KR20060060283A - Method and system for integrating management of customer points - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention receives store use information from any store terminal or any web server through a communication network, and converts the received use point information into a standard point according to a pre-set conversion criteria for each vendor, and then uses the converted standard points. The present invention relates to a customer point integrated management system and method for updating first integrated point information stored in advance in correspondence with corresponding customer identification information to second integrated point information, wherein the plurality of stores (online store and offline store) are stored within a single membership card. The user information can be integrated and managed to eliminate the inconvenience that the user must have a plurality of membership cards.

Earn, Integrate, RFID, Mileage, Store

Description

{Method and system for integrating management of customer points}             

1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall system configuration for performing a customer point integrated management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flow chart showing a customer point integrated management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart showing a benefit providing method using cumulative points according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a benefit of deducting a communication service fee using an integration point according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: membership card 110: mobile communication terminal

115: store terminal 120: VAN company server

125: mobile communication service system 130: mobile communication service provider server

135: customer point management device 140: short message processing device

145: exchange 150: base station

155: billing device 160: store manager central server

The present invention relates to a customer point integrated management system and method, and in particular, by using a single membership card can be integrated management of customer points created in a plurality of online and offline stores separately for a plurality of store-specific customer cards A customer point integrated management system and method that do not need to be carried.

Currently, many offline stores issue membership cards in the form of magnetic cards for customers who visit the stores to purchase goods or use the service. Through such membership card, stores can attract regular customers, and customers can receive benefits such as discounts or free services using reserves.

However, the membership card system according to the prior art has a problem that a user can receive benefits provided when necessary as a service form for issuing an independent card for each store.

In order to solve this problem, attempts have been made to bundle a plurality of offline stores with affiliates and provide discount services using a single card. An example of this type of service is the KTF membership card service provided by KTF.

However, services that benefit users by integrating and managing multiple offline stores as affiliates give the user priority to partner miles that can be used within a period of time (for example, one year) before the user discounts from the affiliates. It is provided in the form of deducting the mileage of partner companies used in exchange for benefits.

In other words, the conventional service is operated in a form in which a user can receive future benefits as the user receives a service from an affiliate company, and an equivalent benefit is provided regardless of the service use history for the affiliate company. There was this.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is to integrate and manage user information commonly used in a plurality of stores (online stores and offline stores) in one membership card, so that a user must have a plurality of membership cards. It is to provide a customer point integrated management system and method that can eliminate the inconvenience.

Another object of the present invention is a customer point integrated management system that allows the integrated management of customer points accumulated in individual stores, and to use a variety of additional services using the integrated management point (that is, customer points or integration points) And a method.                         

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated customer point management system and method for easily acquiring regular customers for a specific store or franchise industry by cumulatively managing customer points corresponding to individual stores or franchises.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an integrated customer point management system and method that can use the accumulated points (ie, customer points or integration points) accumulated according to the use of online or offline stores as alternative payment means of various communication rates. It is.

In order to achieve the above objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, in a method for the customer point management device integrated management of points generated or destroyed by the user's consumption behavior-wherein the mobile communication service system is the customer point management A device, a message processing device, and a billing device, the step of receiving the store use information from a communication terminal from any store terminal or any web server, wherein the store use information includes customer identification information, store identification information, and use. Including point information, wherein the use point information is accumulation point information or subtraction point information; Converting the use point information into a standard point according to a predetermined conversion criteria for each vendor; And updating the first integration point information previously stored in correspondence with the customer identification information to the second integration point information by using the converted standard points. A system, apparatus, and recording medium are provided to enable this.

Collecting, by the charging device, charging data generated corresponding to the use of the communication service of the user, to subtract the charge generated according to the use of the communication service of the user by using the second integration point information; Requesting to provide the second integrated point information to the customer point management device; Receiving money information corresponding to the second integration point information or the second integration point information from the customer point management device; Subtracting amount information of the collected billing data by using the amount information corresponding to the second integration point information or the second integration point information; And transmitting a request for deduction of integration point information corresponding to the deducted amount information to the customer point management apparatus.

The integrated point management method comprises the steps of receiving a request for providing discount information corresponding to the user from the store terminal or the web server; Retrieving the stored second integration point information corresponding to the user; Determining a discount rate corresponding to the second integrated point information by using a preset discount rate application criterion; And transmitting the determined discount rate to the store terminal or the web server.

The method for integrated management of points may include updating first customer point information previously stored in correspondence with a franchise company including a vendor or a plurality of sellers with second customer point information using the store usage information, wherein the seller is And at least one of the store and the web server.

The integrated point management method comprises the steps of receiving a request for providing discount information corresponding to the user from the store terminal or the web server; Retrieving the stored second customer point information corresponding to the user; Determining a discount rate corresponding to the second customer point information using a preset discount rate application criterion; And transmitting the determined discount rate to the store terminal or the web server.

The message processing device may transmit a message including the second integration point information to the user's mobile communication terminal at the request of the customer point management device.

In addition, when the customer identification information is information stored in an electronic tag in the plastic card provided by the user, the point integrated management method further comprises the step of transmitting the updated second integrated point information to the store terminal via a communication network; The store terminal may store the received second integration point information in the electronic tag.

The customer identification information received by the customer point management device is information stored in an electronic tag in a plastic card provided by the user, which is read by the store terminal or provided by the web server from the user. do.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall system configuration for performing a customer point integrated management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the entire system for performing the customer point integrated management method according to the present invention is a membership card 100, a mobile communication terminal 110, a store terminal (115a, 115b, ..., 115n-less than 115 ), The VAN company server 120, the mobile communication service system 125, the store management company central server (160a, 160b, ..., 160n-hereinafter referred to as 160).

The membership card 100 is provided with an electronic tag 105 in which customer information (eg, a telephone number, a customer number, etc.) is stored to receive discounts and the like at a plurality of stores. The electronic tag in the present invention includes all data storage media configured to store customer information, such as an RFID chip, and to read stored customer information through the store terminal 115. The customer information stored in the electronic tag 105 can be updated, added, or deleted using a data recording device or the like. Since the configuration and function of the data recording device are obvious to those skilled in the art, the description thereof will be omitted.

The mobile communication terminal 110 may receive a message from the mobile communication service system 125 (for example, a short message composed of customer point information or cumulative point information, etc.), and transmit the mobile communication service system 125 to the mobile communication service system 125. It is a device that accesses a specific information providing server (not shown) and downloads arbitrary content (for example, a game, a ringtone, a background image, etc.) through the device. The mobile communication terminal 110 may be, for example, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like.

The store terminal 115 reads the customer information stored in the electronic tag 105 embedded in the membership card 100 and transmits the read customer information and the store identifier to the VAN company server 120. In this case, the store terminal 115 may transmit the purchase price information of the user or the customer point information calculated corresponding to the purchase amount. When the store terminal 115 transmits the purchase amount information together with the customer information, the customer point management device 135 may calculate the customer points corresponding to the purchase amount information corresponding to the store. Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on the case where the store terminal 115 calculates and transmits customer point information. In addition, a store in which the store terminal 115 according to the present invention is installed may be an independently operated store, an individual store included in a franchise company, a store set in a branch relationship with the main store, and the like.

The VAN company server 120 receives the customer point information from the store terminal 115 and transmits it to the mobile communication service provider server 130.

The mobile communication service system 125 includes a mobile service provider server 130, a customer point management device 135, a short message processing device 140, an exchange 145, a base station 150, and a charging device 155. . Of course, the mobile communication service system 125 may further include a home location register (HLR), a visitor location register (VLR), and the like.

The mobile telecommunication operator server 130 stores the customer information, the store identifier, and the customer point information received from the VAN company server 120, the customer point management apparatus 135 and the store manager central server 160 corresponding to each store terminal 115. To send).

The customer point management device 135 uses a customer information, a store identifier, and customer point information received from the mobile operator server 130 to classify a store (for example, KTC Gangnam branch) or a franchise including a corresponding store (for example, For example, accumulate and store customer points for the user corresponding to KFC). In addition, the customer point management apparatus 135 converts the customer points independently generated for each store into integrated points corresponding to the corresponding users by using the weights (or conversion criteria) for each store, and accumulates the integrated points. This is because the value of the customer points for each store may be different, so that the customer points for each store can be integrated to provide additional services. Of course, the customer points corresponding to each store or the like may be managed by each corresponding store manager central server 160, and the customer point management device 135 may manage only the integrated points. In addition to the customer points generated in each store, the integration point includes a communication usage point generated by the user's use of the mobile communication service (for example, a usage fee score added by 1 point for every 1,000 won usage fee, and there is no charge delinquency for one year). Special scores, etc.) may be further included. However, the following description will focus on the case where the integration point is calculated using only the customer points generated in each store.

The short message processing apparatus 140 generates a short message to include the customer point update information, the cumulative point update score, etc. according to a request of the customer point management apparatus 135 and transmits the short message to the mobile communication terminal 110.

The billing device 155 collects billing data generated every time a user uses a mobile communication service (eg, a content download service using a wireless Internet, a phone call, etc.) using the mobile communication terminal 110. It is a device to perform.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication service system 125 may further include a customer information database for storing subscriber information (eg, a phone number, additional service subscription details, and the like).

The store manager central server 160 is a device that accumulates and manages customer points generated by the store terminal 115 having a predetermined correlation. The store manager central server 160 is a server device provided in the store when the store is an independently operated store, a server device provided at the franchise headquarters when the store is included in a franchise company, and the store is a branch of a specific main store. In the case may be a server device provided in the main store. For example, if the store is a KFC Gangnam store, the customer points generated at the store are transferred to the KFC central server. Of course, if the store is an independently operated store and the store management company central server 160 is a server device provided in the store, the mobile service provider server 130 transfers the received customer points to the store management company central server 160. It may not be necessary to transmit.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for managing customer point integration according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, when a user who purchases an item in a certain store or uses a service presents a membership card 100, the store terminal 115 provided in the store may have an electronic tag 105 included in the membership card 100. Read the customer information stored in step (210). The customer information may be information that can identify the user, and may be, for example, a phone number or a customer management number.

In operation 215, the store terminal 115 calculates a use point corresponding to an item purchase amount or a service use amount of the corresponding user. The use points may be earned points (e.g., 5% in the case of goods purchase, etc.) or deduction points (e.g., 5% of the discount amount, etc., if a discount has been provided). It is apparent that the processing device for calculating the amount of goods, the points of accumulation and the reading device for reading the customer information may be implemented as devices that are independent and combined through a communication network.

Subsequently, in step 220, the store terminal 115 transmits store use information including customer information, a use point, a store identifier, and the like to the customer point management device 135 through a communication network.

The customer point management device 135 updates the previously stored customer points corresponding to the store or franchise classification by using the use points included in the store use information received from the store terminal 115 in step 225. Of course, if the customer point management device 135 manages only the integration point as described above, step 225 may be omitted.

In operation 230, the customer point management apparatus 135 calculates a newly generated integration point by using the store usage information received from the store terminal 115, and stores the newly generated integration point. When the customer point management device 135 calculates a newly generated integrated point using the received store usage information, the process of converting (ie, applying weights) the value of the customer point recognized by the store into a standardized point value It is also possible to perform a process of updating the cumulative integration point previously stored corresponding to the user by using the converted newly generated integration point. For example, if an integration point has a value of 10 won per point and customer points at a KFC store have a value of 5 won per point, then the use points included in the store usage information are KFC stores (i.e. stores). If the 150 points generated from the identifier) can be converted to 75 points to update the existing cumulative integration point. In addition, as described above, the customer point management device 135 receives communication service fee information (for example, a phone call fee, etc.) generated corresponding to the user from the charging device 155 and converts it into a corresponding integrated point. The cumulative integration point may be updated. The customer point management device 135 transmits the calculated customer point and / or integrated point information to the store terminal 115, and the store terminal 115 stores the electronic tag 105 included in the user's membership card 100. Information can be stored in the That is, a user may manage customer points and / or integration points using the electronic tag 105 included in the membership card 100.

In operation 235, the customer point managing apparatus 135 transmits a short message including the updated integrated point information to the mobile communication terminal 110 using the short message processing apparatus 140. However, it is obvious that the message may be variously implemented as a short message, a long message, a multimedia message, or the like. In addition, although FIG. 2 illustrates that the customer point management device 135 transmits the integrated point update information to the mobile communication terminal 110 after the calculation and storage of the integrated point is completed, the transmission of the customer point update information is performed in step 225. May be performed subsequently.

When the customer point management device 135 receives a cumulative point reading request from the mobile communication terminal 110 through step 240, the customer point management device 135 extracts the integrated point information corresponding to the user in step 245. The customer point management device 135 may extract an integration point corresponding to the user by using phone number information transmitted from the user's mobile communication terminal 110. A user may access a customer point management device 135 or a web server corresponding to the customer point management device 135 using a wireless Internet access function provided in the mobile communication terminal 110. Since a method for constructing a system in which a user connects to the customer point management device 135 using a wireless Internet access function is apparent to those skilled in the art, a description thereof will be omitted.

In operation 250, the customer point management apparatus transmits the point information extracted corresponding to the user in operation 250 to the mobile communication terminal 110 through the communication network.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a benefit providing method using cumulative points according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. That is, the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is a view showing a method for providing a discount when purchasing an item in any store by using integration points or customer points accumulated for any user, and the degree of accumulated points of customers ( That is, the present invention relates to a method of allowing a discount rate to be applied differently depending on whether a regular pass or not). Of course, the same discount rate (for example, 10% of the purchase amount, etc.) may be applied to all users corresponding to a predetermined level of accumulated points.

Referring to FIG. 3, in operation 310, the customer point management apparatus 135 receives a request for discount information from a store terminal 115 provided at a store. The discount rate information request may include customer information (eg, a phone number) stored in the electronic tag 105 provided in the membership card 100 possessed by the user and read by the store terminal 115.

In operation 315, the customer point management apparatus 135 extracts the stored accumulated points corresponding to the user. The cumulative point may be an integration point stored corresponding to the user or a customer point stored corresponding to the user and the store.

The customer point management apparatus 135 determines the discount rate stored corresponding to the user, and transmits the determined discount rate information to the store terminal 115 through the communication network. In this case, cumulative point information corresponding to the user (for example, a customer point or integrated point corresponding to the store) may be transmitted together. In addition, as described above, if the same discount rate is applied to all users, only the accumulated points may be transmitted.

As described above, when the updated customer points and / or integration points are stored and managed in the electronic tag 105 included in the membership card 100, the store terminal 115 stores the customer point management device 135. It is obvious that even if the cumulative point is not transmitted, the discount rate may be calculated and applied according to its own criteria by using the point information read from the electronic tag 105.

The customer point management apparatus 135 determines whether a point deduction request is received in step 330. The point deduction request is a message received when the user is provided with a discount at the corresponding store, and is for deducting points corresponding to the discount from the accumulated points. The point deduction request may include a store identifier, deduction point, and customer information.

When the point deduction request is received, the process proceeds to step 330 and the customer point management apparatus 135 updates the accumulated points stored corresponding to the user by deducting a point corresponding to the deduction point.

However, if the customer points are managed only in the store manager's central server 160, and the points that are deducted at the time of providing a discount in any store are the customer points, steps 310 to 330 are days of the process performed by the store manager's central server 160. Can be.

In addition, as described above, when the updated customer point and / or the integrated point are stored and managed in the electronic tag 105 included in the membership card 100, the customer point management apparatus 135 stores the terminal 115. The updated point information may be transmitted to the electronic tag 105 included in the membership card 100.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a benefit of deducting a communication service fee using an integration point according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in step 410, the charging device 155 determines whether charging data (eg, a telephone call fee, a wireless Internet access fee, a content download service usage fee, etc.) corresponding to any user is generated or collected. Judge. Step 410 may be performed at predetermined time points or may be performed in real time. For example, when a user downloads a specific content from an arbitrary content providing server through the wireless Internet, a payment fee using an integration point is performed through the following process so that the user can use the content free of charge.

When the charging data is generated, the charging device 155 transmits the integration point inquiry request to the customer point management device 135 in step 415. The integration point lookup request may include customer information (eg, a phone number).

The customer point management device 135 retrieves the user's integration point corresponding to the integration point inquiry request in step 425, and transmits the retrieved integration point information to the charging device 155.

The charging device 155 receives the integration point information from the customer point management device 135 in step 430, and converts the integration point information received in step 435 into money information according to a predetermined conversion criterion. Step 435 may be a step performed by the customer point management device 135, the customer point management device 135 may transmit the converted amount information to the billing device 155 through step 425.

In step 440, the billing device 155 offsets the amount corresponding to the generated billing data using the amount information converted in step 440, and then requests an integrated point deduction request corresponding to the amount information offset. Transmit to 135. The integration point deduction request may include deduction point information and customer information.

The customer point management device 135 receives the integration point deduction request from the charging device 155 in step 445, and updates the integration point information stored corresponding to the user in step 450. Although not shown in FIG. 4, the customer point management device 135 may transmit the updated integrated point information to the mobile communication terminal 110 of the user using the short message processing device 140.

In addition, as described above, when the updated customer point and / or the integrated point are stored and managed in the electronic tag 105 included in the membership card 100, the customer point management device 135 visits the user. By transmitting the updated point information to the store terminal 115 in contact with the membership card 100 may be stored in the electronic tag 105 included in the membership card (100).

Until now, in describing the integrated customer point management system and method according to the present invention, only the method of integrated management of customer points generated in an offline store has been described, but the customer points generated in an online store may be integrated and managed through a similar method. It can be obvious. For example, when an arbitrary user purchases an item in an online shopping mall, the shopping mall server stores the customer point generated by the user's purchase of the item together with the customer information (eg, a phone number). ) May be applied.

As described above, the integrated customer point management system and method according to the present invention can collectively manage user information used in a plurality of stores (online store and offline store) within a single membership card, so that the user has a plurality of membership cards. Discomfort that should be eliminated.

In addition, the present invention allows the integrated management of the customer points accumulated in individual stores, and to use a variety of additional services using the integrated management point (ie customer points or integration points).

In addition, the present invention is easy to secure a regular customer for a particular store or franchise industry by cumulative management of customer points corresponding to individual stores or franchise categories.

In addition, the present invention makes it possible to use the accumulated points (ie, customer points or integration points) accumulated according to the use history of online or offline stores as alternative payment means of various communication fees.

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below It will be appreciated that modifications and variations can be made.

Claims (11)

A method for integrating and managing points generated by a customer point management device by a user's consumption behavior, wherein the mobile communication service system includes the customer point management device, a message processing device, and a charging device; Receiving store use information from any store terminal or any web server through a communication network, wherein the store use information includes customer identification information, store identification information, and use point information, wherein the use point information is an accumulation point Information or subtraction point information; Converting the use point information into a standard point according to a predetermined conversion criteria for each vendor; And And updating the first integration point information previously stored in correspondence with the customer identification information to the second integration point information using the converted standard points. The method of claim 1, In order for the charging device to deduct the charge generated in correspondence to the communication service use of the user using the second integration point information, Collecting charging data generated corresponding to the user's use of the communication service; Requesting to provide the second integrated point information to the customer point management device; Receiving money information corresponding to the second integration point information or the second integration point information from the customer point management device; Subtracting amount information of the collected billing data by using the amount information corresponding to the second integration point information or the second integration point information; And And transmitting a request for deduction of integration point information corresponding to the deducted amount information to the customer point management device. The method of claim 1, Receiving a request for providing discount rate information corresponding to the user from the store terminal or the web server; Retrieving the stored second integration point information corresponding to the user; Determining a discount rate corresponding to the second integrated point information by using a preset discount rate application criterion; And And transmitting the determined discount rate to the store terminal or the web server. The method of claim 1, Updating the first customer point information stored in advance corresponding to the franchise company including the selling place or a plurality of selling places with the second customer point information by using the store use information, wherein the selling place is the store and the web server. And at least any one of. The method of claim 4, wherein Receiving a request for providing discount rate information corresponding to the user from the store terminal or the web server; Retrieving the stored second customer point information corresponding to the user; Determining a discount rate corresponding to the second customer point information using a preset discount rate application criterion; And And transmitting the determined discount rate to the store terminal or the web server. The method of claim 1, And the message processing apparatus transmits a message including the second integration point information to the user's mobile communication terminal at the request of the customer point management apparatus. The method of claim 1, When the customer identification information is information stored in an electronic tag in the plastic card provided by the user, And transmitting the updated second integrated point information to the store terminal through a communication network. And the store terminal stores the received second integration point information in the electronic tag. The method of claim 1, And the customer identification information is information stored in an electronic tag in a plastic card provided by the user and is information read by the store terminal or provided by the web server from the user. A customer point management device for integrated management of points generated or destroyed by a user's consumption behavior, wherein the mobile communication service system includes the customer point management device and the billing device; A storage unit which stores integration point information corresponding to each of the one or more users; Receiving unit for receiving the store use information from any store terminal or any web server through a communication network, wherein the store use information includes customer identification information, store identification information, use point information, the use point information is the earning point Information or subtraction point information; A converting unit converting the use point information into a standard point according to a predetermined conversion standard for each vendor; And And a point updater configured to update first integrated point information stored in the storage unit to second integrated point information and store the second integrated point information corresponding to the customer identification information using the converted standard points. The method of claim 9, When the charging data generated corresponding to the user's use of the communication service is collected, the charging device calculates corresponding price information by using the second integration point information stored in the storage, and uses the calculated money information. Customer point management device for subtracting the amount of money information of the collected billing data. In the recording medium recording a program that can be read by the web server, a program of instructions that can be executed by the web server to implement the point integrated management method, Receiving store use information from any store terminal or any web server through a communication network, wherein the store use information includes customer identification information, store identification information, and use point information, wherein the use point information is an accumulation point Information or subtraction point information; Converting the use point information into a standard point according to a predetermined conversion criteria for each vendor; And And updating the first integration point information previously stored in correspondence with the customer identification information to the second integration point information by using the converted standard points.

Images