WO2008143374A1

WO2008143374A1 - A method and system for enlisting and managing member provided with stock dividend or franchising benefit, on-line transaction system using the member

Info

Publication number: WO2008143374A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/002529
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seonghwan Kim; Dongchul Bae
Original assignee: Seonghwan Kim; Dongchul Bae
Priority date: 2007-05-23
Filing date: 2007-05-23
Publication date: 2008-11-27

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and a system for enrolling/managing members for online transactions providing stock dividends and/or franchising benefits. The system classifies members into individual and corporation members and enrolls the individual members into at least two stock dividend classes, members of which receive stock dividends according to the paid enrollment fee, and at least one normal class, members of which receive no stock dividends. Then, the system manages member information and endows members of respective classes with proper benefits and obligations. The system enrolls the corporation members into at least two classes, members of which receive no stock dividends, and manages member information. During member enrollment, the system receives member enrollment information, extracts qualification information from the member enrollment information, and authenticates the qualification in¬ formation under cooperation with an external authentication system. The system confirms if the member enrollment fee has been paid, and enrolls the member who has undergone au¬ thentication/payment into one of the classes. If a member has enrolled another member by his/her own effort, a proportion of the member enrollment fee paid by the newly enrolled member is given as a member enrollment arrangement commission.

Description

Description A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENLISTING AND MANAGING

MEMBER PROVIDED WITH STOCK DIVIDEND OR FRANCHISING BENEFIT, ON-LINE TRANSACTION SYSTEM

USING THE MEMBER Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a method and a system for enrolling/managing members for online transactions providing stock dividends and franchising benefits. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and a system for classifying members into individual and corporation members, enrolling individual members after classifying them into at least two stock dividend classes, members of which receive stock dividends according to the paid enrollment fee, and at least one normal class, members of which receive no stock dividends, enrolling the corporation members after classifying them into at least two classes, members of which receive no stock dividends, and managing member information. Background Art

[2] As generally known in the art, various types of electronic commerce is being conducted online.

[3] The most basic type of electronic commerce includes a so-called "shopping mall" type. The operator establishes a cyber shopping mall on a web server and purchases items from sellers or allows them to open virtual stores in the shopping mall so that purchasers accessing the web server can select desired commodities and settle the charge to have the commodities delivered to them.

[4] According to this type of electronic commerce, operators of shopping malls can merely advertise their websites so that more purchasers access and buy products through their shopping malls, but can do nothing to increase sales. Operators send commercial electronic mail or SMS messages to users who have visited their shopping malls at least once. However, this is just a way of advertising, and can hardly increase sales.

[5] In addition, when a business provider has opened a virtual store in an electronic commerce-type shopping mall of another business provider, the former is merely a conventional manufacturer or a circulator. In other words, both business providers take a portion of commodity sales as their shares, and, from the consumer's point of view, the price is hardly different from that of commodities directly transacted off-line.

[6] Furthermore, normal members of a conventional shopping mall do not have any price merit, and they have nothing to do with the profit or development of the shopping mall operator. More particularly, even if a member of a shopping mall has purchased a lot of commodities and contributed to the growth and profit of the shopping mall operator, the member merely receives bonus points or discount benefits in proportion to the purchase, but he/she has little motive to continue using the shopping mall because he/ she has nothing do to with the shopping mall operator's growth or benefit.

[7] Meanwhile, off-line sales include multi-level marketing and door-to-door sales, which are regulated by laws regulating door-to-door sales, etc. Purchasers or service providers establish a multi-level sales organization by gradually enrolling salespeople on a condition that they will be paid for a predetermined type of activity. Particularly, 1) a person will be paid a predetermined commission if he/she purchases commodities or receives services from corresponding sellers or service providers and sells or provides them to other consumers; and 2) if the person enrolls all or some of the consumers mentioned in 1) as his/her lower- level salespeople, and if the lower- level salespeople conduct the activity described in 1), he/she will be given predetermined benefits.

[8] One type of conventional multi-level marketing is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2001-18153, which provides a system for paying commissions concerning multi-level marketing, including direct sales commissions, support commissions, and education support encouraging money. More particularly, the direct sales commission is paid for the first sales made by a person himself/herself. The direct sales commission is paid even if the salesperson has only one line, and corresponds to 10% of the total amount of sales made by himself/herself. The support commission corresponds to 3-11% of the sales of a person, and is paid only if he/she has established at least two lines. If a person has recorded sales from only one line, the sales accumulate for that line until the sales of another line exceed those of the person. The education support encouraging money is paid based on the support commission of each member, and corresponds to 10% of each businessperson commission in lower groups, particularly up to the second-generation group of the member.

[9] However, such a multi-level marketing scheme has a problem in that the human network of salespeople, who are mostly laymen, is not strong enough to find new consumers and even enroll them as lower-level salespeople. As a result, most multilevel salespeople make little profit, and the company can hardly expect any increase in sales.

[10] From another point of view, the income of each salesperson in the multi-level marketing business is determined based on the amount of commodities sold by themselves or by their lower salespeople (i.e. they are in a sense "freelancers"). This means that their income has nothing to do with the overall sales of the company or its development. Therefore, the company can hardly expect a high degree of loyalty from each salesperson, not to speak of long-term, stable development of the company.

[11] Considering these circumstances, the present invention proposes that members are classified into individual and corporation members; the individual members are enrolled into at least two stock dividend classes, members of which receive stock dividends according to the paid enrollment fee, and at least one normal class, members of which receive no stock dividends; the corporation members are enrolled into at least two classes, members of which receive no stock dividends, on condition that they pay a predetermined enrollment fee; and the member information is managed. The corporation members register commodities/services for sale in an online transaction server, and members purchase or utilize the commodities/services for sale at a low price (with little circulation margin) by using the online transaction server. Disclosure of Invention Technical Solution

[12] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the present invention provides a method and a system for enrolling individual members into at least two stock dividend classes, members of which are entitled to receive stocks of the company or its subsidiary companies or receive franchising benefits, and at least one normal class, members of which have neither stock dividends nor franchising benefits, but are merely entitled to purchase desired commodities, on condition that they pay a predetermined enrollment fee and managing the members.

[13] The present invention also provides a method and a system for enrolling corporation members into at least two classes, members of which are entitled to sell commodities/ services for sale to individual members by using an online transaction system according to the present invention, on condition that they pay a predetermined enrollment fee and managing the members.

[14] The present invention also provides a method and a system for enabling individual members to purchase commodities/services for sale at prices, to which different discount ratios are applied depending on the classes.

[15] The present invention also provides a method and a system for providing individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes with a right to operate the company's franchises, the number or scale of which is varied according to the member class, and distributing benefits from the franchises to the company and the corresponding individual members at different distribution ratios depending on the member class.

[16] The present invention also provides a method and a system for entitling individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes to preferentially receive stock dividends of subsidiary companies separated from the company, the number of subsidiary companies depending on the member class.

[17] The present invention also provides a method and a system for managing members in such a manner that, when an individual member has enrolled another individual or a corporation as a member, a predetermined proportion of the enrollment fee paid by the newly enrolled member is given to the corresponding individual member as a member enrollment arrangement commission.

[18] The present invention also provides a method and a system for managing members in such a manner that, in the case of individual members, a predetermined portion of the member enrollment arrangement commission or the amount of accumulated purchases is accumulated and deposited in the name of the corresponding individual members.

[19] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for enrolling/managing members, including a computer network including Internet; at least one member client terminal; and a member enrollment/management server in- terworking with the member client terminal via the computer network, the member enrollment/management server including a receiving module for receiving member enrollment information transmitted or inputted from the member client terminal or an administrator computer of the member enrollment/management server; an authentication module for extracting qualification information from the member enrollment information and authenticating whether or not the qualification information is true; an enrollment fee management module for confirming if a member enrollment fee has been paid; a member enrollment module for classifying a member into an individual member or a corporation member on condition that the member has paid a member enrollment fee and that qualification requirements have been authenticated, deciding to enroll the member, when the member has been classified as an individual member, into one of at least two stock dividend classes and at least one normal class, members belonging to the stock dividend classes having a right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, members belonging to the normal class having no right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, and storing information regarding the enrolled member in a member DB; and a member DB storing information regarding the individual and corporation members.

[20] The stock dividend classes of individual members may include a first class (VHP class), members belonging to the first class having a right to operate L franchises or franchises of L scale or preferentially buy stocks of L subsidiary companies on condition that the members pay a first enrollment fee, a second class (MIIP class), members belonging to the second class having a right to operate M (L>M) franchises or franchises of M scale or preferentially buy stocks of M subsidiary companies on condition that the members pay a second enrollment fee, and a third class (IP class), members belonging to the third class having a right to operate N(L>M>N) franchises or franchises of N scale or preferentially buy stocks of N subsidiary companies on condition that the members pay a third enrollment fee.

[21] The member enrollment/management server may further include a stock management module for calculating information regarding the number of stock dividends in proportion to the enrollment fee with regard to individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes and storing/managing the calculated information in the member DB.

[22] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an online transaction server for mediating online transactions by using individual and corporation members. The server interworks with a member enrollment/management server via a computer network including the Internet and is adapted to store commodities for sale provided by the corporation members in a commodity DB so that, when a purchase request is received from a client terminal of a specific individual member, a discount ratio set for each class of individual members is applied to determine the price of commodities for sale, and the commodities for sales are sold to the corresponding individual member at the determined price.

[23] The online transaction server may further include a deposit management module for accumulating, depositing, and managing a predetermined ratio of the amount of accumulated transactions made by a specific individual member via the online transaction server in the name of the corresponding individual member at a predetermined cycle.

[24] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for enrolling/managing members for online transactions by using a member enrollment/management server interworking with at least one user client terminal via a computer network including Internet, the method including the steps of a) receiving member enrollment information regarding an enrolled member by the member enrollment/management server, the information being inputted into the user client terminal or the member enrollment/management server itself; b) authenticating qualification requirements contained in the received member enrollment information; c) confirming whether or not a member enrollment fee has been paid; and d) classifying the enrolled member into an individual member or a corporation member on condition that the member has paid a member enrollment fee and that the qualification requirements have been authenticated, deciding to enroll the member, when the member has been classified as an individual member, into one of at least two stock dividend classes and at least one normal class, members belonging to the stock dividend classes having a right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, members belonging to the normal class having no right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, and storing information regarding the enrolled member in a member DB.

[25] The method may further include a step of e) calculating information regarding stocks of a company provided according to the enrollment fee and the class and storing/ managing the calculated information in the member DB, or calculating or receiving information regarding stocks of subsidiary companies bought by a specific member based on a right to preferentially buy stocks of subsidiary companies and storing the information in the member DB.

[26] The method may further include a step of f) creating information regarding at least one of the name, scale, and operation profit of a franchise operated by a specific member based on the right to operate franchises and storing/managing the created information in the member DB.

[27] The method may further include a step of g) creating information regarding a member enrollment arrangement commission for a specific member according to predetermined conditions when there is an input signal indicating that the specific member has enrolled a different member, and storing/managing the created information in the member DB. Brief Description of the Drawings

[28] The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[29] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a member enrollment/ management server according to the present invention;

[30] FIG. 2 shows the overall construction of a system for online transactions by members enrolled by a member enrollment/management server according to the present invention;

[31] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functional components of an online transaction server according to the present invention;

[32] FIG. 4 shows a data structure of a member DB according to the present invention; and

[33] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a member enrollment/management method according to the present invention. Mode for the Invention

[34] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and so repetition of the description on the same or similar components will be omitted. Furthermore, a detailed description of known functions and configurations in- corporated herein is omitted to avoid making the subject matter of the present invention unclear.

[35] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a member enrollment/ management server according to the present invention.

[36] The member enrollment/management server 100 according to the present invention interworks with at least one user client terminal 300 via a computer network 400. The member enrollment/management server 100 includes a receiving module 110 for receiving member enrollment information which is transmitted from the user client terminal or which is directly inputted into the server; an authentication module 120 for extracting qualification information from the member enrollment information and authenticating whether or not the qualification information is true under cooperation with an external authentication institute; an enrollment fee management module 130 for confirming whether or not a member enrollment fee has been paid; a member enrollment module 140 for classifying members into individual and corporation members on condition that they pay the member enrollment fee and that the qualification requirements are authenticated, deciding to enroll the individual members into one of at least two stock dividend classes, members of which are entitled to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, and at least one normal class, members of which are entitled to neither receive stock dividends nor operate franchises, and storing information regarding the enrolled members in a member DB; and a member DB 150 storing member information.

[37] The member enrollment/management server 100 may further include a stock management module 160, a franchise management module 170, and a member enrollment arrangement commission management module 180.

[38] The receiving module 110 is adapted to receive member enrollment information inputted from the user client terminal or the administrator of the member enrollment/ management server. The member enrollment information is either transmitted via a wired/wireless communication means or is directly inputted from the administrator computer. The member enrollment information transmitted/inputted in this manner is received by the receiving module.

[39] The member enrollment information may include not only the enrolled member's personal status information, but also qualification information regarding predetermined qualifications, information regarding the class desired by the corresponding enrolled member, information regarding the member enrollment feed paid by the enrolled member, etc.

[40] The present invention solely enrolls members with excellent purchasing power, and members satisfying the enrollment conditions include, but are not limited to, professionals (e.g. attorneys, accountants, doctors), MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) members (excellent insurance salespeople), financial experts with careers of at least two years with banks or insurance companies, top-level university graduates having a grade above a predetermined level, etc.

[41] Therefore, the qualification information may include certificate information regarding whether or not each enrolled member has a nation-issued certificate, employment information proving that each enrolled member has been employed by a company for at least a predetermined period of time, grade/graduation information proving that each enrolled member has graduated a school with a grade above a predetermined level, and official certification information proving that each enrolled member has been endowed with a predetermined qualification (e.g. MDRT) by an official institute.

[42] The authentication module 120 extracts the qualification information from the member enrollment information and transmits the qualification information (at least one of certificate information, employment information, grade/graduation information, and official certification information) to at least one system interworking with the member enrollment/management server, which is selected from a system of a certificate-issuing institute, a company system, a school system, and an official institute system. Then, the authentication module 120 receives information regarding the result of authentication and authenticates whether or not the qualification requirements are satisfied.

[43] For example, if an enrolled member is an attorney, the authentication module 120 transmits his/her name, attorney registration number, and resident registration number to the external terminal of the bar association, and receives a reply regarding if he/she is a registered one.

[44] The enrollment fee management module 130 is adapted to confirm if a user, who wants to enroll as a member, has duly paid the enrollment fee by interworking with a separate settlement means or a financial institute system.

[45] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, members are generally divided into individual members and corporation members.

[46] After paying a predetermined enrollment fee, corporation members are enrolled and entitled to sell their commodities/services to individual members. Corporation members may be classified into at least two classes according to their scale, and the enrollment fee may be varied depending on the class.

[47] For example, large corporations having at least 2,000 employees must pay an enrollment fee of W 100,000,000 (Won: Korean monetary unit) to belong to the first class (VHP); medium-sized corporations having 100-2,000 employees must pay W50,000,000 to belong to the second class (MIIP); and smaller corporations must pay W30,000,000 to belong to the third class (IP). However, the classes and the enrollment fees are not limited to the above example, and may be varied.

[48] It is also possible to classify corporation members according to the business category and enroll only one corporation member for each business category.

[49] Individual members may be additionally classified into stock dividend classes and normal classes. Preferably, the stock dividend classes include a first class (VHP class), members of which are entitled to operate L franchises or franchises of scale L or to preferentially buy stocks of L subsidiary companies on condition that they pay a first enrollment fee, a second class (MIIP class), members of which are entitled to operate M (L>M) franchises or franchises of scale M or to preferentially buy stocks of M subsidiary companies on condition that they pay a second enrollment fee, and a third class (IP class), members of which are entitled to operate N (L>M>N) franchises or franchises of scale N or to preferentially buy stocks of N subsidiary companies on condition that they pay a third enrollment fee. Preferably, L is 3 or "large scale", M is 2 or "medium scale", and N is 1 or "small scale", but the value or designation is not limited to this example.

[50] In addition, individual members belonging to the normal class may be subdivided into members of a lifetime class, who are entitled to purchase commodities with no time limit by using the online transaction server according to the present invention on condition that they pay a fourth enrollment fee, and members of a normal class, who are entitled to purchase commodities by using the online transaction server according to the present invention for a predetermined period of time (e.g. for one year) on condition that they pay a fifth enrollment fee. However, the classification is not limited to this example.

[51] Enrolled members can select a desired class at the time of enrollment and must pay a predetermined member enrollment fee. For example, the member enrollment fee for the first class is W50,000,000; the fee for the second class is W30,000,000; the fee for the third class is W10,000,000; the fee for the fourth class if W5 ,000,000; and the fee for the fifth class is Wl, 000,000.

[52] Such a member enrollment fee is a kind of deposit. However, it may be converted into stocks depending on the class; the member may receive a dividend in proportion to the enrollment fee; or the enrollment fee may be used to pay for a service (e.g. lecture, education) provided by the company.

[53] The member enrollment module 140 interworks with the authentication module 120 and the enrollment fee management module 130 to confirm if the qualification information, etc. has been authenticated and if the member enrollment fee has been duly paid. Then, the member enrollment module 140 decides to enroll the corresponding member into the desired class, and stores data regarding the corresponding member, including his/her personal status information, qualification information, class in- formation, member enrollment fee information, etc., in the member DB 150, which will be described later in more detail.

[54] As mentioned above, the member enrollment module 140 includes information regarding business categories in connection with corporation members. When a specific corporation wants to be enrolled, the member enrollment module 140 identifies the business category of the corporation and, if there is already a corporation member belonging to the same category, refuses to enroll the corporation. This is because, if more than one corporation members exist in the same business category and provide individual members with commodities for sale, the advantage as an exclusive corporation member is lost.

[55] The member enrollment module 140 classifies enrolled members into individual and corporation members and interworks with the stock management module 160, the franchise management module 170, and the member enrollment arrangement commission management module 180 (described later) to create member data regarding corresponding members and store it in the member DB. The format of the member data will be described later in more detail.

[56] The stock management module 160 is adapted to calculate the number of stock dividends in proportion to the enrollment fee in the case of individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes and store/manage the calculated number in the member DB.

[57] The number of provided stocks may be determined to correspond to the face value of the stocks until the number of individual members reaches a predetermined number (e.g. 1,000). The number of stock dividends for members who have been enrolled after the predetermined number (1,000) has been exceeded may be determined based on the product of the face value and a predetermined weight.

[58] For example, it will be assumed that an individual member has paid W50,000,000 as the enrollment fee for the first class (VHP) and that the face value of stocks is W5,000. If the individual member has been enrolled before the total number of individual members reaches 1,000, the stock dividend number field in the member information contained in the member DB is set as 10,000 so that 10,000 stocks are provided. If he/ she has been enrolled after the total number of individual members has exceeded 1,000, the number of stock dividends is calculated/stored to be smaller than 10,000 (e.g. 5,000).

[59] In addition, the stock management module may incorporate the function of calculating the amount of stock dividends according to the company's profits and the number of stocks held by individuals at a predetermined cycle (e.g. every fiscal year) and updating/storing the calculated number in the member DB. To this end, the stock information field of each member in the member DB may include a stock dividend amount field.

[60] According to another embodiment of the present invention, individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes are entitled not only to receive stock dividends from the member enrollment/management company (hereinafter, referred to as a company) according to the present invention, but also to preferentially buy stocks of a subsidiary company separated from the company (hereinafter, referred to as a subsidiary company), i.e. receive a subsidiary company stock preferential purchase right. In this case, the number of subsidiary companies, the stocks of which can be received, may be varied depending on the stock dividend classes of members.

[61] To this end, the stock management module may further incorporate functions of calculating and managing the number of subsidiary companies, the stocks of which individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes are entitled to buy preferentially, and storing and managing information regarding stocks of subsidiary companies which have been bought based on the preferential stock purchase right.

[62] For example, individual members belonging to the first class are entitled to preferentially buy stocks of three subsidiary companies. Then, a subsidiary company number field is added to the corresponding member information in the member DB, and number '3' is stored/managed in the field. If a corresponding member has bought 1,000 stocks of subsidiary company A based on the preferential purchase right, the subsidiary company number field value is updated to '2'. Then, the subsidiary company stock information field value is updated/managed to store subsidiary company stock information "1,000 stocks of subsidiary company A; W5,000,000".

[63] As will be described later, each member's data in the member DB includes a stock information field, which is subdivided into a stock dividend number field, a stock dividend amount field, a subsidiary company number field, a subsidiary company stock information field, etc. However, the field values are not limited to this example as long as data having above-mentioned functions are created/managed.

[64] According to another embodiment of the present invention, individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes are given the right to operate franchises of a predetermined scale or number instead of (or in addition to) the right to preferentially buy stocks of subsidiary companies.

[65] Information regarding this is created/managed by the franchise management module

170. Particularly, the franchise management module 170 creates information regarding rights to operate franchises, which are given to individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes, and stores the information in the member DB. The franchise management module 170 calculates information regarding profits of individual members according to a predetermined algorithm based on inputted information regarding profits resulting from future franchise operations, and stores/manages the in- formation in the member DB.

[66] The scale or number of franchises may be varied depending on the class. For example, members belonging to the first class (VHP) are entitled to either operate large-scale franchises or operate three franchises regardless of the scale; members belonging to the second class (MIIP) are entitled to either operate medium- scalefranchises or operate two franchises; and members belonging to the third class (IP) are entitled to either operate small-scale franchises or operate one franchise. However, the scale or number is not limited to this example.

[67] In addition, individual members entitled to operate franchises are supposed to share their profits from the operated franchises with the company at a predetermined cycle. The sharing ratio is varied depending on the class. For example, members belonging to the first class (VHP) take 100% of profits from operated franchises and do not share the profits with the company. In this case, dividend profit information of 100% is calculated and stored. Members belonging to the second class (MIIP) take 90% of their profits (the remaining is given to the company), and members belonging to the third class (IP) take 80% of their profits.

[68] The franchise management module is adapted to continuously create information regarding franchises provided to respective members, i.e. the number of provided franchises, their name, scale, dividend profits, etc. and update the member DB accordingly.

[69] To this end, each member data item in the member DB includes a franchise information field, which includes a field containing information regarding the number of franchises to be provided, a field regarding the name of each franchise provided, a scale field, a dividend profit information field, etc.

[70] For example, when a member has been enrolled into the first-class, the franchise management module stores 3 in the field containing information regarding the number of franchises to be provided, among each member data item in the member DB. When the member is later entitled to operate a large-scale franchise named A, information is created and stored/managed in corresponding fields: 'A' in the franchise name field, 'large' in the scale field, and 'W2,350,000/February, 2006' in the dividend profit field.

[71] When a specific individual member has enrolled another individual or a corporation as a member by his/her own effort, the member enrollment arrangement commission management field 180 calculates a predetermined proportion of the enrollment fee paid by the newly enrolled member to obtain a member enrollment arrangement commission, and stores/manages the commission in the member DB.

[72] To this end, each member data item in the member DB must include a member enrollment arrangement commission field value, which is updated concurrently with enrollment of a new member. [73] The member enrollment arrangement commission ratio (i.e. what percentage of an enrollment fee paid by a new member is to be given to the arranger) is preferably 1% of the enrollment fee if an individual member has been newly enrolled, and 2% of the enrollment fee if a corporation member has been newly enrolled. However, the ratio is not limited to this example.

[74] For example, if an individual member A has enrolled a corporation member B into the first class (VHP) at an enrollment fee of W 100,000,000 and has enrolled another individual member C into the second class (MIIP) at an enrollment fee of W30,000,000 by his/her own effort, the member enrollment arrangement commission management module calculates the member enrollment arrangement commission for member A in the following manner:

W100,000,000x0.02+W30,000,000x0.01=W2,300,000. This value is stored/managed as the member enrollment arrangement commission field value of member A data in the member DB.

[75] The stock management module 160 and the franchise management module 170 may reduce the number of stock dividends, which are provided in relation to the enrollment fee, by a predetermined ratio relative to initial conditions in the case of individual members who have been enrolled after the total number of enrolled members had exceeded a predetermined threshold. Similarly, the proportion of franchise operation profits to be provided to individual members may be calculated/stored after reducing it by a predetermined amount.

[76] For example, members who have been enrolled into first, second, and third classes before the total members amount to 1,000 are provided with 100%, 90%, and 80% of the franchise operation profits as dividend profits, respectively, as mentioned above. However, members who have been enrolled into first, second, and third classes after the total members have amounted to 1,000 are provided with 90%, 80%, and 70% of the profits, respectively.

[77] It is also possible to additionally lower the percentage of distributed franchise operation profits or that of initially distributed stocks with regard to members who have been enrolled after the total number of enrolled members has exceeded 2,000.

[78] The member enrollment module 140 may classify individual members into S groups according to the qualification information and subdivide and record/manage each group according to the gender or age. The number of members who can be enrolled into each group or sub-group may be limited.

[79] For example, individual members are classified into ten groups according to the business category: medical doctors, attorneys, patent attorneys, sales experts, busi- nesspeople, soldiers, professors, entertainers, government officials, and doctors. Each group is subdivided into sub-groups of people aged 20-40 and people aged 41-60, and up to fifty members are allowed to enroll into each sub-group. Then, the upper limit of the number of individual members is 1,000.

[80] According to the present invention, each member may be provided with predetermined company services (e.g. education, lectures, sales information provision). In this connection, upon receiving an input indicating that a specific individual member has been provided with a specific company-provided service, the enrollment fee management module 130 of the member enrollment/management server reduces the enrollment fee value of the corresponding individual member by a predetermined amount according to the type and the number of provisions of the company-provided service, and updates/stores the value.

[81] The company-provided services may include, but are not limited to, provision of commodities and services, marketing education, circulation network provision, provision of customer information, human network provision, provision of information regarding overseas markets, etc.

[82] Particularly, individual members may receive a service (e.g. education) from the company in addition to their own online transactions, enrollment of other members, and operation of franchises. In this connection, the member enrollment fee paid at the time of enrollment may be used to pay for the service. For example, assuming that an individual member belonging to the third class (IP) has paid W 10,000,000 as the member enrollment fee and that he/she has undergone a three -hour education course, the member enrollment fee management module reduces the member enrollment fee field value of the corresponding individual member in the member DB by subtracting W300,000 (W 100,000x3 hours) from W 10,000,000 (the resulting value is W9,700,000).

[83] FIG. 2 shows the overall construction of a system for online transactions by members enrolled by a member enrollment/management server according to the present invention.

[84] Referring to FIG. 2, the system includes a member enrollment/management server

100 as shown in FIG. 1, an online transaction server 200, at least one member client terminal 300, and a computer network 400 (e.g. Internet) connecting them. The member client terminal 300 may be divided into an individual member client terminal 310 and a corporation member client terminal 320. The system may further include a member DB 150 and a commodity DB 500 internally or externally interworking with the online transaction server 200 or the member enrollment/management server 100.

[85] The system may further include an authentication institute system 600 interworking with the computer network 400 for online member qualification authentication, e.g. a system of a certificate-issuing institute, a company system, a school system, or an official institute system. [86] The online transaction server 200 has the same hardware construction as conventional web servers.

[87] The online transaction server 200 may be implemented in a web server type. In this connection, the web server refers to a computer system that is generally connected to a number of unspecified clients and/or other servers via an open computer network (e.g. Internet) to receive requests for specific tasks from the clients or other servers, obtain corresponding task results, and provide them, along with computer software (web server program) installed on the computer system to this end. However, it is to be noted that, besides the web server program, the web server may also include a series of application programs running on the web server and, in some cases, various databases established inside the web server.

[88] The online transaction server 200 may be implemented by using conventional server hardware and a web server program, which is variously provided according to the operating system (e.g. DOS, Windows, Linux, UNIX, Macintosh). Typical examples include Windows-based websites and IIS (Internet Information Server), and UNIX- based CERN, NCSA, and APPACH.

[89] The member client terminal 300 is generally a PC, but any type of terminal may be used as long as it can be connected to a computer network and conduct server-client communication with the web server, including various communication/computing devices such as laptop computers, mobile communication terminals, and PDAs.

[90] The computer network 400 refers to a network connecting the member enrollment/ management server with the client terminals. Although the network may be a closed network, such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network), an open network (e.g. Internet) is preferred. As used herein, the Internet refers to a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks using TCP/ IP and providing various services existing on upper layers, including HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), Telnet, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), DNS (Domain Name System), SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), NFS (Network File Service), and NIS (Network Information Service).

[91] The online transaction server 200 according to the present invention is adapted to receive information regarding commodities for sale from the corporation member client terminal 320 or the server administrator computer and store/manage the information in the commodity DB. In addition, the online transaction server 200 provides the individual member client terminal 310 with the information regarding commodities for sale. When the individual member client terminal 310 makes a purchase request, the server 200 calculates the sales price based on different conditions depending on the class of the corresponding individual member, and mediates the sales of corresponding commodities at the calculated price.

[92] Although the member enrollment/management server 100 and the online transaction server 200 according to the present invention will be described separately, they may be integrated if necessary. In other words, a single server may incorporate both the member enrollment/management function and the online transaction function according to the present invention.

[93] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functional components of an online transaction server according to the present invention.

[94] As shown, the online transaction server 200 includes a receiving module 210 for receiving information regarding commodities for sale (e.g. the name, amount, and price of commodities) from the corporation member client terminal 320 or the server administrator computer, a commodity management/provision module 220 for storing/ managing the received information regarding commodities for sale in the commodity DB and providing the individual member client terminal 310 with information regarding the commodities for sale, a price calculation module 230 for calculating the final sales price according to unilateral conditions or conditions varied depending on the class of the individual member who has made a purchase request via the individual member client terminal 310, and a transaction module 240 for mediating the transaction of corresponding commodities at the calculated sales price. The online transaction server 200 may further include a commodity DB 500 for storing/managing various pieces of information regarding commodities for sale.

[95] The receiving module 210, the commodity management/provision module 220, and the transaction module 240 have similar functions as those of conventional online shopping systems, except that, according to the present invention, the providers and purchasers of commodities are not conventional store operators, sellers, and customers, but are corporation and individual members enrolled under the above-mentioned conditions.

[96] Particularly, these three elements characteristically interwork with individual member client terminals and mediate transactions based on commodity information inputted from corporation member client terminals or the administrator computer of the online transaction server. Except for these characteristics, the three elements follow conventional online transaction schemes of receiving commodity information from sellers, registering the information, and conducting authentication, settlement, and delivery at a request of a purchaser so that the final transaction is completed. Further detailed description of the three modules will be omitted herein.

[97] The price calculation module 230 according to the present invention is adapted to determine the final sales price by adding a predetermined circulation margin to the price of commodities for sale provided by corporation members. The circulation margin may be varied depending on the class of individual members supposed to buy commodities, the class of corporation members who have provided commodities, the type of commodities, etc.

[98] For example, the final sales price is determined by adding a circulation margin of 0% to individual members belonging to the first class (VHP), 5% to second class (MIIP) individual members, and 10% to third class (IP) individual members. However, the circulation margin is not limited to these values.

[99] However, considering that the present invention seeks to provide an online transaction scheme enabling corporation members, who are mostly manufacturers of commodities, to provide commodities which are directly sold to consumers, the final sales price according to the present invention is set to be lower than prices based on conventional circulation schemes. The circulation margin may even set to be zero.

[100] This is because the objective of the present invention is not to enable the relevant company to profit from transactions between corporation and individual members. Rather, no profit is created from the transaction itself so that consumers (individual members) can buy commodities at lower prices and sellers (corporation members) can sell more goods. As a result, more consumers and sellers are likely to be enrolled, and more enrollment fees will be paid.

[101] For example, assuming that item A sold off-line has a manufacturing cost of WlOO, the manufacturer sells it to the first wholesaler at Wl 10, and the final consumer can buy it at W 150. According to the present invention, if the corresponding corporation member wants to sell item A at Wl 10, the final transaction price is calculated: " 110+circulation margin". The circulation margin is made very small (even zero) so that individual members can buy this item at nearly Wl 10.

[102] As used herein, commodities for sale are not limited to tangible products (e.g. TVs, cars), but encompass service -providing products (e.g. travel products, insurance products).

[103] Although not shown in the drawings, the member enrollment/management server 100 or the online transaction server 200 may further include a deposit management module for accumulating, depositing, and managing a predetermined proportion of at least one of the above-mentioned member enrollment arrangement commission and the amount of accumulated transactions made via the online transaction server in the name of the corresponding individual members at a predetermined cycle. The proportion may be determined in the range of 1-5%.

[104] For example, assuming that an individual member has scored a total member enrollment arrangement commission of W 1,000,000 and a total (accumulated) transaction of W 10,000,000 for a predetermined period of time, and that the proportion is 1%, W990,000 is paid from the member enrollment arrangement commission, and 1% (W10,000) is retained as a deposit. Alternatively, W100,000 (1%XW10,000,000) is retained as a deposit.

[105] The deposit is paid when a predetermined condition is satisfied or when the corresponding member wants to discontinue the membership.

[106] The deposit may be put in the bank account of the corresponding member, for example. The bank account is preferably a secret account which the corresponding member cannot access, and is managed by the company.

[107] Respective modules of the member enrollment/management server 100 and the online transaction server 200 according to the present invention are implemented by a predetermined program or software for conducting the above-mentioned functions, including languages such as C, C++, Java, Visual Basic, Visual C, etc.

[108] FIG. 4 shows a data structure of a member DB 150 according to the present invention.

[109] The member DB 150 may include a general personal status information field 151 containing each member's name, resident registration number, address, qualification, etc., a member identification field 152, a class field 153, an enrollment fee field 154, a stock information field 155, a franchise information field 156, a member enrollment arrangement commission field 157, and a deposit field 158.

[110] The member identification field 152 contains an input of "individual" or

"corporation" based on the decision made by the member enrollment module 140 at the time of member enrollment. The class field 153 stores information such as 1 (VHP), 2 (MIIP), 3 (IP), etc.

[I l l] The enrollment fee field 154 stores information regarding enrollment fees paid at the time of member enrollment. The enrollment fee management module 130 calculates/ stores a new enrollment fee value which is reduced according to whether or not a company -provided service has been provided at a predetermined cycle.

[112] The stock information field 155 may be subdivided into a stock dividend number field, a subsidiary company number field, and a subsidiary company stock information field. The stock dividend number field stores information regarding the number of the company's stocks provided to individual members enrolled into the stock dividend classes. The subsidiary company number field stores information regarding the number of subsidiary companies, the stocks of which members are entitled to buy preferentially. The subsidiary company stock information field stores information regarding stocks of subsidiary companies, which have been brought by the corresponding members based on the preferential stock purchase right.

[113] The franchise information field 156 may be subdivided into a field regarding the number of franchises (to be) provided, a name field, a scale field, and an operation profit field. The number field stores information regarding how may franchises individual members are entitled to operate. The name and scale fields store information regarding the name and scale of provided franchises, respectively. The operation profit field stores information regarding profits from franchises operated by corresponding individual members.

[114] The member enrollment arrangement commission field 158 stores information regarding a member enrollment arrangement commission for a member who has enrolled another member.

[115] The deposit field 158 stores information regarding the deposit of each member calculated by the deposit management module.

[116] Reference will now be made to member data regarding member "KIM, Chul-Soo" shown in FIG. 4. He is an individual member enrolled into the first class (VHP); he has paid an enrollment fee of W50,000,000; he has received 10,000 company stocks; the number of subsidiary companies, the stocks of which he can buy preferentially, is two (one has already been used); and he has bought 1,000 stocks of company A at W5,000,000 based on the right to preferentially buy subsidiary company stocks.

[117] In addition, the number of franchises, which he is entitled to operate, is two (he is already operating one franchise). Particularly, he has been operating a large-scale franchise A and has scored profits of W23,500,000 as of February, 2006.

[118] Furthermore, the accumulated member enrollment arrangement commission is W2,300,000, and the total deposit is W350,000.

[119] Member "HONG, Kil-Dong" is an individual member belonging to the second class (MIIP). Although he is entitled to buy stocks of two subsidiary companies preferentially, he has not exercised the right, and the subsidiary company number field value remains '2'. He has been operating a medium-sized franchise B and has scored profits of W3,000,000 as of February, 2006.

[120] In addition, "LG Electronics" is a corporation member and is solely entitled to sell products to individual members. Therefore, personal status information, class information, and enrollment fee information are solely stored.

[121] Each member data in the member DB described above is updated at a predetermined cycle or every time an event occurs by respective components of the member enrollment/management server 100, particularly the member enrollment module 140, the enrollment fee management module 130, the stock management module 160, the franchise management module 170, and the member enrollment arrangement commission management module 180.

[122] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a member enrollment/management method according to the present invention.

[123] Referring to FIG. 5, for the sake of member enrollment, the receiving module 110 of the member enrollment/management module 100 receives member enrollment in- formation regarding an enrolled member, which is inputted into the member client terminal or the server itself (S510). The member enrollment information may include information regarding predetermined qualifications, information regarding the class desired by the corresponding enrolled member, and information regarding the member enrollment fee paid by the enrolled member. The information regarding predetermined qualifications includes certificate information regarding whether or not the enrolled member has a nation-issued certificate, employment information proving that the enrolled member has been employed by a company for at least a predetermined period of time, grade/graduation information proving that the enrolled member has graduated a school with a grade above a predetermined level, official certification information proving that the enrolled member has been endowed with certification (e.g. MDRT) from an official institute, etc. Then, the authentication module 120 of the member enrollment/management server conducts authentication regarding the member enrollment information. Particularly, the server administrator conducts authentication/ determination with reference to a confirmation document, which is submitted off-line or which is transmitted via the computer network, and inputs the result into the web server.

[124] However, the authentication process may be conducted automatically online. Particularly, as shown in FIG. 4, the authentication module 120 of the member enrollment/management server transmits the above-mentioned information regarding predetermined qualifications contained in the member enrollment information, i.e. certificate information, employment information, grade/graduation information, official certification information, etc. to an authentication institute system interworking with the module, e.g. a system of a certificate-issuing institute, a company system, a school system, or an official institute system (S520). The authentication module 120 then receives the authentication result from the system (S530).

[125] Then, the enrollment fee management module 130 of the member enrollment/ management server 100 receives inputted settlement information regarding the member enrollment fee paid by the enrolled member (S540), and confirms if the paid member enrollment fee is identical to the reference enrollment fee determined for the class selected and desired by the enrolled member (S550).

[126] If the authentication regarding predetermined qualification requirements fails, or if the paid member enrollment fee is below the reference enrollment fee for the corresponding class, a notification message informing of the result is outputted to the member client terminal (S 560).

[127] After all of these processes are over, the member enrollment module 140 of the member enrollment/management server interworks with the authentication module 120 and the enrollment fee management module 130 to confirm that the qualification in- formation, etc. has been authenticated and that the member enrollment fee has been duly paid. Then, the member enrollment module 140 decides to enroll the corresponding member into the desired class and assigns a member ID, a password, etc. The member enrollment module 140 creates member data including various pieces of information regarding the corresponding member (general personal status information such as his/her name, resident registration number, and address; stock information; franchise information; member enrollment arrangement commission information; class information; member enrollment fee information; etc.), and stores the data in the member DB (S570).

[128] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the method may further include a step (S580) of calculating information regarding the company's stocks provided according to the enrollment fee and the class by using the stock management module 160 and storing/managing the information in the member DB, or calculating or receiving information regarding stocks of subsidiary companies bought based on the right to preferentially buy subsidiary company stocks and storing the information in the member DB.

[129] The method may further include a step (S590) of storing/managing franchise information, which depends on the franchise operation conditions provided at the time of initial enrollment, in the member DB by using the franchise management module 170, creating information regarding a franchise operated by a member (the name and scale of the franchise, operation profits from it, etc.), and storing/managing the information.

[130] The method may further include a step (S600) of receiving an input signal indicating that a specific member has enrolled another member, creating information regarding a member enrollment arrangement commission for the corresponding member based on predetermined conditions by using the member enrollment arrangement commission management module 180, and storing/managing the information in the member DB.

[131] Although several exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. Industrial Applicability

[132] As mentioned above, the inventive member enrollment/management system (method) and the online transaction system (method) using the same have the following advantages: individual members are provided with many benefits, e.g. rights to receive the company's stocks, preferentially buy stocks of subsidiary companies, and operate franchises, on condition that they pay a predetermined enrollment fee. Corporation members are given the opportunity to sell their products to numerous individual members. As such, the inventive system and method motivate individuals and corporations to get enrolled.

[133] After a large number of corporation and individual members are enrolled according to the present invention, corporation members can easily sell a large amount of their commodities to many consumers. Individual members can not only buy commodities from the corporation members at low prices, but also benefit from the rights to preferentially buy stocks of subsidiary companies and operate franchises. The company operating the inventive system can benefit from member enrollment fees and the increase in stock value resulting from the company's development. As such, all of the three parties (individual members, corporation members, company) earn profits.

[134] In addition, the fact that a member is paid a predetermined commission when he/she has enrolled another member encourages members to enroll more members.

Claims

[1] A system for enrolling/managing members, comprising: a computer network comprising Internet; at least one member client terminal; and a member enrollment/management server interworking with the member client terminal via the computer network, the member enrollment/management server comprising: a receiving module for receiving member enrollment information transmitted or inputted from the member client terminal or an administrator computer of the member enrollment/management server; an authentication module for extracting qualification information from the member enrollment information and authenticating whether or not the qualification information is true; an enrollment fee management module for confirming if a member enrollment fee has been paid; a member enrollment module for classifying a member into an individual member or a corporation member on condition that the member has paid a member enrollment fee and that qualification requirements have been authenticated, deciding to enroll the member, when the member has been classified as an individual member, into one of at least two stock dividend classes and at least one normal class, members belonging to the stock dividend classes having a right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, members belonging to the normal class having no right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, and storing information regarding the enrolled member in a member DB; and a member DB storing information regarding the individual and corporation members.

[2] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stock dividend classes of individual members comprise a first class (VHP class), members belonging to the first class having a right to operate L franchises or franchises of L scale or preferentially buy stocks of L subsidiary companies on condition that the members pay a first enrollment fee, a second class (MIIP class), members belonging to the second class having a right to operate M (L>M) franchises or franchises of M scale or preferentially buy stocks of M subsidiary companies on condition that the members pay a second enrollment fee, and a third class (IP class), members belonging to the third class having a right to operate N(L>M>N) franchises or franchises of N scale or preferentially buy stocks of N subsidiary companies on condition that the members pay a third enrollment fee.

[3] The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the normal class of individual members comprises a lifetime class, members belonging to the lifetime class having a right to purchase commodities provided by the corporation members with no time limit on condition that the members pay a fourth enrollment fee, and a normal class, members belonging to the normal class having a right to purchase commodities provided by the corporation members only for a predetermined period of time on condition that the members pay a fifth enrollment fee.

[4] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member enrollment/management server further comprises a stock management module for calculating information regarding the number of stock dividends in proportion to the enrollment fee with regard to individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes and storing/managing the calculated information in the member DB.

[5] The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the stock management module incorporates a function of calculating the amount of stock dividends according to profits of a company and the number of stocks held by respective individual members at a predetermined cycle and storing the calculated amount of stock dividends in the member DB.

[6] The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the stock management module is adapted to calculate the number of subsidiary companies, individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes having a right to preferentially buy stocks of the subsidiary companies, storing the calculated number of subsidiary companies in the member DB, and storing/managing information regarding stocks of subsidiary companies, a specific individual member having bought the stocks based on the right to preferentially buy stocks.

[7] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member/management server further comprises a franchise management module for creating information regarding rights to operate franchises provided to individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes, storing the created information in the member DB, calculating information regarding operation profits of corresponding individual members according to a predetermined algorithm based on profit information inputted when franchises are operated later, and storing/managing the calculated information in the member DB.

[8] The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the franchise management module is adapted to calculate and store information regarding operation profits of corresponding individual members at a predetermined cycle by reducing the amount of money contained in the profit information inputted when franchises are operated at a predetermined ratio varied depending on the stock dividend classes of the individual members.

[9] The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the franchise management module is adapted to create information regarding the number or scale of franchises allowable based on the stock dividend classes and store/manage the created information in the member DB.

[10] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member enrollment/management server further comprises a member enrollment arrangement commission management module so that, when a specific individual member has enrolled a different individual or a corporation as a member, the member enrollment arrangement commission management module calculates a predetermined ratio of an enrollment fee paid by the newly enrolled member as a member enrollment arrangement commission for the corresponding individual member and stores/ manages the member enrollment arrangement commission in the member DB.

[11] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member enrollment module is adapted to store information regarding business categories so that, when an enrolled member is a corporation, enrollment is permitted only when there is no corporation member already enrolled in an identical category.

[12] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member enrollment/management server further comprises a stock management module for calculating information regarding the number of stock dividends in proportion to the enrollment fee with regard to individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes and storing/managing the calculated information in the member DB, and a franchise management module for creating information regarding rights to operate franchises provided to individual members belonging to the stock dividend classes, storing the created information in the member DB, calculating information regarding operation profits of corresponding individual members according to a predetermined algorithm based on profit information inputted when franchises are operated later, and storing/managing the calculated information in the member DB, and, regarding individual members enrolled after the number of enrolled members has exceeded a predetermined threshold, the stock management module and the franchise management module reduce the number of stocks provided with regard to the enrollment fee by a predetermined ratio relative to initial conditions and reduce the ratio of franchise operation profits provided to individual members by a predetermined portion to calculate/ store the number of stocks and the ratio of franchise operation profits.

[13] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member enrollment information comprises at least one of qualification information regarding predetermined qualifications, information regarding a class desired and selected by a corresponding enrolled member, and information regarding an enrollment fee paid by the enrolled member.

[14] The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the qualification information comprises at least one of certificate information regarding whether or not each enrolled member has a nation-issued certificate, employment information proving that each enrolled member has been employed by a company for at least a predetermined period of time, grade/graduation information proving that each enrolled member has graduated a school with a grade above a predetermined level, and official certification information proving that each enrolled member has been endowed with a predetermined qualification (e.g. MDRT) by an official institute.

[15] The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the authentication module of the member enrollment/management server is adapted to transmit at least one of the certificate information, the employment information, the grade/graduation information, and the official certification information to at least one of a system of a certificate-issuing institute, a company system, a school system, and an official institute system, the system interworking with the authentication server, and receive results of authentication regarding whether or not the information is true.

[16] The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the member enrollment module is adapted to classify members into S groups according to the qualification information, subdivide each group into sub-groups according to gender or age, manage the sub-groups, and limit the number of individual members who can be enrolled into each group or sub-group.

[17] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein, when there is an input indicating that a specific individual member has been provided with a company-provided service comprising education (lecture) and sales information provision, the enrollment fee management module reduces the enrollment fee value of the corresponding individual member according to the type and the number of provisions of the company -provided service.

[18] The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member DB is adapted to store member data for each member, and, in addition to a personal status information field regarding each member, the member data comprises at least one of a member identification field, a class field, an enrollment fee field, a stock information field, a franchise information field, a member enrollment arrangement commission field, and a deposit field.

[19] An online transaction system comprising: a computer network comprising Internet; a member enrollment/management server; and an online transaction server interworking with the member enrollment/ management server via the computer network, wherein the member enrollment/management server comprises a member enrollment module for classifying each member into an individual member or a corporation member on condition that the member has paid a member enrollment fee and that qualification requirements have been authenticated, deciding to enroll the member, when the member has been classified as an individual member, into one of at least two stock dividend classes and at least one normal class, members belonging to the stock dividend classes having a right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, members belonging to the normal class having no right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, and storing information regarding the enrolled member in a member DB, and the online transaction server is adapted to store commodities for sale provided by the corporation members in a commodity DB so that, when a purchase request is received from a client terminal of a specific individual member, a discount ratio set for each class of individual members is applied to determine the price of commodities for sale, and the commodities for sales are sold to the corresponding individual member at the determined price.

[20] The system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the online transaction server comprises: a receiving module for receiving information regarding commodities for sale from a corporation member client terminal or an administrator computer of the online transaction server, the information comprising information regarding the name, amount, and price of the commodities; a commodity management/provision module for storing/managing received information regarding commodities for sale in the commodity DB and providing individual member client terminals with the information regarding commodities for sale; a price calculation module for calculating a final sales price based on a unilateral condition or a condition varied depending on the class of a corresponding individual member when there is a purchase request from an individual member client terminal; and a transaction module for mediating transactions of corresponding commodities for sale at the calculated sales price.

[21] The system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the online transaction server further comprises a deposit management module for accumulating, depositing, and managing a predetermined ratio of the amount of accumulated transactions made by a specific individual member via the online transaction server in the name of the corresponding individual member at a predetermined cycle.

[22] A method for enrolling/managing members for online transactions by using a member enrollment/management server interworking with at least one user client terminal via a computer network comprising Internet, the method comprising the steps of: a) receiving member enrollment information regarding an enrolled member by the member enrollment/management server, the information being inputted into the user client terminal or the member enrollment/management server itself; b) authenticating qualification requirements contained in the received member enrollment information; c) confirming whether or not a member enrollment fee has been paid; and d) classifying the enrolled member into an individual member or a corporation member on condition that the member has paid a member enrollment fee and that the qualification requirements have been authenticated, deciding to enroll the member, when the member has been classified as an individual member, into one of at least two stock dividend classes and at least one normal class, members belonging to the stock dividend classes having a right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, members belonging to the normal class having no right to receive stock dividends or operate franchises, and storing information regarding the enrolled member in a member DB.

[23] The method as claimed in claim 22, further comprising a step of e) calculating information regarding stocks of a company provided according to the enrollment fee and the class and storing/managing the calculated information in the member DB, or calculating or receiving information regarding stocks of subsidiary companies bought by a specific member based on a right to preferentially buy stocks of subsidiary companies and storing the information in the member DB.

[24] The method as claimed in claim 22, further comprising a step of f) creating information regarding at least one of the name, scale, and operation profit of a franchise operated by a specific member based on the right to operate franchises and storing/managing the created information in the member DB.

[25] The method as claimed in claim 22, further comprising a step of g) creating information regarding a member enrollment arrangement commission for a specific member according to predetermined conditions when there is an input signal indicating that the specific member has enrolled a different member, and storing/ managing the created information in the member DB.

[26] The method as claimed in claim 22, wherein information regarding the qualification requirements comprises at least one of certificate information regarding whether or not each enrolled member has a nation-issued certificate, employment information proving that each enrolled member has been employed by a company for at least a predetermined period of time, grade/graduation information proving that each enrolled member has graduated a school with a grade above a predetermined level, and official certification information proving that each enrolled member has been endowed with a predetermined qualification (e.g. MDRT) by an official institute.

[27] The method as claimed in claim 26, wherein step b) further comprises a step of transmitting at least one of the certificate information, the employment information, the grade/graduation information, and the official certification information to at least one of a system of a certificate-issuing institute, a company system, a school system, and an official institute system, the system interworking with the member enrollment/management server, by the member enrollment/ management server to authenticate whether or not the information is true.