JP2002056207A - Method and system for transacting merchandise coupon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To purchase an arbitrary article without visiting an article store at the destination of gift when using a merchandise coupon as a gift. SOLUTION: When a merchandise coupon purchaser is to purchase a merchandise coupon, by registering the address, name, electronic mail address and public key information of the destination of gift, electronic mail is transmitted to the destination of gift after attaching merchandise coupon information including a purchase amount and the term of validity to the electronic mail while enciphering the information with a public key in the selling source of merchandise coupon. By restoring the merchandise coupon information with a secret key in the destination of gift, a prescribed cyber shopping mall is accessed and when it is within the term of validity, an arbitrary article can be selected out of the list of articles, which can be purchased with the purchase amount of the merchandise coupon, and can be purchased. When expiring the term of validity, the remaining purchase amount is returned to the merchandise coupon purchaser as a merchandise coupon.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gift certificate transaction method and a gift certificate transaction system for easily performing a gift certificate transaction when a gift certificate is purchased and sent to a gift recipient.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when sending a gift or a gift to a gift recipient, he or she must go to a store such as a department store to select a gift and pay a fee to send it to the gift recipient. In this case, the gift is determined according to the preference of the gift giving side, and does not necessarily meet the taste of the gift receiving party.

For this reason, instead of directly sending a gift, a gift certificate is purchased and the purchased gift certificate is sent to a gift receiving party.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, by purchasing a gift certificate and sending the gift certificate to the gift receiving party, the gift receiving party can freely select a product based on the gift certificate. However, when a gift certificate is set for a specific product such as a book ticket, a beer ticket, a gourmet ticket, etc., there is an unsolved problem that the room for selecting a gift at a gift recipient is narrowed.

[0005] Further, even when the range in which a gift certificate can be used is set at a specific store, there is an unsolved problem that the degree of freedom in purchasing the gift at the gift recipient is limited.

In any case, when purchasing a product using a gift certificate, it is necessary to bring the gift certificate and go to a store, and there is an unsolved problem that this is troublesome. .

[0007] Furthermore, there is an unsolved problem that when gift certificates are used, there is no way to confirm whether or not the gift certificate has been used effectively at the gift recipient when the gift certificate is sent to the gift recipient. is there.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned unsolved problems of the prior art. By digitizing a gift certificate and sending the gift certificate to a gift receiving party, the present invention does not require visiting a store at the gift receiving party. It is an object of the present invention to provide a gift certificate transaction method and a gift certificate transaction system capable of purchasing a desired product and confirming the use status of a gift certificate at a gift recipient.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a gift certificate transaction method according to the present invention is applied to a gift certificate seller when a gift certificate purchaser purchases a gift certificate of a desired amount. Registering the e-mail address and public key information of the gift recipient by sending the gift certificate encrypted with the registered public key information to the e-mail and sending it to the recipient. Restoring a gift certificate and accessing a predetermined product purchase site based on the restored gift certificate.

Further, the gift certificate transaction system according to claim 2 provides the gift certificate seller with a gift-receiving electronic mail address and a public key when the gift certificate purchaser purchases a gift certificate of a desired amount. Gift receiving party information registering means for registering, gift certificate transmitting means for encrypting a gift certificate with public key information registered by the gift receiving party information register, attaching the gift certificate to an e-mail, and transmitting the gift certificate to the gift receiving party; Shopping means for restoring the gift certificate attached to the e-mail transmitted by the means with the secret key information and accessing a predetermined commodity purchase site based on the restored gift certificate.

In the invention according to claims 1 and 2, when the gift certificate purchaser purchases the gift certificate, the gift addressee information registering means sends the gift certificate seller an e-mail address and a public key to the gift certificate seller. When the gift certificate is registered, the gift certificate seller encrypts the gift certificate with the public key information, attaches it to the e-mail, and sends it to the gift recipient. Gift certificate with private key information,
The user accesses a product purchase site such as a predetermined cyber shopping mall based on the restored gift certificate, and purchases a desired product.

Further, in the gift certificate transaction system according to claim 3, in the invention according to claim 2, an expiration date is set for the gift certificate, and access to a predetermined commodity purchase site is permitted within the expiration date. However, after the expiration date has passed, access to a predetermined product purchase site is prohibited.

[0013] In the invention according to claim 3, an expiration date is set for the gift certificate sent to the gift recipient, and when the expiration date is within the expiration date, access to a predetermined product purchase site is permitted,
After expiration of the expiration date, access to the product purchase site is prohibited, thereby preventing the storage of gift certificates and effectively utilizing them.

Further, in the gift certificate transaction system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second or third aspect, when the shopping means accesses a predetermined product purchase site with the restored gift certificate, It is characterized by displaying merchandise information that can be purchased with the set amount of money.

[0015] In the invention according to claim 4, when the gift receiving party accesses a predetermined product purchase site based on the gift certificate, the product information that can be purchased with the set amount of the gift certificate is displayed. The trouble of the purchaser searching for a product corresponding to the price set in the gift certificate can be saved, and the product can be purchased easily.

[0016] Still further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the gift voucher transaction system according to any of the second to fourth aspects, the system for operating a product purchase site comprises a step of purchasing a product based on a gift certificate from a gift recipient. Is established, the use of the gift certificate is notified to the gift certificate purchaser.

In the invention according to claim 5, when the gift recipient of the gift certificate accesses the product purchase site and purchases the product, the gift certificate purchaser is notified of the use of the gift certificate. When a gift is given, the sending and use of the gift to the gift recipient can be reliably recognized.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the gift certificate transaction system according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the expiration date of the unused gift certificate has passed, the purchase price of the gift certificate is paid to the gift certificate purchaser. It is characterized by having a non-use notifying means for notifying that the device is returned.

In the invention according to claim 6, when the expiration date has passed without the gift certificate being used at the gift receiving party,
By notifying the purchaser of the gift certificate that the purchase price will be returned, the validity of the gift certificate is guaranteed to expire when the gift certificate has an expiration date.

Further, the gift certificate transaction system according to claim 7 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein the gift certificate is used when the expiration date expires with the remaining amount remaining. And a notifying means for notifying that the balance is to be returned.

In the invention according to claim 7, when the expiration date has expired while the gift certificate has been used but the balance is still present, the gift certificate purchaser is notified of the return of the balance, whereby the balance of the gift certificate is Will not disappear due to the expiration date.

Further, in the gift certificate transaction system according to claim 8, in the invention according to claim 6 or 7, when a refund is given to the gift certificate purchaser, a gift certificate corresponding to the refund amount is sent. It is characterized by:

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, when a gift certificate is refunded to a purchaser, the gift certificate corresponding to the refunded amount is sent, so that the deposit can be easily refunded without performing a balance transfer, electronic settlement, or the like. It can be performed.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a gift voucher selling a gift certificate, for example, WWW connected to the Internet 2.
(World Wide Web) server 3 is provided, and a gift certificate purchaser who purchases a gift certificate for the purpose of giving a gift visits or from a portable information terminal 4 such as a mobile phone via a wireless relay station 5 and a public telephone network 6. By accessing the WWW server 3 via the Internet, a desired amount of gift certificate is purchased. At this time, the gift certificate purchaser registers his / her own address, name, and e-mail address, and the address, name, e-mail address, and public key information of the gift recipient.

The Internet 3 is connected to a WWW server 7 of a gift company that holds a cyber shopping mall as a product purchase site, and information on a personal computer or the like to which the gift is to be sent via a public telephone network 8. Terminal 9 is connected.

In the WWW server 3 of the gift certificate seller 1,
A gift destination information registration process shown in FIG. 2 is executed. In this gift recipient information registration processing, first, in step S1, message information prompting input of registration information of a gift certificate purchaser is displayed, and then the process proceeds to step S2, where the address, name, and the like of the gift certificate purchaser are displayed.
It is determined whether or not registration information including an e-mail address and public key information has been registered. If the registration information has not been registered, the process returns to step S1, and if registered, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, message information for prompting the input of the registration information of the gift recipient is displayed. Then, the process proceeds to step S4, where the registration information including the address, name, e-mail address and public key information of the gift recipient is displayed. It is determined whether or not the information has been registered. If the registration information has not been registered, the process returns to step S3, and if the information has been registered, the process proceeds to step S5.

In step S5, message information for prompting the user to input the purchase price of the gift certificate is displayed. Then, the process proceeds to step S6, where it is determined whether the purchase price of the gift certificate has been input, and the purchase price is input. If not, the flow returns to step S5. If the purchase price has been entered, the flow proceeds to step S7, where the purchase price, expiration date, gift certificate ID
Is encrypted with the public key, attached to the e-mail and transmitted to the e-mail address of the gift recipient, and then proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, the gift certificate ID, purchase amount, expiration date, address, name, and e-mail address of the gift certificate purchaser are transmitted as confirmation information to the WWW server 7, and registered in the management unit. It returns to step S1. Here, when the gift certificate information is restored using the secret key, a gift certificate icon is displayed on the display, and when the gift certificate icon is clicked, the WWW server 7
By setting the URL of the homepage, the user accesses the cyber shopping mall and transmits the encrypted gift certificate ID.

The WWW server 7 executes a commodity purchase process shown in FIG. 3 when there is an access from a gift receiving party.

In this product purchase processing, first, in step S1
In step 1, it is determined whether or not there is an access from the gift receiving party. If there is no access from the gift receiving party, the process waits until there is access, and if there is an access, the process proceeds to step S12.

In step S12, it is determined whether or not the gift certificate ID has been received. If the gift certificate ID has not been received, the process waits until it is received. If the gift certificate ID has been received, the process proceeds to step S13. Shift to gift certificate ID
Refer to the confirmation information registered in the management department based on
The expiration date, purchase price, and e-mail address of the gift recipient of the gift certificate are extracted, and then the process proceeds to step S14 to determine whether or not the expiration date has been reached. If it is, the process proceeds to step S15. Then, based on the extracted e-mail address of the gift recipient, it is determined whether or not there is a balance at the time of purchase of the past product by referring to the balance storage unit. Is updated and registered as a new purchase price, and the process proceeds to step S17. If the balance is not registered in the balance storage unit, the process directly proceeds to step S17.

In step S17, searchable merchandise information within the purchase price is searched, and list display information of the corresponding merchandise information is transmitted to the gift receiving party. Judge whether or not
When the product is not selected, the process proceeds to step S19 to determine whether or not the purchase of the product is stopped. When the purchase of the product is stopped, the process returns to step S11. The process waits until a product is selected, and when a product is selected, the process proceeds to step S20.

In step S20, the detailed information of the selected product and the product display information including the purchase button for purchasing the product and the return button for returning to the product list are transmitted to the gift receiving party and displayed, and then the process proceeds to step S21. Then, it is determined whether or not the purchase button has been selected. If the purchase button has been selected, the process proceeds to step S22, where the merchandise ID and the address and name of the gift destination registered in the management unit are transmitted to the merchandise sending unit. And notifies the purchaser of the gift certificate by e-mail that the gift has been purchased from the gift receiving party.
Then, the process proceeds to step S23, where it is determined whether or not the purchase amount of the gift certificate and the price of the purchased product match, and if both match, the process proceeds to step S24, where the balance of the gift recipient is “0”. And prohibits access processing with the gift certificate icon, and then proceeds to step S25, deletes the corresponding gift certificate registration information in the management unit, and returns to step S11.

If the result of the determination in step S23 indicates that the purchase price of the gift certificate and the price of the gift do not match, it is determined that there is a balance, and the flow shifts to step S26 to determine whether there is any product that can be purchased with the balance. When there is a product that can be purchased, the process proceeds to step S27, the remaining amount is updated and registered to the purchase amount of the management unit, and then the process proceeds to step S28 to select whether to purchase the product with the remaining amount. A selection screen is transmitted and displayed, and then the process proceeds to step S29, where it is determined whether or not a product purchase is selected. When the product purchase is selected, the process returns to step S17, and when the product purchase is not selected, The process returns to step S11.

Further, if the result of determination in step S26 is that there is no product available for purchase, the process proceeds to step S30, where message information indicating that the balance will be added at the next access by a new gift certificate is displayed. S3
Then, the process proceeds to step S1, and the process proceeds to step S32, where the access process using the gift certificate icon is prohibited, and then the process proceeds to step S11.

If the result of the determination in step S21 is not a purchase button selection, the flow shifts to step S33 to determine whether a return button has been selected and the return button has been selected. When the return button is not selected, the process returns to the step S21.

On the other hand, the result of the determination in step S14 is
If the expiration date of the gift certificate has passed, step S
In step 34, the gift certificate has expired, message information indicating that the product cannot be purchased is sent to the gift receiving party and displayed, and access to the WWW server 7 using the gift certificate icon is prohibited. Then, the process proceeds to step S35 to determine whether or not the gift certificate has been used in the past. If the gift certificate has not been used, the process proceeds to step S36, and the gift certificate is not used for the gift certificate purchaser. Since the expiration date has passed, the gift certificate information encrypted with the gift certificate purchaser's public key is transmitted to the gift certificate purchaser in an e-mail indicating that the gift certificate is to be returned to the gift certificate purchaser. When the gift certificate is used,
Proceeding to step S37, since the expiration date has passed with the balance available to purchase the product, the gift certificate encrypted with the gift certificate purchaser's public key is sent to the e-mail indicating that the gift certificate of the remaining balance will be returned. After transmitting the information to the gift certificate purchaser, the process ends, and the process returns to step S11.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

Now, a purchaser who uses the gift certificate as a gift visits the gift certificate seller or the portable information terminal 4
To access the WWW server 3 to purchase a gift certificate of a desired amount. At this time, in the gift certificate purchase registration processing of FIG. 2, the address, name, e-mail address and public key information of the gift certificate purchaser, the address, name, e-mail address and public key information of the gift recipient, the purchase price, Is registered in the WWW server 3 (steps S1 to S
6). When the registration process is completed, the gift certificate information including the program for accessing the cyber shopping mall of the WWW server 7 including the purchase amount, the expiration date, and the gift certificate ID is sent to the gift receiving party in the process of FIG. Of the gift certificate, together with a message to the gift recipient that the gift is a gift from the gift certificate purchaser and a message that it is necessary to restore the gift certificate with the private key. Attach it to the e-mail with the name, address, and e-mail address, and send it to the e-mail address of the gift recipient. 8 Step S7), and the address, name, e-mail address, and gift certificate of the gift voucher and gift recipient I
D, the expiration date and the purchase price are transmitted to the WWW server 7 as confirmation information and registered in the management unit (step S).
8).

When the gift receiving party receives an e-mail from the WWW server 3 of the gift certificate seller 1 at its own information terminal 9, it restores the attached product information with the gift receiving party's private key information. Displays a gift certificate icon.

When the gift recipient wants to purchase a commodity with the distributed gift certificate, the URL of the WWW server 7 is automatically set by clicking the gift certificate icon displayed on the desktop. Access the cyber shopping mall based on this.

When the connection to the cyber shopping mall is completed, the encrypted gift certificate I included in the gift certificate information
D is transmitted to the cyber shopping mall.

In the cyber shopping mall, the processing of FIG. 3 is executed, and there is an access from a gift receiving party.
When the gift certificate ID is received, the gift certificate ID is restored, the registered information registered in the management unit is searched based on the restored gift certificate ID (steps S11 to S13), and the validity corresponding to the gift certificate ID is obtained. With reference to the expiration date, it is determined whether or not the expiration date is reached (step S14). When the expiration date is expired, a purchasable product whose product price is equal to or less than the purchase price based on the purchase price from the handled product database. The information is searched to form the purchaseable product list information, and the purchaseable product list information is transmitted to the gift receiving party, whereby the purchaseable product list information is displayed on the display of the information terminal 9 (step S17).

In this state, when a desired product is selected from a list of purchaseable products displayed at the gift destination, detailed information of the product is displayed, and a purchase button and a list display for purchasing the product are displayed. Is displayed (step S20).

Therefore, when purchasing a corresponding product, by selecting a purchase button with, for example, a mouse, the corresponding product ID and the address, name, and e-mail address of the gift receiving party are transmitted to the product shipping section, and Is sent, and an e-mail containing a message indicating that the purchase of the merchandise has been made at the gift receiving party is sent to the merchandise coupon purchaser (step S22). It is possible to confirm that the gift certificate has been distributed first and that the gift certificate has been used at the gift receiving party.

When the merchandise is purchased at the gift receiving party, it is determined whether or not the price of the purchased merchandise matches the purchase amount of the gift certificate (step S23). , The access to the cyber shopping mall by the gift certificate icon at the gift recipient is prohibited, the purchase of the product by the subsequent gift certificate is prohibited (step S24), and the corresponding item in the management unit is deleted. The ticket information is deleted (step S25).

However, if the price of the purchased merchandise is lower than the purchase price of the gift certificate and there is a remaining amount, it is determined whether there is any merchandise that can be purchased with this remaining amount (step S26), and there are merchandise that can be purchased. In this case, the balance is updated and registered with the purchase price of the gift certificate (step S27), and then a selection screen as to whether to purchase the product with the balance is transmitted to the gift receiving party (step S27).
28) When the purchase of the product is selected, the flow returns to step S17 to form the purchaseable product list information again, and this is transmitted to the information terminal 9 of the gift receiving party and displayed. If the number is less than the lowest priced product, a message to that effect is sent to the information terminal 9 of the gift recipient
(Step S30), and stores the balance in the balance storage unit of the database using the e-mail address of the gift recipient as an index (step S31). The value obtained by adding the remaining amount to the purchase price of the ticket is updated to the purchase price, and the product is purchased.

On the other hand, when the gift recipient accesses the cyber shopping mall by clicking the gift certificate icon after the expiration date, message information indicating that the expiration date has passed is transmitted to the information terminal 9 of the gift recipient and displayed. Then, it is determined whether or not the gift certificate has been used in the past (step S35). If the gift certificate has not been used in the past, the gift certificate has been expired without being used by the gift recipient. By sending the gift certificate information to the e-mail indicating the return message by encrypting and attaching the gift certificate information of the purchase amount using the public key of the gift certificate purchaser and transmitting it to the gift certificate purchaser (step S36). The purchase of goods by the gift certificate purchaser becomes possible.

Similarly, if a gift is purchased at the gift receiving party but there is a balance available to purchase the product, a gift certificate with a purchase price corresponding to the balance is returned to the gift certificate purchaser (step S).
37).

Therefore, the gift certificate buyer who has returned the gift certificate contacts the gift receiving party and the gift certificate has expired.
It is possible to determine whether or not to send a gift separately, and it is possible to effectively use the gift certificate.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, when a gift certificate is to be used for a gift, the gift certificate is encrypted by the purchaser of the gift certificate, and the gift certificate information is distributed to the gift receiving party. Then, by restoring the gift certificate information at the gift recipient, it is possible to access the predetermined cyber shopping mall and purchase the product, and it is not necessary to go to the product seller where the gift certificate can be used one by one at the gift recipient, and Then, the commodity can be purchased with the gift certificate.

At this time, since the expiration date has been set for the gift certificate, the use of the gift certificate is encouraged. Can be planned.

Further, after the expiration date of the gift certificate, the purchase amount remaining in the gift certificate is returned as a gift certificate to the gift gift purchaser who has given the gift. New gifts can be considered for the gift recipient.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a predetermined cyber shopping mall is automatically accessed using gift certificate information distributed to a gift recipient.
However, the present invention is not limited to this.
One shopping mall may be selected.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the WWW server 3 of the gift certificate vendor 1 and the WWW server 7 for posting the cyber shopping mall are separate, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the cyber shopping mall, the WWW server 7 executes the gift certificate information registration processing shown in FIG. 2, and the gift certificate vendor accesses the WWW server 7 via a network such as the Internet or a LAN to provide the gift certificate information. May be registered. In this case, the gift certificate purchaser may directly access the WWW server 7 to purchase the gift certificate.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the gift certificate purchaser settles the purchase price when purchasing the gift certificate has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Each time you purchase a gift, you may settle it by transferring the product price to an account or paying with a credit card.In this case, if the gift recipient does not purchase the product with a gift certificate within the expiration date In addition, there is an advantage that the return process of the gift certificate can be omitted when there is a remaining amount for purchasing the commodity.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the gift receiving party accesses the cyber shopping mall and purchases a product according to the purchase price has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, cashing may be made at a predetermined fee and transferred to a designated account, or a game or karaoke may be distributed, or a newspaper or magazine may be distributed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the expiration date of the gift certificate is managed in the cyber shopping mall has been described, but when the gift certificate distributed to the gift recipient is restored, the expiration date is not expired. Only the access to the cyber shopping mall may be permitted, and the access to the cyber shopping mall may be prohibited when the expiration date has passed.

In the above embodiment, the case where the gift certificate is delivered to the gift certificate purchaser when the expiration date of the gift certificate has expired has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is possible to transfer the purchase amount, perform settlement by electronic money, and select an arbitrary settlement method.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case has been described where the expiration date of the gift certificate is determined when there is an access from a gift recipient in the product purchase processing of the cyber shopping mall. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It monitors the expiration date of unused or residual gift vouchers stored in the management department, and if the gift voucher is not used before the specified date of expiration, By transmitting an e-mail indicating a message urging the use of the voucher, it is possible to prevent forgetting to use the gift voucher.

[0063]

As described above, according to the gift certificate transaction method according to the first aspect and the gift certificate transaction system according to the second aspect, when a gift certificate purchaser purchases a gift certificate, the gift destination information is registered. By registering the e-mail address and public key of the gift recipient to the gift voucher by means, the gift voucher
The gift certificate transmission means encrypts the gift certificate with the public key information, attaches it to the e-mail, and sends it to the gift recipient.
It is possible to restore the gift certificate attached to the received e-mail with the secret key information, access a product purchase site such as a predetermined cyber shopping mall based on the restored gift certificate, and purchase a desired product, The gift certificate purchaser can save the trouble of sending the gift certificate to the gift receiving party, and can purchase the desired product reliably without visiting the predetermined gift store at the gift receiving party. The effect is that the degree of freedom in purchasing the product can be improved.

According to the gift certificate transaction system according to the third aspect, an expiration date is set for the gift certificate sent to the gift recipient, and when the gift certificate is within the expiration date, access to a predetermined product purchase site is permitted. After the expiration of the expiration date, access to the merchandise purchase site is prohibited, so that the gift recipient recognizes the expiration date, so that it is possible to prevent the dead stock of the gift certificate and to effectively utilize it.

Further, according to the gift certificate transaction system according to the fourth aspect, when a gift receiving party accesses a predetermined product purchase site based on the gift certificate, product information that can be purchased with the set amount of the gift certificate is displayed. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of the product purchaser searching for a product corresponding to the price set in the gift certificate, and to obtain an effect that the product can be easily purchased.

Further, according to the gift certificate transaction system according to the fifth aspect, when the gift recipient of the gift certificate accesses the product purchase site and purchases the product, the gift certificate purchaser is provided with the gift certificate. Since the use is notified, it is possible to obtain an effect that when the gift certificate is given, the sending and use to the gift receiving party can be reliably recognized.

Further, according to the gift certificate transaction system according to the sixth aspect, when the gift certificate expires without being used at the gift receiving party, the gift certificate purchaser is notified of the return of the purchase price. By performing the above, it is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to guarantee that the validity of the gift certificate expires when the validity period is set for the gift certificate.

According to the gift certificate transaction system of the present invention, when the gift certificate has been used but the expiration date has passed with the balance remaining, the gift certificate purchaser is notified of the return of the balance. Accordingly, an effect is obtained that the remaining amount of the gift certificate can be prevented from disappearing due to the expiration of the expiration date.

Further, according to the gift certificate transaction system according to the eighth aspect, when a gift certificate is refunded to a gift certificate purchaser, a gift certificate corresponding to the refund amount is sent, thereby performing the balance transfer, electronic settlement, and the like. The effect is that the refund can be easily made without any refund.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a gift certificate registration process performed by a gift certificate seller.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a product purchase processing procedure in a cyber shopping mall.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Gift certificate vendor 2 Internet 3 WWW server 4 Portable information terminal 5 Radio station 6 Public telephone network 8 Public telephone network 9 Information terminal

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09C 1/00 660 G09C 1/00 660G

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A step of registering an e-mail address and public key information of a gift recipient to a gift certificate seller when a purchaser of the gift certificate purchases a gift certificate of a desired amount; Attach the gift certificate encrypted with the information to the e-mail and send it to the gift recipient, and restore the gift certificate with the private key information at the gift recipient and access the predetermined gift purchase site based on the restored gift certificate And a gift certificate trading method. 2. A gift recipient information registration means for registering a gift recipient electronic mail address and a public key with a gift certificate seller when a purchaser of the gift certificate purchases a gift certificate of a desired amount;
A gift certificate transmitting means for encrypting the gift certificate with the public key information registered by the gift destination information registration means and attaching the gift certificate to an e-mail and sending the gift certificate to the gift recipient; and attaching the gift certificate to the e-mail transmitted by the gift certificate transmitting means. And a shopping means for restoring the restored gift certificate with secret key information and accessing a predetermined product purchase site based on the restored gift certificate. 3. An expiration date is set for the gift certificate, and access to a predetermined product purchase site is permitted during the expiration date, but access to the predetermined product purchase site is prohibited after the expiration date. The gift certificate transaction system according to claim 2, wherein the gift certificate transaction system is configured to: 4. The shopping means is configured such that, when a predetermined commodity purchase site is accessed with the restored gift certificate, commodity information that can be purchased with the set amount of the gift certificate is displayed. The gift certificate transaction system according to claim 2 or 3. 5. The operation system of the product purchase site,
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein when the purchase of the commodity based on the gift certificate from the gift recipient is determined, the purchaser of the gift certificate is notified of the use of the gift certificate. Gift certificate transaction system described. 6. A non-use notifying means for notifying a gift certificate purchaser of a return of a purchase amount when the gift certificate has expired in an unused state. The gift certificate transaction system according to claim 3, wherein 7. An unused balance notifying means for notifying a purchaser of a gift certificate that the balance will be returned when the expiration date has passed while the gift certificate has been used but the balance remains. The gift certificate transaction system according to claim 3, wherein: 8. The gift certificate transaction system according to claim 6, wherein a gift certificate corresponding to the refund amount is sent when the gift certificate is refunded to the gift certificate purchaser.