WO2010097757A1

WO2010097757A1 - System and method for developing customer loyalty

Info

Publication number: WO2010097757A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/050795
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert Masse; Erik Gray
Original assignee: Robert Masse; Erik Gray
Priority date: 2009-02-26
Filing date: 2010-02-23
Publication date: 2010-09-02
Also published as: BE1018670A3

Abstract

The Invention consists of a system and a method of loyalty development for customers of at least one merchant Each merchant is equipped with at least one electronic terminal and each customer has a handheld device such as a card, a mobile phone or a key-chain having at least one unique identifier that can be read by the terminal Each terminal can communicate with the remote management center According to the invention, the terminals and the handheld devices of the system have several technical solutions to avoid or compensate for the connection failures between a terminal and the management center By using a specific form and/or an identity in a telecommunications network such as a mobile phone number, the method according to the invention can improve the transfer and management of the customer's personal information and communication modes between each merchant and each customer.

Description

LOYALTY SYSTEM AND METHOD Description:

The present invention is a method of customer loyalty or membership, for traders and associations in the broad sense. By loyalty, we mean here encouraging the client or member to come more regularly and more often, and to spend or consume more.

The present invention relates to a system and a method of loyalty, usable both by merchants in the broad sense (company, person or company selling products and / or services) than by any association or group, such as a sports club for example . In the context of the present invention, each client or member has a portable object, such as a card or a key ring, said object can be read by an electronic terminal ad hoc to be identified.

In the remainder of this document, we mean by "client" both the customer of a merchant and the member of an association at large.

Traders have always wanted to return their customers as often as possible and encourage them to spend more, in order to increase their turnover. For this purpose, many systems have emerged, such as savings stamps or cards with a stamp with each purchase, entitling to any advantage when the number of stamps or purchases desired is reached.

In recent years, electronic solutions have also appeared, where the customer generally has a magnetic stripe card and the merchant of an electronic terminal can at least read the customer's card.

These solutions represent a clear progress compared to the previous solutions, notably by the possibilities of management of a database that they present and avoid false stamps or stamps, but remain tedious and inefficient in many cases.

Some systems involve a central server, with which the terminals communicate permanently (or almost permanently), by a modem connected to a conventional telephone line. This makes it possible to exchange the information between the terminals, but this implies significant telephone costs due to the communications between the terminals and the central server, which often obey the interest of the system, without even mentioning the slowness of the telephone calls.

Other systems store information relating to different customers and their purchases in the internal memory of the terminal, which must be very important in order to contain all the necessary information, which is expensive. Moreover, this implies that the points can not be shared between several merchants, or even between the different terminals or points of sale of the same merchant.

An improvement was made to these systems, in particular by the patent FR2754082, which combines the two solutions, storing the information locally to transmit them to a central server at regular intervals, and retransmitting in reverse all the information to the terminal . This makes it possible to reduce the costs of communication and to share information between the terminals, but the terminals must always have a very large memory (and even more important than in previous systems) to store all the information.

In the case of merchants with many customers or large merchant associations, the cost of the terminal memory and the computing power it needs to process all this information remains problematic. Another solution has been provided, in particular by the patent FR2810760, and consisting in storing the loyalty programs (that is to say the set of rules that determine the benefit to which such or such purchase entitles) on the terminal of the merchant and store the loyalty information (that is to say the points obtained) not in the memory of the terminal but in that of the portable object available to the customer. This effectively avoids the costs of communication to a central server and avoid the risk of multiple use of points, the latter being stored in a single copy on the card (for example) of the customer.

If the latter invention provides the possibility of also storing the loyalty information in the terminal memory and transmit it to a server center for statistical analysis (and explicitly non-nominative), it does not however provide for the transfer to In the opposite direction of the information, so that the loss of the object leads to the loss of the points, since the loyalty information is exclusively related to the card (lost) of the customer and nothing else.

Finally, the requirement to use cards having a sufficient amount of memory, which can be read and written by a terminal requires the use of relatively expensive cards, which affects the profitability of the system.

It should also be noted that loyalty systems must be fast, to avoid the discontent of the merchant and the customer, even that of other customers who wait. They must also be easy to use, and require a minimum of manual interventions and working time from the merchant, who are often already busy people who can not afford to spend many hours managing the business. system.

The present invention intends to overcome the various disadvantages of the state of the art. The objective of the present invention is to provide a system and a process for customer loyalty which are the simplest and most effective possible during their daily use, both by the merchant and the customer, while allowing a very accurate tracking.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a system and such a method that allow the terminal to avoid as much as possible the communication problems of loyalty information to a remote management center by successively trying several different types of connection and which inscribes them in its internal memory and / or that of the portable object that is presented to it in case of connection failure, so that they are transmitted to the center as soon as the connection is restored.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a system and method which makes it possible to efficiently manage the personal and socio-economic coordinates in the broadest sense of the customers and to link them to the portable objects allocated, as well as the commercial transactions carried out. by the customers.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a system and such a method which allows the merchant to effectively manage the loyalty rules to be applied to commercial transactions made by a customer and which allows both the merchant and the customer to manage the transactions. rules and preferences as to how the merchant can communicate with the customer and vice versa.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a system and such a method that allows both the merchant and the customer to have access to the management center, as well as to its information and its management rules through other means of communication than the electronic terminal, such as, for example, the telephone, the fax, the email or a website. These objectives, as well as others that will be defined below, are achieved according to the invention using a customer loyalty system of at least one merchant, in which, in particular:

Each client of said clientele has a portable object, such as a smart card or a radio frequency key ring, containing at least one read-only identifier, specific to said client;

• each merchant has at least one terminal capable of:

• read at least one identifier of said portable objects; • determine the characteristics of commercial transactions, such as, for example, whether it is a purchase and the amount spent;

• communicate with a remote management center;

• said remote management center contains a global database, fed in particular by the data transmitted by said terminals and applies to business operations a set of rules for managing loyalty operations.

According to an advantageous embodiment, in order to achieve the first objective, the terminal must also be equipped with a short-range radio wave communication system that can read the identifier contained in the portable object and a connection. GPRS allowing it to communicate with the remote management center via the GSM network.

In this way, on the one hand the customer must simply approach the portable object of the terminal and no longer find it specifically, which simplifies the use of the system by avoiding, for example, having to find a plastic card in a portfolio among a multitude of other plastic cards, and on the other hand, the installation and maintenance of the terminal, as well as its use, are simplified by the fact that it is no longer necessary to pull network or telephone cables for the terminal can communicate with the management center. It also makes it possible to use the terminal outside or during temporary events without having to install, for example, telephone lines.

According to an advantageous embodiment, in order to achieve the second objective, the terminal must be equipped with at least two different types of connection to communicate with the remote management center and will be able to read and write information in a local memory , either internal to the terminal, or directly connected to it, or internal to portable objects.

In this way, the terminal has several possible channels to communicate with the management center that it will try successively. It may also, in the event of complete absence of communication possibility, locally store loyalty information, either in its own memory, or in that of the portable object, or both. In the latter case, during each successful connection with the management center, the terminal will read any information contained in its internal memory and / or that of the portable object to try to communicate to the remote management center, and erase them then locally in case of successful transmission.

"Loyalty information" means the data relating to the commercial operation and / or the advantage in terms of points or values conferred on the customer as a result of this commercial operation. Advantageously, the loyalty information in question will be written locally, being accompanied by a hash key, calculated by the terminal on the basis of the loyalty information and a value specific to each terminal, enabling the remote management center to ensure the authenticity of the information transmitted and the uniqueness of taking into account a commercial transaction or its result.

The local write of information in the absence of a connection with the management center is only possible for the operations consisting in registering an additional commercial operation (and related loyalty information) in the management center database. For consistent loyalty operations, for example, to attribute to the customer any advantage, it will be necessary either to wait for the restoration of the connection between the terminal and the management center, or to use another mode of communication with the management center, as it will be exposed in the part relating to the method according to the invention, to be able to achieve it. Indeed, it is necessary at least "reserve" the points in question to prevent a customer can fraudulently obtain several times the same advantage.

According to an advantageous embodiment, in order to achieve the third objective, the terminal will be equipped with at least one of the following: a keyboard and a display screen, a smart card reader, a ticket printer at least one communication port such as a serial port.

Thus, the terminal can be used to manually enter one or more digital or alphanumeric information, it will be able to read the information contained in an electronic identity document, such as the electronic identity card, it will be able to print certain information as well as the result Once it is done, it can automatically obtain and send certain information to devices that will be connected to it, such as a cash register.

It will be explained in detail the loyalty method according to the invention in which advantageous manner these elements of the system according to the invention can be used.

According to an advantageous embodiment, in order to reach the fourth and fifth objectives, the remote management center will be accessible via at least one of the following means and, advantageously, of the set: telephone , fax, email, website.

In this way, both the merchant and the customer will be able to use all modern means of communication to communicate with the remote management center, whether to add, modify or removal of management rules and personal, socio-economic, commercial or communication preferences, or for consultation and statistics purposes.

According to the present invention, the portable object will advantageously be provided with several identifiers having different reading modes and at least some of these identifiers will contain a different unique code. The reading of one of the codes thus making it possible to determine not only the corresponding client but also which identifier, or which group of identifiers, of the portable object has been read. The portable object will be equipped with at least one of the following types of identifiers: bar code, magnetic stripe, readable chip with contact, readable chip without contact.

The invention also relates to a method for retaining a customer base of at least one merchant. Such a method notably comprises the following steps: • attribution to each client of said clientele, or possession by each client, of a portable object containing at least one unique identifier readable by the terminal;

Providing each of said merchants with at least one terminal capable of: reading at least one identifier of said portable objects;

• determine loyalty information;

• communicate with a remote management center;

Management in said management center of a global database, fed in particular by the data transmitted by said terminals.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the terminal will have in its memory at least one identifier pattern accepted by the system and therefore will consider as a portable object according to the invention only the objects of which at least one identifier will contain a unique code corresponding to at least one of the patterns in question. We use here "boss" in the meaning of the English word "Pattern", that is to say in the sense of "model". For example, the code should be a set of 16 digits, the last of which corresponds to the result of a calculation made on the first 15 (such as credit cards based on a rule called "rule of Luhn").

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the portable object of the customer must be "activated" in order to be used in the context of the invention, that is to say that it must be associated in the management center database to a customer identity with one of the telecommunication networks selected by the management center. The example of identity that seems the most judicious here being the mobile phone number of the customer but we can also consider all phone numbers, fax, email addresses, or even the identifier with the private network "Skype ", for example.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it may also be considered that the number registered on the portable object can be accepted as an identity, provided that, when it is awarded, the customer fills out a form as detailed below. by indicating a way to contact him, for example his mailing address.

This avoids that a high percentage of object holders remain anonymous for the system, which is unfortunately often the case in e-card customer loyalty solutions, and that the system always has at least one channel of communication to reach the customer.

According to this last advantageous embodiment, a message containing a unique and unpredictable identification code may be sent by the terminal and / or the remote management center to the identity communicated by the client. This code must then be communicated by the customer to the merchant when assigning a portable object. The communication of this unpredictable code by the client to validate the identity with the telecommunication network, validation performed by entering the code in question on the merchant terminal or by indicating it on the form completed by the customer.

A concrete example will provide a better understanding of the process: when assigning a portable object, the customer communicates his GSM number, charged by the merchant on his terminal. The terminal and / or the management center then immediately sends an SMS to the mobile number in question. The communication by the customer of this code to the merchant makes it possible to validate that the mobile number communicated by the customer really belongs to him.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each merchant will be part of a group of at least one merchant and each group of merchants will be identified by a particular code in the database of the management center.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, when the portable object will be used on a merchant's terminal, the identification code of the merchant group to which the merchant in question belongs will be added to the merchant's database. management center to all the identification codes of merchant groups associated with the customer in question. Each merchant will have access to the personal data of customers associated in particular to the identification code of the group of merchants to which the merchant in question belongs.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, when carrying out a commercial operation giving rise to a loyalty operation (hereinafter referred to as a "transaction"), the identification code of the group of merchants to which it belongs the merchant will be linked to the details of the transaction in the management center database. In terms of access to transaction details, each merchant will only have access to details related to the merchant group ID of which he or she belongs and to no other. These last two embodiments allow each trader to manage, alone or in a group with some other selected traders, his own loyalty operations, but that each update of the personal information of the customer can benefit all merchants associated with the client, thus allowing the maintenance of the "client" database to be spread over as many traders as possible, even if the traders in question use different groups of portable objects.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, certain personal data or preferences of a customer may, just like transactions, be associated with only one merchant group identification code, or with a sub-code. -set of codes, instead of being associated with all the identification codes of merchant groups linked to the customer. This allows you to add specific information to a group of merchants, or to specific groups.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the customer can also, by direct contact with the management center, request the removal of the association to his record one, more or all codes of groups of traders. In this way, the merchants concerned will no longer be able to access the personal information of this customer or communicate with him. Of course, this deletion will also result in the deletion of the outstanding amount of loyalty points or other bonuses that the customer may have accumulated from the merchants concerned.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, a paper form is also given to the client when assigning (or activating) his portable object. This form contains a series of personal and socio-economic information such as the name, address, date of birth of the bearer but also information about his close entourage, such as the first name, the name, sex and date of birth, as well as civil or religious events of interest to the client.

The form will also advantageously include the customer's communication preferences, such as, for example, the desire to be contacted by email rather than SMS, receive reminders and / or special offers for important events or anniversaries, etc. .

On the form, the customer will indicate either the number of the portable object that has been assigned to him, or, if applicable, his identity with a telecommunications network that he has communicated during the assignment of the object. . The form, once completed by the customer, can either be given to the merchant who will himself transmit the information contained therein to the management center or who will send the form itself to the management center, either directly transmitted by the client at the management center.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the terminal can also accept as a portable object a third object, having an identifier readable by the terminal and containing a unique identification code that differentiates it from any other object. For example, a GSM equipped with short-range radiofrequency communication technology according to one of the variants of the ISO 14443 standard advantageously has a chip containing a unique identifier, guaranteed by the manufacturer of the chip. In this way, a user could decide to use his compatible mobile phone instead of a plastic card to be identified by the terminal.

In the same way, the terminal could accept the identifier contained in the magnetic strip or in the chip of cards used by another system, thus making it possible to make the two systems compatible or, at least, to use the two systems thanks to to the same portable object. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, when assigning a portable object, the merchant may also have his terminal read the information contained in an electronic ID of the customer, such as his card. electronic identity; information that will be transmitted by the terminal to the management center along with the identifier of the portable object and, where appropriate, the identity of the customer with a telecommunications network.

This makes it possible to improve the quality and the extent of the information available to the management center and, where appropriate, to simplify the life of the client by avoiding having to fill in part of the form that has been given to him, the information in question being directly read from the electronic ID.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the terminal will try to communicate with the management center through different types of connection, trying them successively. This plurality of connection modes makes it possible to reduce the cases in which the terminal is unable to communicate with the management center, simplifying the practical use of the invention.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, if, during a loyalty operation, such as a purchase for example, the terminal can not establish communication with the management center, it will enter the details of the operation in its internal memory and / or in the internal memory of the portable object. At each successful communication with the management center, the terminal will then check the possible presence of loyalty information in its internal memory and that of the portable object and transmit, if necessary, this information to the remote management center. In case of successful transmission, the terminal will erase the loyalty information of the local memory in question.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the information will be written by the terminal accompanied by a hash key calculated on the basis of the contents of the loyalty information, the date, the time, the number of the series of the terminal and any other element likely to perfectly identify the transaction. The management center will then be able to differentiate without any doubt from the information it has already received from those which are communicated to it for the first time, so that the writing of information both in the memory of the terminal and in that of the portable object is not likely to duplicate loyalty operations in the database of the management center.

In the same way, the presence of this hash key makes it possible to identify with certainty the repeated sending of the same information by a terminal, for example in the event that the terminal does not receive the reception advice correctly from the management center. information already transmitted.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the merchant can enter on the keypad of his terminal the number written on the portable object, or the identity of the customer with a telecommunications network such as his mobile phone number. example, instead of having the terminal read one of the identifiers of the portable object. Thus, the merchant can perform a normal operation without loss of time even in the case of a partial deterioration of the portable object or in the case of loss or forgetfulness of the portable object by the customer.

According to the invention, the commercial operations between the customer and the merchant will generate loyalty operations, based on the rules defined by the merchant at the management center. According to these rules, a loyalty transaction may consist of assigning a certain number of loyalty points to the customer according to the parameters of his purchase. The points can then be used by the customer to obtain an advantage from the merchant, for example a discount on a next purchase or a gift. The obtaining of the advantage may be subordinated to the possession of a sufficient number of points, possibly having an expiry period and / or the completion of a sufficient number of purchases, for example. The loyalty transaction may also consist of counting the number of purchases, the customer being able to obtain a discount on a future purchase after a certain number of purchases, possibly to be realized within a certain period of time.

A more original loyalty operation consisting of a draw can also be performed by the terminal or by the management center. Each purchase then has a certain probability of obtaining a benefit to the customer such as, for example, a certain discount on the purchase in question or a gift.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is possible to overcome the unpleasantness of an impossibility of connecting the terminal to the management center by allowing the merchant, by way of a telephone call for example, to obtain to the management center a debit authorization code to be able to debit the points of the customer and allow him to obtain the benefit to which he is entitled. In this way, the merchant must not refuse a legitimate advantage to his client in the event of a disruption of the connection between his terminal and the management center, while avoiding the risks that the customer may in this case obtain several times the advantage. in question.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the terminal will be able to print a ticket detailing the commercial operation and linked loyalty operation. This ticket may also include various information on the customer's account, as well as various messages sent by the merchant and / or the management center to the customer. These messages may, for example, signal a promotion to the customer, or wish him a happy birthday, or ask the customer to check if an update must be made to his personal information.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the management center database will include personal information related to the client, as well as communication rules. The database will also allow the trader to indicate communication rules. Based on customer preferences and merchant preferences, a set of communication rules will be deducted for each customer-merchant combination.

The information and preferences in question may be provided to the management center database by means of the form completed by the customer during the assignment of his portable object, by the merchant during the installation of his terminal, or by subsequent communication with the management center, whether by phone, fax, email, website, new form or any other means.

A concrete example will help to better understand the process: A jewelery merchant A indicates during the installation of his terminal that he wants to remind customers of their spouse's birthday two days before this one. Another florist B says he wants to send a specific message to his customers a week before Christmas. A customer C indicates on the form that he completes when assigning his portable object: the date of birth of his wife, the fact that he feels concerned by the Catholic holidays, specifies that he prefers to be joined by SMS only by email and indicates his mobile number. Another client D indicates that he is not married, that he feels concerned by Jewish holidays and Catholics, that he prefers to be reached by email and indicates his email address. We consider in the example that customers C and D are both customers of merchants A and B.

The management center will deduce the following communication rules: - For the customer C, he must send a specific SMS message from the merchant B a week before Christmas and send a reminder of the merchant's birthday A two days before the birthday of his wife.

- For the customer D, he must send a specific message from the merchant B a week before Christmas by email. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, customers can refine their preferences for each merchant specifically by communicating these wishes directly to the management center, for example through the website of the management center.

Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of a simple illustrative and nonlimiting example, and the appended drawings, among which: - Figure 1 illustrates a loyalty system according to the invention, schematically;

FIG. 2 shows the loyalty method according to the invention. The system and method according to the invention aim to retain a customer base, including a customer base that can be shared, at least partially, by several merchants or by certain groups of merchants.

The system of the invention is primarily intended to provide simplicity, speed and reliability of use much better than the current state of the art. Such a system is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1, where the relationship between a remote management center G comprising a database D, and a set of traders C1 to C3 is seen, but the system also works perfectly for a single trader.

Each trader C1 to C3 has one or more terminals. For example, the merchant C1 has two terminals T1 -1 and T1 -2, the merchant C2 has a terminal T2-1 and the merchant C3 of a terminal T3-1. Each terminal is equipped with at least two different types of connection with the management center.

In particular, the merchant C3 terminal T3-1 has 3 different connections with the management center, numbered L1 to L3. This is a link modem on a standard telephone line, an IP connection via an ADSL line and a GPRS IP connection via the GSM network.

Thanks to this plurality of connections, the terminal can try to connect to the management center in several ways, by successively trying each type of connection, according to an order of preference depending on its programming, for example according to the cost related to its use . In this case, the terminal will first try the ADSL line, then the GPRS connection to finally try the modem.

Thus, compared to conventional solutions where there is only one mode of communication between the terminal and the management center, the system according to the present invention greatly limits the risk of loss of connection and substantially increases the reliability of the system of the system. point of view of users, both traders and customers.

The system according to the present invention goes even further because it provides that in the very unlikely case where all the possible connections would be inoperative, the terminal can then store the information related to a commercial operation in a local memory, whether it is internal to the terminal M2 or internal to the portable object M1 presented by the customer. The terminal is then responsible for transmitting the information read in the local memories to the management center as soon as the connection is restored, to then erase them from the local memories.

It is indeed essential to ensure a fidelity system maximum reliability to avoid discouraging users. The value of points or other benefits accumulated during each purchase is often not very high, each concern of use may cause fatigue on both the merchant and the customer and therefore lead to a total abandonment of the system. The plurality of connections, as well as the additional possibility of local storage, of the system according to the invention make it possible to avoid this drawback of current systems. Moreover, the system according to the invention allows the use of different portable objects to identify the customer. It is therefore absolutely necessary for the merchant to provide himself the identifier, whether it is in the form of a card or other. We see in Figure 1 that both a smart card 01, a key ring with a radiofrequency identifier 02, a GSM also equipped with a radiofrequency identifier 03 can be used indifferently.

It is sufficient for an object to be accepted in order to identify the client, according to the system of the invention, that it comprises an identifier readable by the terminal and that this identifier comprises a unique code that satisfies a predetermined pattern. For example, the smart card 01 may contain a code 123456789012, unique to the customer who holds it, and which satisfies the reason "number of 12 digits starting with 1234 and ending with 2" which would be chosen for all cards issued by the merchant .

The radiofrequency identifier of the key ring 02 could contain a unique code that satisfies another pattern, accepted by the terminal in the context of an agreement with the manufacturer or the distributor of the key ring which would have communicated the reason to which the codes correspond. of each key ring.

And finally, the GSM 03, equipped with a short-range radiofrequency identifier ("NFC") for example Mifare technology, according to the ISO 14443 A standard, automatically includes a unique serial number assigned by the manufacturer of the chip . The terminal T2-1 is set to accept the series of numbers corresponding to the GSM of a particular brand.

In this way, the number of portable objects carried by a customer can be reduced by adding the customer identification function for loyalty operations to an object he already owns, such as his mobile phone for example. This advantage can help to encourage more customers to join the system by avoiding having to absolutely accept an additional object. In the same way, according to the invention, the same customer can use the same portable object with different merchants, each merchant managing his own loyalty program but the customer must carry only one and only portable object.

An embodiment of the method according to the invention is illustrated schematically in FIG.

During the first use by a client CLI-1 of a portable object, here a smart card O1 containing a code 1234 and bearing a number 1234, from a COM-1 merchant and having a terminal T1, the The customer must also communicate to the merchant an identity with a telecommunications network, among the networks accepted according to the method. Advantageously, the GSM network will be chosen here, the customer thus communicating to the merchant his GSM number +32475111111.

In the present example, the card has been given to the customer by the merchant, but the process remains identical using, for example, a keychain with a unique code readable by the terminal and whose pattern is accepted by the terminal.

The first step according to the method, indicated here by the arrows E1, consists for the merchant COM-1 to enter on his terminal T1 the identity "+32475111111" provided by the customer CLI-1 and to make the terminal T1 read the code "1234" contained in the chip of the O1 card presented by the customer CLI-1 from it was given to him by the merchant COM-1, free or against payment.

The second step, indicated by the arrow E2, consists for the terminal T1 to transmit to the management center GEST the code "1234" of the customer identifier CLI-1, the identity "+32475111111" of the customer CLI-1 from of the GSM network, via one of the connections at his disposal. Upon receipt of this information, the GEST management center enters into its database D the information which, on the one hand, associates the code "1234", the identity "+32475111111" with the customer "CLI-1", such as as represented in the contents of the table DB1, and, on the other hand, associates the client "CLI-1" with the merchant "COM-1" because the information has been transmitted to him by the terminal T1 of the merchant COM-1 in question. as represented in the contents of the DB2 table.

The third step E3 consists for the GEST management center to generate a unique and unpredictable code, here "XYZ", and to send it by SMS to GSM G1 client CLI-1, or on his mobile phone number "+32475111111" . The client then communicates, according to step E4 of the method, this code to the merchant COM-1 who enters it on his terminal T1. This code is then transmitted by the terminal T1 to the GEST management center, which enables the GEST management center to validate that the identity "+32475111111" is that of the GSM client CLI-1 because otherwise it could not have known the unique code "XYZ" generated by the GEST Management Center. This validation of the identity is included in the contents of the DB1 table.

In addition, the COM-1 merchant gives the client CLI-1 a paper form F1 where the customer CLI-1 will indicate the number "1234" of his portable object O1, his identity with the GSM network 11, namely his number "+ 32475111111 ", as well as the unique and unpredictable code" XYZ "received by SMS from the GEST Management Center. This is step E6 of the process. On this F1 form, the CLI-1 client will indicate their personal information, as well as their communication preferences.

According to the last step E7 of the process, the client CLI-1 will then communicate this F1 form to the GEST management center, either directly by fax, email or mail, or through the COM-1 merchant who will send it to the center of management. The GEST Management Center will then associate the F1 form information with the CLI-1 client in the contents of the DB3 table in its D database. Thanks to this process, when the CLI-1 customer returns to the same COM-1 merchant, he will only have to present his card 01 or to communicate his GSM number 11 to be identified as part of the loyalty program. of the COM-1 merchant. But, above all, if he goes to another COM-2 merchant affiliated with the system, he will only have to present his card 01 or to communicate his identity 11 so that the COM-2 merchant can include it in his own loyalty program. Indeed, the management center will simply add in the contents of the DB2 table an association between the COM-2 merchant and the CLM client.

In this way, the same portable object 01 can be used at different merchants affiliated with the system, who can independently manage their loyalty program, without the customer having to have a different card for each merchant. Likewise, the customer will only have to fill in the F1 form once instead of having to fill out a form at each merchant's. Finally, if the customer communicates to the management center a change in his personal information, he may do so only once. The change will be written by the management center in the contents of the DB3 table and will therefore be accessible to all merchants associated with the CLM client in the DB2 table.

The CLM client could even use a second portable object, such as a key ring with a radio frequency identifier. If this second object is also associated with the identity 11, that is the GSM number "+32475111111", it can be used either with the object 01 because, in the DB1 table of the GEST management center database, this second object 02 will also be associated with the client CLM.

In a variant of the method according to the invention, it is possible to add a notion of "group of merchants" comprising one or more merchants, and to indicate that the personal information of a customer is accessible to all merchants belonging to a related group. the customer master record in the DB2 table in the GEST Management Center database. Indeed, some independent traders are perceived by the end customer as a single trader, because the customer does not perceive a difference between outlets that are, at least in part, legally independent entities. One thinks in particular of the systems of franchises or the traders who attribute each point of sale to a different legal structure which are all subsidiaries of the same holding.

Thanks to the above variant, it is possible to create an ad hoc group of traders that enables the customer to be known and recognized in the same manner in all the sales outlets of the group of traders in question.

Claims

Claims:

1. Customer loyalty system for at least one merchant, characterized in that: • each customer of said customer has a portable object containing at least one read-only identifier, specific to said customer;

• each merchant has at least one terminal capable of:

• read at least one identifier of said portable objects; • determine the characteristics of commercial operations;

• communicate with a remote management center;

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said portable objects may in particular consist of a plastic card.

3. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said portable objects may in particular consist of a key ring.

4. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said portable objects may in particular contain an identifier in the form of a number written on the portable object in figures and letters.

5. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said portable objects may in particular contain an identifier in the form of printing on said object of a 2D or 3D bar code.

6. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said portable objects may in particular contain an identifier in the form of a numeric or alphanumeric code contained in a magnetic track.

7. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said portable objects may in particular contain an identifier in the form of a numeric or alphanumeric code contained in a chip.

8. System according to claim 7, characterized in that the identifier contained in the chip can be read by short-range radio communication.

9. System according to claim 1, characterized in that at least some of said portable objects have an internal memory allowing the terminal to write and read information.

10. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal is also able to read electronic identification documents such as electronic identity cards.

11. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal has an internal memory for writing and reading information.

12. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal has a printer for printing a ticket.

13. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal has a keyboard for entering numeric or alphanumeric information.

14. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal has a display screen.

15. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal has at least one connection, such as a serial port, for communicating with a cash register or an equivalent system.

16. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal can communicate with said management center via a modem connected to the telephone network.

17. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal can communicate with said management center via an Ethernet connection connected to the Internet network.

18. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal can communicate with said management center by a GPRS connection or equivalent, connected to a mobile phone network.

19. System according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that the terminal can communicate with the management center by at least two different types of connection.

20. The system of claim 19, characterized in that the terminal is able to successively try the different types of connection it has to communicate with said management center.

21. System according to claim 9, characterized in that the terminal can write the loyalty information in the memory of the portable object when it has not been able to communicate with said management center.

22. System according to claim 11, characterized in that the terminal can write the loyalty information in its internal memory when it has not been able to communicate with said management center.

23. System according to any one of claims 21 or 22, characterized in that the terminal can read the loyalty information possibly present in its internal memory or in the memory of the portable object and can attempt to transmit them to said center management to erase them from or internal memories if successful.

24. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least some of the identifiers of the portable object comprise a different code for identifying both the portable object and the identifier, or the group of identifiers. , having been read.

25. A method of retaining a customer base of at least one merchant, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: • allocation to each customer of said customer, or possession by each customer, of a portable object containing at least a unique identifier readable by the terminal; Providing each of said merchants with at least one terminal capable of: reading at least one identifier of said portable objects;

• determine loyalty information; • communicate with a remote management center; Management in said management center of a global database, fed in particular by the data transmitted by said terminals.

26. The method of claim 25, characterized in that each trader is part of a group of at least one trader.

27. The method of claim 25, characterized in that said portable object, assigned to the customer or held by the customer, must include at least one identifier readable by the terminal and containing a code corresponding to at least one of the expected code patterns by the terminal to be accepted by said terminal as a portable object.

28. The method of claim 27, characterized in that, during the first use of a portable object according to said method, the customer must provide his identity to a telecommunications network accepted by the method and the trader must to enter said identity on said terminal simultaneously with the reading of said identifier of the portable object, so that this client identity is transmitted to said management center along with the code of the identifier of said portable object for be associated with it in the management center database.

29. The method of claim 25, characterized in that, during the allocation or the first use of said portable object, the customer also receives a form to complete including information to better identify and know it.

30. The method of claim 29, characterized in that the customer must enter the number of the portable object on the form when it completes.

31. The method of claim 29, characterized in that the customer must register his said identity with a communication network on the form when it completes.

32. Method according to one of claims 30 to 31, characterized in that the customer can return the completed form to the merchant.

33. Method according to one of claims 30 to 31, characterized in that the customer can transmit the completed form directly to said management center.

34. Method according to any one of claims 27 to 33, characterized in that the terminal or the management center sends a unique and unpredictable code to the client on his identity with a communication network.

35. The method of claim 34, characterized in that the customer must communicate the unique and unpredictable code, received from the terminal or the management center, the merchant or on the form to validate his identity with the telecommunications network.

36. A method according to claim 27, characterized in that the merchant can read the information contained in a piece of electronic identity of the customer, such as an electronic identity card, when activating the portable object. , so that this information is transmitted to said management center at the same time as the identifier of the portable object.

37. The method of claim 29, characterized in that the form contains the preferences of the customer on how said merchant can communicate with him.

38. The method as claimed in claim 25, characterized in that the terminal communicates directly to said management center the information relating to a commercial operation.

39. The method of claim 25, characterized in that the terminal successively tries the different types of connection that it has in order to communicate to said management center the information relating to a commercial operation.

40. The method of claim 25, characterized in that the terminal writes in its internal memory the information relating to a commercial operation when it could not communicate with said management center.

41. The method of claim 25, characterized in that the terminal writes the information relating to a commercial operation in the memory internal of the portable object of the client when he could not communicate with said management center.

42. A method according to any one of claims 40 and 41, characterized in that the information relating to a commercial operation is supplemented with a hash key to authenticate the commercial operation and ensure its uniqueness.

43. A method according to any one of claims 40 to 42, characterized in that the terminal verifies the presence of information related to a commercial operation in its internal memory or in that of the portable object of the customer, that he tries to transmit them to the management center and erase them from the internal memory in question in case of successful transmission.

44. The method of claim 25, characterized in that the merchant can, during a commercial operation, enter the number of the portable object of the client on the keyboard of said terminal instead of having him read one of the identifiers of the portable object.

45. A method according to any one of claims 28 and 29, characterized in that the merchant can, during a commercial operation, enter the said identity of the customer with a telecommunications network on the keyboard of said terminal instead of make him read one of the identifiers of the portable object.

46. The method of claim 25 or 26, characterized in that the management rules of the loyalty operations applied by said management center are specific to each merchant or to each group of at least one merchant.

47. The method of claim 46, characterized in that the loyalty operations allow a customer to use the loyalty points acquired from a merchant or a group of at least one merchant to obtain a benefit from said merchant or said group of traders.

48. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the merchant can obtain from the management center an authorization code to debit a certain number of loyalty points. his client's account if his terminal is unable to communicate directly with the said management center.

49. The method of claim 25, characterized in that the terminal prints a ticket containing various information during a commercial operation giving rise to a loyalty operation.

50. The method of claim 49, characterized in that the printed ticket may include additional messages, such as advertising messages or indications of use transmitted by the management center.

51. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the management rules defined by the merchant to be applied by the management center also specify which automatic messages must be sent by the management center to the customer, based on merchant preferences, customer-provided information and customer preferences.

52. A method according to any one of claims 25 to 51, characterized in that during each commercial operation performed by a customer at a merchant, the management center uses the information transmitted by the merchant terminal to add in his database. the merchant, or the group of merchants to which the merchant belongs, to merchants or groups of merchants already associated with the customer.

53. A method according to any one of claims 25 to 51, characterized in that the addition of the merchant, or group of merchants of which the merchant belongs, to merchants or groups of merchants already associated with the customer is done by a special operation performed on the merchant's terminal prior to the first commercial operation performed by the customer at the said merchant.

54. A method according to claim 52, characterized in that each trader can obtain from the database of the management center the personal information of all customers associated at least with the merchant or the group of merchants of which he is a part, as well as 'to the list and details of the commercial operations performed by this customer on one of its terminals or those of merchants belonging to the group of traders of which it is a part.

55. A method according to claim 52 or 53, characterized in that a client can have the management center delete the association in the management center database between himself and said merchant or merchant group, communicating this wish to the management center.

56. A method according to claim 52 or 53, characterized in that the changes made by a client to his personal information are communicated by the management center to all the associated merchants in the database to the customer having modified his personal information.

57. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the customer can make changes to his personal information by communicating them to the management center.

58. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the communication to the management center of changes to be made to his personal information by the customer is done by sending a new form with the number of its object portable device or its identity to a telecommunications network.

59. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the communication to the management center of the changes to be made to his personal information by the customer is done by reading through the terminal of one of the merchants with whom his object portable is activated from the identifier of this portable object and the information contained in an electronic piece of identification, followed by the communication of this information by the terminal to the management center.