Abstract: In an electronic mail system utilizing a computer network, the received mail is accumulated in a mailbox corresponding to the destination address mail ID for the purpose of management. Therefore, if the received mail exceeds the specified capacity of the mailbox, any additional mail is not accumulated and dispersed. The received mail is of varying type, having different application purposes. Mail having a specified application purpose may or may not be required to be accumulated, but if the mail is never received, the contents of the mail cannot be confirmed and it has been impossible to judge the necessity of accumulation of such mail. Electronic mail is identified as to its application purpose, and a mailbox is provided for accumulating mail for each mail ID preset for each user of the electronic mail system, and for each application class of mail content. A mail server stores and reads mail to and from the mailbox through designation of the mail ID and mail application class.

Abstract: In an electronic mail system utilizing a computer network, the received mail is accumulated in a mailbox corresponding to the destination address mail ID for the purpose of management. Therefore, if the received mail exceeds the specified capacity of the mailbox, any additional mail is not accumulated and dispersed. The received mail is of varying type, having different application purposes. Mail having a specified application purpose may or may not be required to be accumulated, but if the mail is never received, the contents of the mail cannot be confirmed and it has been impossible to judge the necessity of accumulation of such mail. Electronic mail is identified as to its application purpose, and a mailbox is provided for accumulating mail for each mail ID preset for each user of the electronic mail system, and for each application class of mail content. A mail server stores and reads mail to and from the mailbox through designation of the mail ID and mail application class.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a goods sales management system which communicates directly to customers via a communication line. The system manages the transmitting of merchandising notices for the goods to selected customers based on an arrival of goods that will satisfy a previous unsatisfied customer request and based on a customer purchase history. The system includes a customer utilization history memory storing history information indicating the use of the goods sales management apparatus by customers and customer information, a customer extracting process selecting customers to whom the merchandising notices are transmitted on the basis of the utilization history information in the customer utilization history memory and a merchandising notice sending process transmitting the merchandising notices to the customers selected.

Abstract: In online shopping, customer information when a customer selects and buys a desired article from goods information provided to a customer terminal from a center which provides online shopping information including the goods information to the customer terminal is managed. When the customer performs the online shopping, the goods information is stored for each customer individually, which goods information is goods information selected by the customer from goods information provided by the center. Then, the stored goods information is read out the next time a goods information search request is made by the customer, and the read goods information is displayed for the customer.

Abstract: A search server system in an online shopping system uses a communications network to provide shopping information for a customer. When a customer wishes to refer to or buy goods, the name of the goods is used to automatically search for stores and/or malls which handle the goods. The thus obtained stores and/or malls are then indicated as a list so that the customer may easily recognize them. Further, detailed information of each store and/or mall is indicated, whereby the customer may appropriately select a store and/or mall and enter it. An indication unit in the search server system provides visual indication information to a client terminal. The visual indication information is produced from image information of the stores. The visual indication information may also be combined with respective image information of the goods from the stores.

Abstract: An online shopping system and method is provided in which a mail-order business is performed between a center and a terminal via an online communication system. An answer to a question asked by a customer is provided from minimum necessary answers to questions prepared in a database. The database is searched when the customer asks a question A, and, when an answer A to the question A is present in the database, the answer A is transmitted to the customer via the online communication system. An answer B is prepared when an answer to the question A is not present in the database. The answer B is stored in the database; and the answer B is transmitted to the customer via electronic mail.