JP2002352148A - Customer service method, system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conduct a customer service capable of preventions, such as reluctant buying or the like. SOLUTION: In this customer service method for returning a profit to a customer 3, who has bought pay information before price reduction when the price reduction is made in the pay information sold at a certain price, the e-mail address and deposit and saving bank account of the customer 3 are acquired and stored in a customer DB of a charging server 10 when the pay information is sold, and when a price reduction is made in the pay information, the deposit and saving bank account being a performing destination for stored price adjustment are read from the customer DB, and price adjustment is applied to the read deposit and saving bank account.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a customer service method, a customer service system and a program for selling goods and providing services.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when music information, image information, and the like are distributed and obtained via the Internet or the like as electronic data, a certain price is fixed. Are often credit card payments or debits from bank accounts), and the information obtained is free to be used multiple times, as long as you comply with the terms and conditions agreed upon before obtaining it. it can.

[0003] The buying and selling of information by distributing this kind of electronic data (hereinafter referred to as "paid information delivery service") can be said to be a so-called "sales out" business of information, and is a hardware recording medium such as a cassette tape, MD (Mini Disk). ,
CD (Compact Disk) and DVD (Digital Video Disk)
This is basically the same as a conventional buying and selling method for buying and selling information such as music recorded on hardware such as. That is, conventionally, a selling price of a hardware recording medium on which information is recorded is determined in advance, and the selling price is purchased at a store or the like using cash or a credit card. On the other hand, in the paid information distribution service, only information is transferred to a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) owned by the user through an information transmission system (including the Internet) using telephone lines, optical fibers, mobile telephone networks, satellite communication devices and the like. )) Or the inside of a device having an information recording function (hereinafter referred to as “device with information recording function”)
The payment of the information purchase cost is made by contacting a credit card number or the like. By the way, the basic trading mechanism in the paid information distribution service is not different from the conventional one.

In the paid information distribution service, every time information is purchased, information on a payment method, for example, in the case of a credit card payment, credit card information (information on the credit card owner, a credit card number, a password, etc.) is input. Is done by sending.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-149502 describes, from the viewpoint of the complexity of the input / transmission operation and security, "Paid content service providing method and system, storage medium storing paid content providing program, member management device, and member management. A storage medium storing a program "has been proposed. However, this invention does not disclose a price discount method for already provided content.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an information providing terminal capable of simplifying fee collection and changing the fee for newly distributed information in accordance with the state of use of information.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 195834 proposes an "information fee billing system, an information providing terminal and an information center". However, this invention discloses a price discount for newly distributed information, but does not disclose a price discount method including information already distributed (charged). In addition, since the accounting condition is changed according to the past distribution results, there is no disclosure of a price discount method for a one-time transaction.

[0006] By the way, it is expected that in the future, mail-order sales utilizing a broadcast / communication system, the Internet, and the like, and e-commerce called e-commerce will develop.
In particular, due to the use of the Internet and other broadband services, paid information distribution services using the Internet and the like are expected to further develop in the future, and music information distribution services and the like are already being spread.

[0007] Further, the information distribution service for mobile objects such as automobiles and ships is one of the important services in the ITS (advanced traffic system), from road traffic information such as congestion information to event information and emergency communication. Various content distribution services such as information are being studied. For example, a broadcast-type information distribution service using a quasi-zenith satellite such as a long elliptical orbit satellite (HEO satellite; Highly Elliptical Orbit satellite) is an information distribution service for these mobile objects. It is expected to be a key infrastructure for services. Incidentally, the broadcast-type information distribution service includes a type for outputting information received in real time (stream-based information), and information received once in an information storage device provided inside the receiver, and the information is stored and stored. The information is classified into two types (storage type and on-demand type information) of outputting necessary information in a required form from the information obtained when necessary.

[0008]

By the way, in addition to the aforementioned pay information (including computer software), real estate such as condominiums, information-related equipment such as home game machines, automobiles, Food, clothing,
They are various, such as pharmaceuticals. There are also massages, language lessons, passenger transport, logistics services, etc. as services. These products (services) are sold (provided) at a certain price, but the price may be reduced for some reason after the sale. Reasons for price cuts include promotion,
Secure market share, follow other companies, innovate technology, reduce purchasing costs, etc. In any case, if the price is reduced, the purchaser before the price reduction may have a complicated feeling like a loss. Consumers may also be willing to buy products that have significant technological innovation or competition, after the price cuts, because there will be a price cut in the future. It is feared that such consumer sentiment may lead to restrained buying. However, if you do not cut prices, sales may not go well in relation to other companies' products.

[0009] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems.

[0010]

According to the present invention, which has solved the above-mentioned problems, the contact information of a purchaser (customer) is heard when selling a product, and the price is reduced when the price of the product is reduced. We decided to adjust the price based on contact information. Customer service is performed by this price adjustment. In the embodiment of the invention, the price adjustment is described as profit return, which is one aspect of the adjustment.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The embodiments of the present invention will be described separately for a customer service embodiment related to sales of pay information and a customer service embodiment related to sales of goods (services).

{Charging Method / Charging Unit Price Setting Method} First, before describing a specific embodiment, a charging method (charging unit price setting method) in sales of pay information will be described. The billing method for selling pay information includes (1) a method of charging according to the number of times of use by a customer, (2) a method of changing a unit price of charge according to the sales status of pay information, and (3) a new release of pay information. A method of changing the charging unit price according to the elapsed time from the time point is conceivable.

(1) A method of charging according to the number of times of use by a customer will be described. For example, consider a case where certain information is "purchased" via the Internet. In this case, the “purchase method” for this customer includes the following three cases a to c.
There are two options.

(Case a) Generally considered purchase method; that is, a contract method in which the number of uses of the information is not limited as long as the method of use basically follows the contract conditions. In the case of music information, basically, it can be heard any number of times. However, illegal copying of information (copying outside the contract range) is naturally prohibited. Hereinafter, the contract in case a is referred to as a “purchase contract”, and the fee at this time is referred to as a “new purchase fee”.

(Case b) Method of setting prescribed number of uses; that is, a contract method in which the number of uses of the information within a predetermined number of times is not limited as long as the method of use basically complies with the contract conditions. . Hereinafter, the contract in this case is referred to as a “multi-contract”, and the fee at this time is referred to as a “multi-contract fee”. In the case of music information, for example, if the predetermined number of times is 5, the user can listen to the music up to 5 times by paying the “first multi-contract fee”. If the user has listened to the music five times and wants to listen to the music, he or she can pay the "second multi-contract fee" and listen to the music up to five times. Thereafter, by paying "3rd multi-contract fee", "4th multi-contract fee", etc., it is possible to increase the number of usable times. Here, the basic concept of the present invention is as follows. According to the above, it is preferable that the first multi-contract fee> the second multi-contract fee> the third multi-contract fee>. Of course, the same price may be used. In addition,
After paying the first or several multi-contract fees, there may of course be a case where it is desired to change to a contract system (purchase) that does not depend on the number of uses. In this case, it is reasonable to set the "purchase price (current price)" at that time so as to satisfy the following equation 1. “Past payment total” + “Purchase price”> “New purchase fee” Expression 1 Of course, the “Purchase price (current price)” at that time may be set so as to satisfy the following Expression 2. "Past payment total" + "Purchase price" = "New purchase fee" ... Equation 2

(Case c) A method of paying a charge each time it is used; that is, a special case of “multi-contract”, but a method of contracting only for one-time use. In this case, for example, if you listen to music only once, but if you like the music and want to listen again,
I will have to make a contract again. Hereinafter, the contract in this case c is referred to as a “single contract charge”, and the charge at this time is referred to as a “single contract charge”. Note that, like the multi-contract fee in case b, according to the basic concept of the present invention, it is preferable that the first single contract fee> the second single contract fee> the third single contract fee>. However, of course, the price may be the same. In addition, when the “multi-contract fee” permits a maximum of m uses, the first to m-th
It is common to set “1st to m-th single contract fee” so that the total of single contract fees up to the first time> the first multi-contract fee. Single contract fee total = 1st multi contract fee
Of course, it is also possible to set “the 1st to m-th single contract fee”. In some cases, the contract may be changed to a “purchase agreement” or a “multi-contract”.
When the usage fee per one time calculated by the number of times is A, the average usage fee per multi-contract is B, and the average usage fee per single-subscription is C,
It is reasonable to set C>B> A. It goes without saying that C = B = A may be set, but from the information seller's point of view, the purchase with the “new purchase fee” is the most business-friendly. If a single contract or multiple contracts are made multiple times, if each unit price is reduced according to the number of contracts and the number of uses, or if the total fee paid so far exceeds the new purchase fee to a certain extent, Making subsequent use free is also effective in terms of profit distribution.

(2) A method of changing the charging unit price according to the sales status of pay information will be described. In this method, for example, when certain information is disclosed as paid information on the Internet, if there are more information purchasers (customers) than planned in advance, the price basically does not change in a generally considered manner. Therefore, the information seller can obtain more profits than planned. The point of this method is
Paying attention to the fact that the planned quantity was sold means that the cost of creating the information and the planned profit have been collected, and by lowering the unit price and increasing the number of sales, the information seller The goal is to create an environment that benefits the information buyers while at the same time increasing the overall profits of the buyer.

By the way, if you sell more than a certain amount,
Since then, it may be possible to lower the unit price and sell it to increase sales. The feature of this method is that the benefits are applied to the existing purchasers. For example, initially, the price of certain information is sold as X yen. At this time, the price setting on the information seller side is often basically based on the following Expression 3. X = (Cost of information creation C + Planned profit P) ÷ (Number of sales planners M) Expression 3 Of course, in practice, the price is set based on external factors (such as the relationship with competing products). In many cases, the basic idea is based on the idea of Equation 3.

However, in the case where the product is “information” traded via the Internet or the like, for example, software, music information, video information, etc., once the costs related to the product development have been collected, it will be sold thereafter. Basically, almost everything benefits. However, if the price X is high, the increase in the number of sales staff cannot be expected so much. However, the price is calculated as X '
Even if the price is reduced to yen, the originally planned profit can be secured. X '= (Cost of creating the information C + Planned profit P) ÷ (Total number of salespersons sold so far N) Expression 4 where N> M.

In other words, when M pieces of software are scheduled to be sold and the price is set at X yen per piece based on the formula 3, when N pieces more than M pieces are actually sold, On the information seller side, X yen * (N−M) books are the accumulated profits initially planned. Then, the information seller can return a part or all of the profit to the people who purchased the software based on Equation 4.

Specifically, (XX ') yen is given back to the existing purchaser of the software, and the software is offered at a new price X' yen to the new purchaser. That means that both the first and later buyers have basically purchased at the same price. Of course, an extreme case (returning all additional profits to the buyer) is shown here for explanation, but a percentage of the additional profit is returned (payback) to all buyers. If this method is adopted, it will also increase the profit for the information seller.

In the present description, in order to simply show the purpose of the present invention, the return of profits is described as when the number of sales exceeds the initially planned number of M pieces to some extent. If profits exceed profits, some or all of the increase in profits can be returned to existing buyers in the form of payback, and to new buyers in the form of reduced prices. it can.

By adopting this method, from the point of view of the information purchaser, the price does not change whether it is purchased first or later, and in the case of attractive software, even if the price is slightly higher at the time of purchase, the profit is eventually returned There is a possibility that there is a possibility that there is no buying restraint. As a result, if you sell attractive software, many people buy it, resulting in lower prices, more people buy, and lower prices. Will be opened.

(3) A description will be given of a method of changing the charging unit price according to the elapsed period from the point of the new release of the pay information. According to this method, for example, at the time of a new release, the unit was sold at a unit price of D ₁ yen, but the unit price setting was changed over time to D ₂ yen,
It is a method that becomes cheaper, such as ₃ yen. Here, D ₁ > D ₂ > D ₃ ,. For existing purchaser purchased at ₁ yen D, reducing the difference of ₁ yen -D ₂ yen D, for the existing purchaser purchased in ₂ yen D, the difference of ₂ yen -D ₃ yen D Can be reduced. This billing method (billing amount setting method) is also effective.

Of course, the above (1), (2), and (3) may be operated independently, or may be operated by appropriately combining (1), (2), and (3). Either way,
Increasing profit returns will lead to an increase in the corporate image that the buyer has for the company, resulting in customer retention, early launch of the business,
This will lead to acceleration of de facto standardization, business expansion, and market share.

First Embodiment Next, a customer service method according to a first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the customer service method according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, this first embodiment is
It is implemented between the charging center 1, the information seller 2, the customer (purchaser) 3, and the financial institution 4.

[Charging Center / Charging Server] Charging Center 1
And the billing server 10 will be described. The charging center 1 shown in FIG. 1 mediates an order for pay information by a charging server 10 connected to a communication line, and charges the customer 3 (collects a fee). In addition, the profit is returned to the customer 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the charging center 1 includes a charging server 10 including a control device and a storage device. The control device of the billing server 10 is a CPU (Central Pr
An accounting unit 10 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) are provided to control the accounting server 10 in an integrated manner. The storage device includes a hard disk device and the like, and stores various data. The accounting server 10 includes an input / output device and a communication device (not shown). Among them, the communication device is TCP / IP (Transport Control Protocol /
It has a function of communicating with the Internet Protocol, and realizes transmission and reception of information via a communication line (the Internet).

The control device includes a WWW (World Wide)
Web) The server program is running. The WWW server program causes the billing server 10 to function as a Web server, and provides various information to other Web servers and Web clients on a communication line, specifically, an information distribution server 20 and a customer terminal 30 described later. Conversely, it is a basic program for acquiring various information from these. Further, the WWW server program implements, for example, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) in order to realize secure communication.
r) is included to encrypt communications to prevent sensitive data from being eavesdropped by third parties.

In addition to the WWW server program, the control device transmits purchase information (paid information purchase application) transmitted from the customer terminal 30 through the communication line to the information distribution server 20 through the communication line. The agent program is running. In addition, a customer registration reception program (price adjustment execution destination acquisition means) for receiving customer information from the customer terminal 30 via the communication line has been activated. Also,
A billing program for billing is running. Also, when profit return information (price reduction information) is input (acquired) from the information distribution server 20 via a communication line, a profit return execution program (price reduction information acquisition means, price adjustment execution means) for executing profit return is activated. . Details of the function of each program will be described later with reference to the drawings. The purchase information transfer program causes the accounting server 10 as a computer to function as “commodity order receiving means” in the claims. In addition, the customer registration reception program causes the charging server 10 to function as a “price adjustment execution destination acquisition unit” in the claims. Further, the profit return execution program causes the accounting server 10 to function as “price reduction information acquisition means” and “price adjustment execution means” in the claims.

The storage device has a customer DB (Data Base), an information seller DB, an authentication DB, a sales history DB, and the like. The customer DB is a database created based on customer information, and registers and manages the customer 3. This customer DB
Has items (fields) such as a customer ID, a name, a telephone number, an e-mail address, a savings account number, and a credit card number, as shown in the logical configuration table of Table 1 as information on the customer 3. The savings account number corresponds to the execution destination of the price adjustment in the claims. The credit card number is an item required to charge for an information order. In addition, the telephone number and the e-mail address correspond to the customer's contact information in the claims. If the savings / deposit account number where the payment adjustment is performed is not stored in the customer DB, the customer's DB is contacted and the payment is made. It is used for inputting (acquiring) the execution destination of the adjustment to the accounting server 10. The customer DB is updated when the e-mail address, the savings account number, and the like of the customer 3 are changed.

[0033]

[Table 1]

The information seller DB is a database for managing the information seller 2. The authentication DB is a DB used when authenticating the information seller 2 and the customer 3 accessing the charging server 10. The sales history DB manages which customer 3 has purchased which paid information, and the like. Therefore, as shown in the logical configuration table of Table 2, the sales history DB stores the pay information I
D, customer ID, information seller ID, purchase price, purchase contract conditions, and the like. Paid information ID is paid information (product)
Everything is unique.

[0035]

[Table 2]

The storage device stores home page data. The homepage data is various data necessary for performing a customer service (profit return) on a homepage on the Internet. For example, data such as a customer information registration page, a customer authentication page, and a paid information order page. Homepage data is HTML
(Hyper Text Markup Language) format. Further, the storage device stores information necessary to issue a transfer instruction for returning profits to the financial institution 4.

[Information Seller / Information Delivery Server] The information seller 2 and the information delivery server 20 will be described. An information seller 2 shown in FIG. 1 is an information distribution server 2 connected to a communication line.
0 is a company whose business is to sell (distribute) pay information to the general public. The information seller 2 purchases pay information as a product from a third party or creates the information independently and stores it in the storage device of the information distribution server 20. Incidentally, there are a plurality of information sellers 2 (and information distribution server 20) on a communication line, for example, a person who distributes pay information only for music and a person who distributes pay information exclusively for video. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the information distribution server 20
Is composed of a control device and a storage device in the same manner as the charging server 10 described above. The information distribution server 20 is under the control of the information seller 2, and distributes pay information to the customer 3 via a communication line. The control device of the information distribution server 20 has a WWW server program running.
Also, the control device extracts pay information corresponding to the order information (pay information purchase application) input (acquired) via the communication line from the storage device, and transmits the pay information to the customer terminal 30. Is running. The pay information distribution program has a function of encrypting and distributing pay information. The encryption processing and the restoration processing will be described later. In the control device, a menu presentation program for presenting a menu for ordering paid information to the customer terminal 30 via a communication line has been activated. In addition, a profit return information transmission program for transmitting profit return information (price reduction information) to the billing server 10 is running. The details of the function of each program will be described later.

The storage device of the information distribution server 20 has a pay information DB storing various pay information.
The menu described above is associated with the pay information. In addition, homepage data for presenting a menu to the customer 3 is stored in the storage device. The pay information includes software, music information, image / video information, and the like that can be distributed via a communication line.

[Customer / Customer Terminal] Customer 3 and customer terminal 3
0 will be explained. A customer 3 shown in FIG. 1 is a person (purchaser) who purchases pay information via a customer terminal 30 connected to a communication line. This customer 3 can receive the profit return if the pay information is price-reduced and the pay information to be profit-returned is purchased.

The customer terminal 30 shown in FIG. 1 has the same hardware configuration as the billing server 10 and the like. A control device (not shown) of the customer terminal 30 includes a customer terminal 3
A WWW browser program (WWW browser) for causing 0 to function as a Web client is running. WW
The W browser is a program that realizes transmission and reception of various information between a Web client and a Web server (the billing server 10 and the information distribution server 20) via a communication line. The functions of the customer terminal 30, such as transmission of a paid information purchase application to the billing server 10 and transmission of customer information, are performed on the premise of the WWW browser. Further, a program downloaded from the information distribution server 20, for example, a program for executing a received information integrity check described later or a program for executing information use status recording / notification is activated.

[Financial Institution] The financial institution 4 shown in FIG. 1 has a function of transferring a profit return to the account of the customer 3 in accordance with a transfer command via the communication line of the charging server 10 of the charging center 1.

[Purchase of Paid Information and Return of Profit] Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the operation from when the customer 3 purchases the paid information from the information seller 2 until the profit is finally returned will be described. See FIG. 1 as appropriate). FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation from purchase of pay information to profit return.

In response to the service request from the customer terminal 30, the information distribution server 20 performs "payment information menu presentation" such as a contract method and a price for the pay information sold by the information seller 2 (S11). See Figure 3 for this menu.
And will be described later.

When the customer 3 purchases the pay information related to the menu presentation, the customer 3 needs to purchase the billing center 1 (the billing server 1) in advance.
In step S12, customer information is registered (S12), and a "payment information purchase application" is made via the charging server 10 (S13). The billing server 10 checks whether the customer 3 has eligibility to purchase the pay information (for example, age restriction), has the ability to pay, and the like by the “A. customer information check” process. Center charging unavailable information "
Is returned to the customer terminal 30 (S14), and in the case of OK, "customer and purchased item information" is transmitted to the information distribution server 20 (S14).
15). The registration of customer information (refer to Table 1) in the billing server 10 (registration in the customer DB) is performed according to the description “computer readout of contact information of this customer and execution destination of price adjustment when selling the product”. Stored in a file as possible information ".

The information seller 2 has “customer and purchase information”.
Is received, the pay information is transmitted to the customer terminal 30 (S16). This pay information is transmitted as encrypted information. The customer terminal 30 receives this, checks it by the "B. Reception information integrity check" process, and if there is any deficiency in the reception information, "Retransmission request information or purchase cancellation information"
Is transmitted to the information distribution server 20 (S17). In the case of a retransmission request, the information distribution server 20 sets “C.
In the "measures" processing, the transmitted pay information is checked within a range where it is possible to determine where the problem has occurred, and if necessary, measures are taken and resent. If the cause of the failure is unknown, it may be resent as it is (retry). This is because transmission may succeed due to retry. Note that "B.
The program for performing the “reception information integrity check” is downloaded from the information distribution server 20 when, for example, pay information is purchased.

If there is no problem with the received pay information, the “OK” notification “reception information integrity check information” is transmitted from the customer terminal 30 to the charging server 10 and the information distribution server 20.
(S18). The information distribution server 20 that has received the “reception information integrity check information” sends the “information use license information”
Is transmitted to the billing server 10 and the customer terminal 30 (S1).
9).

The billing center 1 confirms that the “reception information completeness confirmation information” from the customer terminal 30 and the “information use license information” from the information distribution server 20 have been received.
“D. Billing process 1” is performed. When the charging process is performed, the “charging process completion information” is transmitted to the information distribution server 20 and the customer terminal 30.
(S20). The billing server 10
Writes data in the sales history DB (see Table 2). FIG. 4 shows a screen example of “charging process completion information” transmitted from the charging server 10 to the customer terminal 30.

On the other hand, the customer 3 restores the transmission information by using the information restoration information included in the transmission information in S16 and the decryption key included in the “information license information” in S19. And return to a usable form. In order to use the information in accordance with the contract regarding the use of information, the "E. information use status recording & notification function" automatically counts and monitors the number of uses. For example, when the contract condition is the above-mentioned "multi-contract", when the number of uses reaches the specified number, a screen prompting re-contract is automatically displayed on the customer terminal 30, and the "information purchase condition change information" is 10 (S2
2). The program for executing the “E. information use status recording & notification function” is, for example, downloaded from the information distribution server 20 to the customer terminal 30 in advance and activated by the control device of the customer terminal 30.

The charging center 1 performs the charging process "G. Charging process 2" at the current rate, and transmits "charging process completion information" to both the information distribution server 20 and the customer terminal 30 (S23). However, in the case where the information seller 2 has transmitted the “charging condition change information” to the charging server 10 in advance (S21), the charging process based on the amount (in this embodiment, the price at the time of the previous contract) is used. "G. Billing process 2"
Is performed.

The customer 3 changes the control parameters in the “E. information use status recording & notification function” based on the “charging process completion information” received in S20, and based on the new contract of the information. Use.

If the sales of the pay information (the pay information itself or the family or group to which the pay information belongs) greatly exceeds the initially planned value, the information seller 2 reduces the price. . The price reduction is set by the information seller 2 (information distribution server 20) based on a predetermined process in “F. Change price calculation process”. When this process is performed, “charging condition change information” is transmitted to the charging server 10 in S21 as described above.

At the same time as the price reduction, in order to return a part of the obtained profit to the customer 3 who is the information purchaser,
“Profit return request information” is transmitted to the billing server 10 (S
24). The profit return request information corresponds to “price reduction information” in the claims. In the profit return request information, a pay information ID, a customer ID, and the like to be returned are described.
The return profit amount, which is the amount to be returned to each of the customers 3, is determined by the information seller 2 (the information distribution server 20) as “H.
It is calculated based on a predetermined process in “profit return amount calculation process”. Note that the charging center 1 may calculate the return profit amount. This is because the charging center 1 may be an outsourcing unit of the accounting business of the information seller 2.

In the charging center 1, based on the profit return request information, each of the customers 3 who have purchased the information is
At the same time that the return profit amount is transferred to the account of the customer 3 (destination execution destination), the result is transmitted to the customer 3 as “profit return execution information” (S25, “I. Billing process 3”).
At this time, the data of the customer DB in Table 1 and the sales history DB in Table 2 are used. The transfer is performed by issuing a transfer command to the financial institution 4 (see FIG. 1). By the way, the return of profit is based on the will of customer 3,
You may make it only to the customer 3 who wants profit return. In this case, it is preferable to transmit “profit return necessity inquiry information” as shown in FIG. 5 from the accounting server 10 to the customer terminal 30. This reflects the customer's will. Further, since the change of the transfer destination can be input (acquired), the profit can be returned quickly and reliably as the charging center 1.

When the e-mail address is described in the customer DB of Table 1, but the savings account number is not described, when the accounting server 10 acquires the profit return request information, the e-mail address is entered. The customer terminal 30 is contacted based on the request to input (transmit) the deposit / saving account number, and the deposit / saving account number transmitted via the communication line is acquired. (Corresponds to payment adjustment execution destination acquisition means). This is because price reduction may be performed later on pay information that is not a target for price reduction, and in such a case, the price adjustment execution destination may not be stored. By the way, the customer terminal 30 is always connected to a communication line (Internet),
If the (Internet Protocol) address is known, various information can be transmitted to the customer terminal 30 in a push type based on the IP address.

By the way, in this embodiment, the financial institution 4 is used as a price adjustment (a price adjustment executing means) in the claims.
Although the charging center 1 issues a transfer instruction to the customer 3, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, points and coupons can be issued. In the case of points, a point issuance command is output to a computer that issues points or a computer that manages files for each customer 3 (a point management center for the financial institution 4), for example, the customer 3
The points may be stored in an IC card carried by the customer 3, or the number of points in the point file of the customer 3 may be increased. Alternatively, if the display content of the screen of the mobile phone (portable terminal) plays a role of a coupon (or ticket), and this screen display is shown to a clerk or the like, and a predetermined service can be received, the customer involved in profit sharing Such a coupon may be transmitted (issued) to the third mobile phone. At this time, the coupon or ticket may be displayed with a recognition code (including a two-dimensional code or the like) such as a JAN code. Of course, you can also send and mail your coupon by fax. Alternatively, a check may be mailed.

Further, for example, at the time of S12 or S13 of FIG. 2 or at the time of “inquiry of necessity of profit return” in FIG. 5, the customer 3 is selected to select a profit return method (transfer, points, coupons,...). In this way (price adjustment execution method selection request means), the profit return method is stored in the customer DB in Table 1 and the purchase history DB in Table 2, and the stored profit return method is used in the profit return request information. The information may be read and the profit may be returned based on the read information. This is because the options of the customer 3 are expanded.

By returning profits in this way, the information seller 2 who sells paid information cannot occupy an enormous profit when the information is sold explosively. This is performed for all the customers 3 who have purchased the pay information. Therefore, the image (corporate image) of the information seller 2 as well as the customer 3 is greatly improved. It is also an effective solution to prevent buying restraints.

[Specific Example of Presentation of Paid Information Menu] FIG.
2 shows a screen example of “payment information menu presentation” in S11 of FIG. As described above, the pay information menu is transmitted from the information distribution server 20 to the customer terminal 30 via the communication line and displayed on the screen based on the service request from the customer terminal 30 via the communication line. .

This menu presents contract conditions and prices for each of a usage right purchase contract, a multi-contract (use contract within a specified number of times), a single contract (use-use payment contract), and the like. The customer makes a “payment information (usage right) purchase application” in S13 of FIG. 2 based on this information. The menu in FIG. 3 also serves as a data form for that purpose.

Incidentally, in the case of a BS digital broadcast or the like having a two-way communication function, a screen similar to that shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the TV screen, and a "pay information purchase application" is performed using this (telephone line). use). In addition, in the case of general TV broadcasting that does not have a two-way communication function, only the contract conditions and menu are displayed on the screen, and a purchase application is made by voice or the like using a telephone line or the like as in normal TV shopping. Is common. In addition, a radio button or a combo box for selecting the above-described profit return method (price adjustment method) may be displayed on this menu so that the customer 3 can make a selection (price adjustment execution method selection request means). . The selected profit return method is stored in, for example, the customer DB in Table 1.

[Charging Process] The charging process will be described. It is considered that in the accounting method generally used in e-commerce and the like, it is necessary to transmit a credit card number, an account number, and the like in addition to transmitting purchase information to the information seller 2. Of course, when sending this information,
From the viewpoint of security assurance, it is often the case that encrypted information is transmitted between the WWW server and the WWW client using SSL or the like, but a credit card number or the like is transmitted to the information seller 2. Is
There seems to be a problem in terms of safety. That is,
Even if the credit card number is not stolen by a third party, when so-called online sales such as paid information distribution become popular, not only well-intentioned sellers (information sellers 2) but also malicious sellers appear and purchase. The credit card number notified from the person (customer 3) is not always abused. In addition, when online sales become popular, it is thought that some sellers will be eliminated. However, such sellers do not necessarily abuse the purchaser's credit card number due to difficulty in financing. It seems that such abuse of the credit card number by the seller cannot be prevented by point-to-point communication (dedicated line communication) between two points, which is more secure than Internet sales through the Internet.

In this embodiment, the paid information purchase application information is first transmitted to the charging center 1 (charging server 10).
Here, information on the customer (purchaser) 3 is checked based on the ID number and the password determined when the customer is registered in the charging center 1 in advance.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show flowcharts of "A. Customer information check function" in FIG. FIG. 6 shows the first half of the process of “A. Customer information check function”, and FIG. 7 shows the second half of the process.

Application for purchase of paid information (see S13 in FIG. 2)
If there is, it is determined whether or not the customer 3 for the application is a registered person (S31). If you are not a registered user (N
O) transmits a request for registration to the charging center to the customer terminal 30 via the communication line in order to urge the unregistered customer 3 to register with the charging center 1 (S32). Customer 3
Transmits the customer information to charging center 1 (charging server 10) in response to this (that is, application for use of charging center 1) (S33). When the billing server 10 receives the customer information, the customer information is newly registered in the customer DB (S34).
Then, control goes to a step S37. This is because it is a new registration and there has been no payment accident in the past.

On the other hand, if the user is a registered person in S31 (YE
S) confirms the past payment accident existence investigation with the database in the charging center 1 (charging server 10) (S3).
5). If it is determined in S36 that there is no past payment problem, the information of the customer 3 is obtained from another information bank such as an industry association or a credit bureau (S37). As a result, when it is determined in S38 that there is no payment accident which is a past problem, the customer information check result is determined as OK (S3
9) A message to that effect is transmitted to the customer terminal 30 via the communication line (S40). After this, the charging center 1
Collects the price from the customer 3 based on, for example, the credit card number notified from the customer 3 and sends the price to the information seller 2 (see FIG. 1).

The description returns to FIG. If it is determined in S36 and S38 that there is a payment accident that has become a problem in the past, the customer information check result is set to NO (S41). Next, S4 of FIG.
Proceeding to 2, the account balance of the customer 3 is confirmed. This is to confirm whether or not there is a means to pay the price. The account balance is the balance of the customer 3 registered in the charging server 10 such as a bank account, a postal savings account, or a deposit account with the charging center 1.

Next, it is determined whether or not “account balance ≧ purchased item price?” (S43). If the account balance is equal to or higher than the purchase price (YES), the value of the purchase price is temporarily maintained in the account (S44). Specifically, the amount corresponding to the purchase price is temporarily withdrawn from the account (deposit and savings account) of the customer 3 and transferred to the account managed by the charging center 1. this is,
This is a special measure for the customer 3 who has caused a payment accident in the past. After that, the “customer and purchase information” is transmitted to the information seller 2 (the information distribution server 20) via the communication line (S45, see S15 in FIG. 2).

On the other hand, if the account balance is less than the purchase price in S43 (NO), the customer 3 (customer terminal 30) is requested to deposit money into the account within the designated date via the communication line. It is transmitted (S46). In response to this, the customer 3 performs a payment procedure to the account registered in the charging center 1 as necessary (S47). Then, it is determined whether or not the specified date has passed (S48). If the date has passed (YES), a purchase application cancellation message is transmitted to the customer terminal 30 via the communication line (S49). As a result, the customer and purchase information are not transmitted to the information seller 2.

If the designated date has not passed in S48 (NO), the payment status is queried about once a day (S48).
50), and return to S42. When the process of S46 is performed next, the payment request is not transmitted to the customer 3 every day.

According to this method, the detailed information (for example, credit card number) of the customer 3 is stored in the charging server 10 of the charging center 1 and does not flow to the information seller 2, so that security is ensured. This is advantageous. In this regard,
This is different from the method of notifying individual information sellers 2 of detailed information. In addition, the information seller 2 is relieved because the payment center of the customer 3 is checked at the charging center. In addition, since the billing center 1 performs the collection of the price for each customer 3 on behalf of the information seller 2, it is convenient for the information seller 2 to be released from the troublesome task of collecting the price.

In FIG. 2, the billing center 1 processes the information usage fee (purchase price) from the customer 3 in the form of transfer to a credit card company, or the customer 3
Although the description has been given based on the form of withdrawal from the savings account, the money flow can be managed using a David card or a two-way prepaid card provided in the customer terminal 30.

Here, a two-way prepaid card is a general prepaid card which has only a one-way function of sequentially deducting the amount of use, whereas a payment is also accepted. It is a prepaid card of the system of adding (the usable amount increases). As a matter of course, sufficient security measures must be taken to prevent forgery and falsification, and this can be realized by an IC card in which an IC chip capable of advanced information processing is embedded.

In the case of using these cards having the depositing and dispensing functions, direct dispensing processing and depositing processing are performed between the charging center 1 (charging server 10) and these cards provided in the customer terminal 30. I can do it. Of course, if the amount of money that can be used with these cards is less than the purchase amount, that effect is displayed, and the withdrawal process is performed after the amount of money that can be used with the card is increased.

For a customer 3 who uses a one-way prepaid card system that accepts only a general withdrawal direction, a virtual account is provided in the charging center 1 and the customer 3 uses newly purchased pay information. At the time of payment, a method may be considered in which the return of profits accumulated in the virtual account up to that point is automatically deducted, and payment with a prepaid card is assisted.

It goes without saying that the bidirectional prepaid card and the like described here can be used as profit return executing means (payment adjustment executing means) in the aforementioned profit returning.

[Confirmation Method and Guarantee Method of Received Pay Information] A confirmation method and guarantee method of received pay information will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 (see FIG. 1 and the like as appropriate). ). FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of the pay information transmitted from the information seller. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the reception information integrity check function in the customer terminal (the flowchart of "B. Reception information integrity check function" in FIG. 2).

In the present embodiment, the pay information is encrypted (distributed) to the customer 3 after being encrypted as follows. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 8, the original information of the pay information managed by the information seller 2 such as music information, video information, software, etc. is based on the original information ID and the original data (content data). It is configured. To transmit the data to the customer 3, first, the original data is divided into a plurality of (M) frames, and an ID number is added to each data frame.

Next, information indicating the contents of these data is added as header information. This is the base information managed by the information seller 2 (see the middle diagram in FIG. 8).
The content of the header information is the content of the information (information type, name,
Product code, REV. No. ..), information memos (information seller, information creator, information creation date...), And information size (total size, number of frames N, frame size...).

At the time of transmission, encryption processing is performed for each data frame of the base information, the transmission order is made different, and the header information and the data frame whose encryption order is made different are added to the encrypted order. Is added to the information for restoring the changed information, that is, information for restoring information (data frame transmission order information, information restoring / usage management program, etc.) and purchase contract conditions. This is the pay information transmitted from the information seller 2 to the customer 3 (customer terminal 30) (see the lower part of FIG. 8).

A description will be given of the received information integrity check (FIG. 2).
"B. Reception information integrity check"). Upon receiving the pay information, the customer terminal 30 checks the header information of the pay information (FIG. 8).
From the content of the information included in (1), it is determined that the transmitted information is the information for which the purchase application was made, and from the information size information, the capacity of the reception information is the same as the capacity calculated on the transmission side. It is checked that there is no omission in the transmission information due to the fact that all data frames included in the data restoration information are correctly present.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, S in FIG.
The name of the paid information when applying for paid information purchase in 13,
Attributes, contract information, and the like are read from the storage device (S61).
Also, the pay information (encrypted information) received in S16 of FIG.
The name, attribute, and contract information of the pay information are read from the frames 1 and N (S62). Then, the name, attribute, and contract information of the received pay information are checked by comparing the two (S63). In S64, it is determined whether the received paid information is information for which a purchase application has been made. If so (YES), a determination is made in S65 as to "Is there a difference in contract terms, billing terms, etc.?" If there is no difference (YES), the integrity of the received pay information is checked, for example, the presence or absence of data loss is checked. In S67, it is determined whether or not “complete?”. If it is complete (YES), the received information integrity confirmation information is transmitted to the information distribution server 20 via the communication line (S68, see S18 in FIG. 2). Thereafter, a billing process or the like is performed.

On the other hand, if the pay information received in S64 is different from the one for which the purchase was applied (NO), it is determined whether a retransmission request is made or the purchase is canceled (S69). If the purchase is determined to be canceled, the purchase cancellation information for the pay information is transmitted to the information distribution server 20 (S70). If the request is determined to be a retransmission request in S69, a retransmission request for the pay information is transmitted to the information distribution server 20 (S72). The same processing as in S69 is performed for S71. As a result, when the purchase is canceled, the pay information is not transmitted again and the bill is not charged. Conversely, when a retransmission request is made, the pay information is retransmitted, and the processing from S62 is performed again.

If there is no completeness in S67 (NO), retransmission request information of the incomplete information frame is transmitted to the information distribution server 20 (S73). As a result, incomplete frames are retransmitted.

In this manner, the pay information can be reliably transmitted (distributed) from the information distribution server 20 to the customer terminal 30 via the communication line. Incidentally, when the pay information received by the customer terminal 30 is opened (when used), the received pay information is returned to the correct order based on the transmission order information attached to the end (N-1) of the frame. Use the information in a legitimate form based on the decryption key.

Note that, in the case of a multi-contract, for example, in the case of a multi-contract, each time the pay information is used, according to a predetermined logic, based on the contract conditions included in the information license information (see S19 in FIG. 2). The number of times of use is automatically counted, and when the number of times exceeds the specified number, the customer is informed of that fact. In addition, in the case of a single contract, it cannot be used again unless a contract is made again.
Note that there is also a method (automatic disappearance type) in which the pay information is deleted from the customer terminal 30 after a specified number of times is used in a multi-contract or a single contract. However, if you leave it for a certain period of time and make an additional contract, the information licensing information will be re-sent and the remaining paid information will be usable (temporary storage type). This is effective in that it does not need to be performed.

By executing the method for confirming the integrity of the received pay information and the method for guaranteeing the information described above, unless all the information is correctly received, not only the information cannot be opened correctly, but also the information sale. It is also possible for the customer 2 and the customer 3 to safely and securely exchange paid information. In addition, the charging center 1 receives, for example, several percent of the money (paid information sales money, return profit) flowing between the information seller 2 and the customer 3 as a commission. It is also conceivable that the charging center 1 opens an account for the customer 3 registered in the charging center 1 and performs a banking operation for managing the account. Further, it is conceivable that the main mission of the billing center 1 proceeds from collecting money on behalf of the information seller 2 to become an outsourcing unit for the accounting business of the information seller 2 one step further. In any case, the charging center 1 shown in the present invention will play a central role in the money flow in the future e-commerce.

[Method of Grasping Usage Status of Received Paid Information and Timing of Billing] In the above-described embodiment, the customer (purchaser) 3 applies for the purchase of paid information, and the customer 3
Is based on the form where information is sent to
It is also important to use a billing method in which a plurality of data are distributed (transmitted) in advance in a push type, a record indicating that the customer 3 has used the data, and billing can be performed for the data. In particular, it is considered that the distribution of the pay information and the billing method will be widespread when the Internet is broadband and the constant connection spreads.

For example, information is distributed to an unspecified majority in a broadcast type. The customer 3 pre-registers information (for example, travel, sports, etc.) to be stored in advance. Only the information registered in advance among the distributed information is stored in the storage device of the customer terminal 30. Generally, when pay information is distributed using this type of highly-broadcasting communication method, the same fee will be collected from all subscribers, but since the amount of information used by each person is different, There is a need for a billing method according to the use of each person. That is, in this type of information transfer method, a method in which the information is charged when the information is used is reasonable.

In this case, a charge is made according to the use, so that a large amount of information can be stored if the storage capacity of the customer terminal 30 is large. However, no charge is made unless the customer terminal 30 is used. It is possible to pre-register the accumulated information without much trouble. For example, in the case of music information,
If the type and genre of information to be stored, such as "100 latest hit songs", is specified, the stored information is always rewritten with the latest information unless a "save" instruction is given. For information that you want to listen to (use) and save once, you can issue a "save" instruction,
It will be saved forever until the "do not save" instruction is given. When an instruction of “do not save” is given, the information recording area can be used for storing new information.

In the broadcast-type information distribution service, unfairness does not occur in billing by adopting this method of billing according to the usage amount of the information. Further, by adding the profit return function to the charging unit price, the unit price of popular information is reduced as a result, so that the number of subscribers of the service using the charging system can be increased.

In any case, it is important from the viewpoint of preventing unauthorized use that the information (file) cannot be opened or used until all the information has been received. Basically, the inability to verify the integrity of the information received is comparable to a customer being able to buy a defective product. Of course, it is unreasonable for the customer 3 to be charged a full fee for incomplete information in the middle of the process. However, if the customer 3 adopts a free system that does not charge for incomplete information, for example, By refusing to receive the information for the song with the most paid information, it may be possible to listen to the song for free forever. Therefore, as described above, the information transmission order is somewhat different, or if the information is not completely aligned, the decryption cannot be performed on the transmission information, or the information decompression program is sent last. It is important for both the customer 3 and the information seller 2 that the information can be used only after the decompression is completed.

If the customer terminal 30 cannot create the received information integrity confirmation information, the information file cannot be opened (see S18 and S19 in FIG. 2). in this case,
It is reasonable to delete the data automatically after a certain period of time, or delete it when the next new data is received. Incidentally, the following method can be considered as a specific method of charging when pay information is used. (1) When opening the already received pay information, the charge information is notified to the billing server 10. (2) The billing server 10 sends the encryption key after the billing process is completed. (3) The customer terminal 30 decrypts the pay information using the received encryption key. (4) The encryption key received and used once can be used only a preset number of times. (5) When the number of times reaches a preset number, another encryption key is required from the next time. Return to (1).

The following method is also effective. (1) An ID is added for each pay information (data) to be distributed. (2) Each data is encrypted using the key generated based on this ID, and the encrypted data is distributed. (3) The customer 3 inputs the ID of data to be used to a key generation mechanism such as an IC card, obtains a decryption key, and decrypts the data. (4) The ID is recorded in the key generation mechanism at the time of key generation, and this information is stored in the billing server 10 using an uplink or a communication line.
Receives and charges.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating the customer service method according to the second embodiment.

The second embodiment is implemented among the charging center 1, the merchandise seller 5, the customer 3, and the financial institution 4, as shown in FIG. Note that the same reference numerals are given to portions having the same configuration as the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[Charging Center] The charging center has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, the charging server 10 according to the second embodiment uses a CTI (Computing
It also has the function of a telephony integration (er Telephony Integration) server, and handles customers 3 and merchandise sellers 5 with advanced services that integrate computers and telephones. The telephone line corresponds to the communication line in the claims. With this CTI server function, customer registration in the first embodiment can be performed by telephone T. Further, profit return execution information is also performed via a telephone line.

[Telephone Shopping Center (Commodity Seller)] The product seller 5 can communicate with the billing server 10.
In addition, the company operates a telephone shopping center including a product sales server 50 capable of responding to an order from the customer 3 who is a purchaser by telephone T, solicits the customer 3 via media such as a TV and a magazine, and performs telephone shopping. ing. The merchandise sales server 50 also has the function of a CTI server and handles orders of the customer 3 with an advanced service that integrates a computer and a telephone. In addition, the product sales server has a product DB and a sales management DB, and performs product sales smoothly.

[Customer] The customer 3 has a telephone T for telephone shopping. This home is the residence of the customer 3. The customer 3 makes a telephone call by telephone T with a telephone shopping center via a telephone line (communication line). The telephone T is also used when registering a customer in the charging center 1 (charging server 10).

[Financial Institution] The financial institution 4 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[Operation up to Profit Return] Next, the operation of the customer service method according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the customer 3 talks with the billing server 10 by telephone T,
Customer registration is performed according to the guidance of the billing server 10 (S7).
1). The customer registered information is stored in the billing server 10 by the customer D.
B (see Table 1).

Next, the customer 3 makes a telephone call to the telephone shopping center of the merchandise seller 5 to place an order for a home electric appliance or the like (S72). The debit is performed based on the credit card number notified at the time of customer registration in S71 (S73). Note that the customer 3 may go to a counter of the financial institution to pay. Alternatively, payment may be made at a cashier counter of a convenience store.
As a result, the ordered product is delivered from the telephone shopping center to the customer 3 by home delivery or the like (S7).
4). Further, the price paid by the customer 3 to the charging center 1 is paid from the charging center 1 to the product seller 5 (S7).
5).

When the merchandise seller 5 continues to sell, a profit is generated, and the merchandise seller 5 decides to return the profit. Therefore, the profit return amount is determined, and the price reduction information is transmitted to the charging server 10 via the communication line (S76).
Price reduction information is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Then, the billing server 10 issues a transfer instruction to the customer 3 to the financial institution in the same manner as in the first embodiment (S77). As a result, the profit is returned from the financial institution 4 to the savings account of the customer 3 (S78). Each hollow arrow in FIG. 10 indicates an account transfer. Further, the profit return execution information is transmitted as voice data from the charging server 10 to the telephone T of the customer 3 (S78). The fee is paid to the charging center 1 at an appropriate time.

In this manner, the merchandise seller 5 can obtain business credit as in the first embodiment.
In addition, it is possible to save the trouble of collecting the price from each customer 3.
In addition, since the customer 3 only needs to notify the billing center 1 of important information regarding the financial institution and the like, telephone shopping and the like can be performed with confidence. In addition, when the price of the purchased product is reduced, the customer 3 who has already purchased often feels frustrated, but according to the present invention, such a feeling can be avoided. This greatly contributes to prevention of purchase restraint (improvement of consumer sentiment) and formation of business credit of the merchandise seller 5.

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating the customer service method according to the third embodiment.

The third embodiment is implemented among the charging center 1, the merchandise seller 6, the customer 3, and the financial institution 4, as shown in FIG. Note that the same reference numerals are given to portions having the same features as the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[Charging Center] The charging center has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, there is no customer DB or sales history DB. These are managed on the merchandise seller 6 side.

[General Store (Product Seller)] Product Seller 6
Manages a general store that includes a sales management server 60 that can communicate with the billing server 10, and sells actual stores at the counter of the store. In addition, the sales management server 60 has the first
The accounting server 10 according to the embodiment has a customer DB and a sales history DB (see Tables 1 and 2).

[Customer] The customer 3 is a person who purchases a product at a general store. The customer 3 has been registered in the sales management server 60.

[Financial Institution] The financial institution 4 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.
Note that the financial institution 4 may be a point management server.

[Operation up to Profit Return] Next, the operation of the customer service method according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the customer 3 goes to a general store. Then, the commodity is purchased with cash (S81). At the time of purchase, receive an explanation of profit return and register the customer. At the time of customer registration, it is preferable that the customer 3 can select a method of executing profit return. The customer 3 brings back the purchased product (S82).

When a profit is generated (or a profit is returned, for a certain purpose), the merchandise seller 6 decides to return the profit. Then, the merchandise seller 6 determines the profit return amount (price adjustment amount), and transmits the profit return execution destination information to the charging server 10 together with the price reduction information from the sales management server 60 (S83). Then, the billing server 10 issues a transfer instruction to the customer 3 to the financial institution 4 in the same manner as in the first embodiment (S84). Thus, the profit is returned from the financial institution 4 to the savings account of the customer 3 (S85). At the time of profit return, if the notice as shown in FIG. 5 is given to the customer 3 by mail, for example, the impression of the merchandise seller 6 is improved.

In this manner, the same excellent effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to smoothly create a customer list at the store.

The present invention can be widely modified without being limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, although each server has been described as a single computer, the server may be configured with a plurality of computers. Further, the portion of the charging server connected to the Internet may be separated as a Web server via a firewall to protect important data and functions of the charging server main unit from attacks such as hackers. Also, the information seller or the merchandise seller (service provider) may be provided with a charging server (the charging server accepts a product order via a communication line). That is, the information manager may return profits on his own. Alternatively, the charging center may sell the product. Further, a mobile phone, a mobile terminal, or the like may be used as the customer terminal.

In the claims, the “file” is C
It may be stored in a storage medium such as a D-ROM.
Further, the information may be stored in a server or the like placed on a network. For example, when the price is reduced, the computer that performs the price adjustment may access the server via the network, read the contents of the file, and acquire necessary information to the computer. Alternatively, when the price is reduced, a configuration may be adopted in which the server storing the file transmits the contents of the file via a network to the computer that performs the price adjustment. It goes without saying that such a case also belongs to the category of the present invention. Acquisition is active (active) and passive (passive)
Acquisition is included. The former acquisition means, for example, that a computer or the like performs an action of collecting information or the like with respect to another computer or device and captures (inputs) the information to itself. The latter acquisition means that, for example, a computer or the like accepts information or the like sent from another computer or device and takes in (inputs) the information.

The present invention can also be applied to accepting the sale of goods and the provision of services via the Internet. The present invention can also be applied to shopping using media having two-way communication, such as BS digital broadcasting. In addition, although profit return is mainly described, payment adjustment may be performed even when no profit is generated. Also,
Based on the purchase history, the configuration may be such that the greater the purchase history, the higher the profit return. In addition, the destination of the payment adjustment (transfer destination, coupon destination) is (1) heard from the customer at the time of sale, (2) contacted and heard from the customer based on the contact previously heard after the price reduction, The data can be input (acquired) to the computer.

[0117] As a method of executing the payment adjustment, there are methods such as transferring to a savings account, mailing a check, issuing points, issuing a coupon, and issuing electronic money.
It is not limited to a specific means. Further, the provision of goods and services to the customer may be used as the price adjustment. That is, the price adjustment is not limited to cash or coupons. In addition, “when the price is reduced” includes the following cases. (1) When the price is actually reduced (2) When the price is scheduled to be reduced In some cases, the price adjustment is performed before the price is reduced.

Further, it is possible to hear from the customer the destination of the payment adjustment as follows. (1) Listen at the time of purchase (sales). (2) At the time of purchase (sales), do not listen to the execution destination. Instead, it asks for a contact, and in the event of a price reduction, contacts the contact and asks for an execution destination. (3) If the price is reduced, a pamphlet is provided to the customer, stating that the price adjustment will be made and that the customer is required to be notified of the place where the price adjustment is performed. Then, the user is instructed later on where to execute the payment adjustment (or contact information).

Further, a plurality of execution methods of the price adjustment may be prepared, and the plurality of execution methods may be presented to the purchaser for selection. For example, send an e-mail to the customer asking them to make a bank transfer, check, point, coupon, or giveaway. In the e-mail of the question, please inform us of the transfer destination in case of fund transfer, please inform us of the address in case of check ... Then, the customer receives an e-mail describing the selection of the execution method and the execution destination of the price adjustment. By doing so, the customer's request can be satisfied. Further, the present invention can be applied to a wide range of fields as shown in FIG.

[0120]

According to the above-described invention, since the price adjustment is performed for the customer, it is possible to provide a nice service for the customer. It also has the effect of eliminating unfairness in the event of a price reduction and preventing purchase restraints.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a customer service method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation from purchase of pay information to return of profit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen example of “pay information menu presentation” in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of “billing process completion information” in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a screen example of “profit return necessity inquiry information”;

FIG. 6 is a first half of a flowchart of “A. Customer information check function” in FIG. 2;

7 is the latter half of the flowchart of “A. Customer information check function” in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure of pay information transmitted from an information seller.

9 is a flowchart of “B. Received information integrity check function” in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating a customer service method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating a customer service method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an image of an application field of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Charging center 10 ... Charging server (computer) 2 ... Information seller 20 ... Information distribution server 3 ... Customer 30 ... Customer terminal 4 ... Financial institution 5 ... Merchandise seller 50 ... Merchandise sales server 6 ... Merchandise seller 60 ... Sales Management server

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Sugawara 4-6 Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A customer service method for adjusting the price of a product sold at a certain price, using a computer, to a customer who purchased the product before the price reduction, wherein the price of the product is reduced. At the time of sale, the contact information of the customer and / or the place of execution of the price adjustment are stored in a file as computer-readable information. When the price of the product is reduced, the place of execution of the stored price adjustment is stored in the file. If the execution destination of the price adjustment is not stored, the stored contact is read from the file, and the customer is contacted based on the read contact to obtain the execution destination of the price adjustment. A customer service method comprising: performing a price adjustment on an execution destination of the price adjustment read or obtained in this manner. 2. A customer service method in which when a price of a product sold at a certain price is reduced, the price of the product is adjusted using a computer for a customer who purchased the product before the price reduction. In the case where the price is reduced, the charge adjustment execution destination is read out from a file in which the customer's contact information and / or the charge adjustment execution destination are stored as computer-readable information, or the charge adjustment execution destination is stored. When there is no contact, the contact is read from the file, and the customer is contacted based on the read contact to obtain the execution destination of the price adjustment. Performing a payment adjustment. 3. A customer service method for adjusting the price of a product sold at a certain price using a computer to a customer who purchased the product before the price reduction, the method comprising: Storing the execution destination of the price adjustment for the purchased customer in a file as computer-readable information; acquiring the price reduction information of the product; reading the execution destination of the price adjustment from the file when the price reduction information is obtained. A customer service method, comprising the steps of: performing a charge adjustment based on the execution destination of the charge adjustment read out as described above. 4. A customer service method in which, when a price of a product sold at a certain price is reduced, a price is adjusted using a computer for a customer who purchased the product before the price reduction. Storing the contact information of the purchased customer in a file as computer-readable information; acquiring the price reduction information of the product; and reading the customer contact information stored in the file when the price reduction information is acquired. Contacting the customer via the communication line based on the read contact information, and requesting transmission of an execution destination of the price adjustment; obtaining the transmitted execution destination of the price adjustment via the communication line And a step of performing a price adjustment based on the execution destination of the price adjustment thus obtained. Law. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of execution methods of said price adjustment are prepared, and said plurality of execution methods are presented to said customer to be selected, so that the computer acquires the execution method of said price adjustment. The customer service method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The merchandise is sold by the merchandise sales server to the customer via a communication line, and a contact and / or a price adjustment execution destination of the customer is acquired by the computer from the merchandise sales server. The customer service method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the computer executes the payment adjustment by outputting a transfer command to a computer for automatically transferring the deposit to the customer's savings account via the communication line. A customer service method according to any one of the preceding claims. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the computer executes the price adjustment by outputting a point issuing command to a computer that manages points for each customer. 2. The customer service method according to claim 1. 9. A customer service system for adjusting the price of a product sold at a certain price using a computer to a customer who has purchased the product before the price reduction, wherein the product is Where the reconciliation is performed for purchased customers,
A price adjustment execution destination obtaining unit that obtains through a communication line and stores it in a file; a price reduction information obtaining unit that obtains the price reduction information of the product; And a price adjustment executing means for adjusting the price based on the read execution destination of the price adjustment. 10. A customer service system which uses a computer to adjust the price of a product sold at a certain price to a customer who purchased the product before the price reduction, wherein the product is sold at a certain price. Customer contact information acquiring means for acquiring contact information of the purchased customer via a communication line and storing the information in a file; price reduction information acquiring means for acquiring price reduction information of the product; and acquiring the price reduction information to the file. Reading out the stored contact information of the customer, contacting the customer via a communication line based on the read out contact information, and requesting transmission of an execution destination of the price adjustment; A price adjustment execution destination obtaining unit that obtains, via a communication line, a price adjustment execution destination transmitted in response to the request, based on the price adjustment execution destination thus obtained; Customer service system having a price adjustment execution means for performing money adjustment, characterized by. 11. The customer service system according to claim 9, further comprising a product order receiving means for receiving the product order via a communication line. 12. The method according to claim 12, wherein the execution of the price adjustment is performed by a plurality of methods, wherein the price adjustment execution destination acquiring unit presents the plurality of methods to the customer to select the method, and selects the selected method. The customer according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising: a payment adjustment execution method selection request unit that requests, via a communication line, a transmission of an execution destination of the price adjustment corresponding to (i). Service system. 13. A computer which, when a price of a product sold at a certain price is reduced, adjusts the price of a customer who purchased the product before the price reduction, to a price for the customer who purchased the product. Adjustment destination is
A price adjustment execution destination obtaining unit that obtains through a communication line and stores the price reduction information in the file; a price reduction information obtaining unit that obtains the price reduction information of the product; A customer service system program that functions as a price adjustment execution unit that performs a price adjustment based on a read-out destination of the price adjustment. 14. When a price of a product sold at a certain price is reduced, a computer is connected to the customer who purchased the product so as to adjust the price for the customer who purchased the product before the price reduction. Customer contact information obtaining means for obtaining the destination via a communication line and storing the information in a file; price reduction information obtaining means for obtaining the price reduction information of the product; and customer contact information stored in the file when the price reduction information is obtained. Based on the read contact information, the customer is contacted via a communication line to request transmission of a price adjustment execution destination. A price adjustment execution destination obtaining unit that obtains the adjustment execution destination via a communication line; a price adjustment execution unit that performs the price adjustment based on the price adjustment execution destination thus obtained; Program for customer service system, characterized in that to function Te.