandise memory 145 are each divided into several different memories, one memory for each shop or shopping center, these partial memories can be connected only to the associated shop in question. such as, for example, shop 11 of stores 11, 12, 13. The special customer memory can also, at the time of reading an account card in a cash register, send information as to whether the account card belongs to a customer holding a credit

  or a paying cash customer. In the case of a customer

  credit, the client memory also sends a

  whether the volume of purchases made,

  to the goods that have just been removed, remain in

the limits of the planned credit.

  Boxes 111 ... 133 must be equipped with modern electronic cash registers that can operate with cash (banknotes, coins), checks and credit cards of various types. In addition, these boxes must be able to provide a detailed list of the goods purchased by each customer. The cash registers must also include filing means that allow the prices of the goods purchased to be distributed in the various margin categories to be divided, and these categories to be carried forward as part of a bonus system. Cash registers must finally be provided

  card reading means; printing equipment allows

  for example, to print the name of the customer at the top of the invoice; a clock and a calendar allowing

  accurately determine the date of purchase (which makes it

  the application of a bar4me of different prices, by a bonus system remunerating consumers buying at off-peak hours); of a memory recording the desires of the

  consumers (eg discounts on

  at a certain price); and means for classifying the purchases made by a customer per day, per month and per year, so as to obtain the basic elements of the bonus system. The term goods is used here in a broad sense and may, in

  in some cases, also concern services.

  As already mentioned above, one of the aims of the invention is to allow a more rational use of available resources. When for example a new product is introduced on the market, it is necessary to

  start the distribution of this product on a relative scale

  after which, on the basis of the results thus obtained, the distribution of the product may be continued, possibly modified, or extended. About this the installation

  14 includes a special test and planning memory.

  146 to store the information

  customer-product relations, in order to capture information from customer memory 144 and merchandise memory 145, based on criteria derived from a given distribution of

a given period of time.

  Electronic cash registers are preferably designed to be able to read, analyze and

  deal with all types of credit cards, so as to eliminate

  sea the current disadvantages resulting from the very

  lists, called stop lists, or special invoices.

  designed for different types of cards, etc.

  A system according to the invention can be used for a single store, for multiple stores, or for multiple multiple stores associated. The different possible variants are characterized in common by the fact that consumers are voluntarily consulted and invited to participate in the system by indicating their buying habits, which makes it possible to release rationalized gains for the shops, these motivating gains automatically

  consumers and producing new gains for themselves.

  A precondition for obtaining these results is the creation of the flow of knowledge related to the system according to the invention and the resulting advantages for all those who have the opportunity to act more rationally in the long chain.

  decisions leading to a purchase.

9 2500943

Claims (5)

  1- System of rational management of the retail trade of goods, including some   number of boxes (111 to 133) and a calculating   (14) to which the boxes are connected directly or indirectly, this system being furthermore equipped with a center (141) for processing the information sent by the boxes to the computer installation, a system characterized in that it is associates customer-related account cards that are continuously powered by customer data; in that the boxes (111 to 133) are provided with means for inputting the account cards, means for reading and analyzing the data and for receiving information relating to the purchases that have been made by the customers. and possibly to receive other data (date, place, price etc ...); and in that the processing center (141) comprises programmed means according to the distribution of the goods and the economic aspects, for rationally identifying and subsequently storing these data and the received information, and output means for sending data. elements of information at the management center (15) of the system and the caisses (11 to 133) on dates   determined in advance according to these data and / or information tions.   2- System according to claim 1, characterized   in that the computer installation (14) comprises a special memory memory (144) intended to store particular information on the account cards, such as for example information on the total purchases or the credits allocated, this memory ( 144) that can occur automatically when, for example, a certain total volume of purchases (bonus limit) has been reached, or when an allocated credit (limit stop) is exceeded, so as to send to a cash register (for example the cashier 11) this particular information   when reading the account cards.   3- System according to any one of   claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the installation   of calculators (14) comprises a special goods memory (145) for storing special information relating to the goods, such as, for example, information of 10 withdrawals of goods (product line, quantity / number,   price etc ...), this memory (145) being able to intervene automati-   when, for example, the quantity / number of a line of   products falls to a predetermined level, this information is   being sent to the management center (15) of the system.   4 - System according to any one of the   1 to 3, characterized in that the installation of   latters (14) comprises a special test and planning memory.   cation (146) for storing special information of   customer-product relationship, this information being obtained in   sulting the information from the client memory (144) and the memory-   goods (145) on the basis of criteria drawn from a certain   distribution of certain products during a given period.   v- System according to any one of   Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that memory   special customers (144) and the special goods memory (145) are divided into a number of different partial memories, one memory per shopping center, these partial memories can be connected only to one corresponding buying center.   6- System according to any one of   Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the memory-clients   Special (145) can automatically send, at the time of reading an account card in a cash register (for example 111), information as to whether this account card belongs to a customer purchasing on credit or to a cash paying customer.