JP2007233711A - Mail transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mail transfer system that allows users to send and receive emails without knowing each other's actual email addresses (raw addresses), so that a third party cannot send an email. <P>SOLUTION: When receiving either an email sent from a virtual mall server 130 or an email sent from the mail software 114 of a store terminal 110 or an email sent from the mail software 124 of a user terminal 120, the mail transfer system 142 checks if permission is set between the store and the user, and registers or updates the permission between the store and the user in accordance with predetermined requirements. To keep the store and the user from knowing each other's raw addresses, either the raw addresses are replaced by transfer addresses or the transfer addresses are replaced by the raw addresses; the emails after the replacement are sent (transferred) to the user terminal 120 and the store terminal 110. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mail transfer system that can send and receive e-mail without knowing each other's actual e-mail address (raw address) and cannot be sent from a third party.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a virtual shopping mall system, a mail order system, an auction system, etc. on the Internet, communication between participating members (for example, between a store and a user) is usually performed by electronic mail. One reason is that asynchronous media such as e-mail are more suitable for contact between members than synchronous media such as instant messenger.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of e-mail transmission / reception performed in a conventional virtual shopping mall system (members are stores that open stores and users who shop). Although unregistered users can also participate in the system, here, a user (registered user) who has registered information such as an e-mail address in the system is a store in a virtual shopping mall (registered store). The case of shopping at will be described. Also, the description will be limited to only the function of sending and receiving e-mails.
The store terminal 110 is a terminal such as a personal computer of a store opening a store in a virtual shopping mall. The browser 112 is a web browser of the store terminal 110. The mail software 114 is mail software for the store terminal 110.
The user terminal 120 is a terminal such as a personal computer or a mobile phone of a user who performs shopping in a virtual shopping mall. The browser 122 is a web browser of the user terminal 120. The mail software 124 is mail software for the user terminal 120.

The virtual shopping mall server 130 is a server that constructs a virtual shopping mall system. The order receiving system 132 receives an order from the browser 122 of the user terminal 120 (circled number 1 in FIG. 1), an order receiving process from the browser 112 of the store terminal 110 (circled number 3 in FIG. 1), etc. It is a system that performs. Here, of the functions of the order receiving system 132, only the e-mail transmission function (circle numbers 2 and 4 in FIG. 1) will be described.
The store database 134 is a database that stores information on each store. The main items of the store database 134 are shown in FIG. Here, only items necessary for sending an e-mail are shown. The store ID is a unique ID for the store. The store raw address is an e-mail address of the store. Hereinafter, an actual e-mail address is referred to as a “raw address”. In addition, the store database 134 stores necessary information such as the URL of the store on the virtual shopping street and a contact address other than the e-mail address.
The user database 136 is a database that stores information on each user. The main items of the user database 136 (items necessary for sending e-mail) are shown in FIG. The user ID is a unique ID for the user. The user raw address is the user's e-mail address. In addition, necessary information such as user personal information is stored in the user database 136.

As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the order receiving system 132 receives a product order (the circled number 1 in FIG. 1) from the browser 122 of the user terminal 120 (specifically, for example, the user stores a virtual store from the browser 122. And an operation for ordering a product by accessing a web page of a store on the street) and automatically sending an e-mail (order confirmation e-mail with a circled number 2) confirming the order contents to the user, A carbon copy (cc) of the e-mail is transmitted to the store where the user ordered the product.
Further, the order receiving system 132 receives the order receiving process (the circled number 3 in FIG. 1) from the browser 112 of the store terminal 110 (specifically, for example, the person in charge of the store receives the store on the virtual shopping mall from the browser 112) If an order is received from the user and an order is received, an e-mail different from the order confirmation e-mail is transmitted to the order receiving system 132 in advance by a prior operation from the store. In the case of setting, an e-mail (Thanks mail with a circled number 4) notifying that the order has been received is transmitted to the user who ordered, and a carbon copy (cc) of the e-mail is transmitted to the store.

An example of an order confirmation email is shown in FIG. The sender address (from) is an electronic mail address (for example, order@rakuten.co.jp) prepared for automatic transmission from the order receiving system 132. The destination address (to) is the user raw address stored in the user database 136, and the broadcast address (cc) is the store raw address stored in the store database. In the body of the e-mail, for example, in the case of an order confirmation e-mail, the contents of the order and the store name are automatically entered.
An example of Thanks Mail is shown in FIG. The sender address (from) is an e-mail address (for example, order@rakuten.co.jp) prepared in the order receiving system 132 by a prior operation from the user. In the Sunkus mail, as in the order confirmation mail, the destination address (to) is the user raw address stored in the user database 136, and the broadcast address (cc) is the shop raw address stored in the store database. In the case of Thanks Mail, the contents entered in the order processing, such as the order contents and the scheduled shipping date of the product, are automatically entered.
The order confirmation email and the thanks email described above are examples of emails transmitted from the virtual shopping mall system to the store terminal 110 and the user terminal 120.

The order confirmation e-mail and thanks mail shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are browsed by the mail software 114 of the store terminal 110 and the mail software 124 of the user terminal 120. At this time, the person in charge of the store knows the user's email address (user raw address), and the user knows the store's email address (store raw address).
Thereafter, using the raw address acquired here, the person in charge of the store can directly send an e-mail from the mail software 114 of the store terminal 110 to the user terminal 120 (circled number 5 in FIG. 1). At this time, as shown in FIG. 3C, the sender address (from) is a store raw address, and the destination address (to) is a user raw address. Similarly, the user can also send an e-mail directly from the mail software 124 of the user terminal 120 to the store terminal 110 (circle numeral 6 in FIG. 1). At this time, as shown in FIG. 3D, the sender address (from) is a user raw address, and the destination address (to) is a store raw address.
In addition, for example, if the store raw address is posted on the web page of the store on the virtual shopping street, the user can know the store raw address, and if the user sends an e-mail such as an inquiry to the address, The store can know the user raw address.

As described above, in the conventional virtual shopping mall system, it is possible to conveniently and easily exchange e-mails between a store opening in the virtual shopping mall and a user using the virtual shopping mall.
However, there is a risk that a raw address obtained by a store or a user may be leaked to a third party and misused. In addition, when a store without a transaction with a user obtains and uses the user's raw address, there is a possibility that the user's anxiety about personal information protection may increase.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a mail transfer system that can send and receive e-mail without knowing each other's actual e-mail address (raw address) and cannot be sent from a third party. It is to solve the problem.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention addresses an e-mail addressed to a transfer address of a member (a registered store and a registered user in the above-described virtual shopping mall system example) to the actual address of the member. A mail transfer system for transferring, the address storage means storing the address of the member and the transfer address corresponding to the address; a mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail addressed to the transfer address; With reference to the address storage means, address replacement means for replacing the transfer address of the destination of the received e-mail with the corresponding address and the address of the transmission source with the corresponding transfer address, and the e-mail after the address replacement An e-mail transfer system comprising e-mail transmission means for transmission.
Further, it comprises a permission storage means for storing a permission permitting transmission / reception of e-mail between the members, and after receiving the mail, referring to the permission storage means, between the destination member and the transmission source member The address replacement and mail transmission may be performed when the permission is present, and the address replacement and mail transmission may not be performed when the permission is absent.
Further, in the case where there is no permission between the destination member and the transmission source member, if the predetermined condition is satisfied, the permission between the destination member and the transmission source member is stored in the permission storage means. It is good also as having the permission registration means to register.
Further, the permission storage means stores the expiration date of the permission, and when there is the permission between the destination member and the transmission source member, There may be provided a permission update means for updating an expiration date of the permission between the destination member and the transmission source member.
Here, the predetermined condition is, for example, in the case of a virtual shopping mall, for example, an e-mail received by the mail receiving means is (1) an e-mail from the order receiving system, or (2) a user from the store (3) When the received e-mail is one of (1) and (3), (3) between the store and the user, It is assumed that the permission is registered in the permission storage means or the expiration date of the permission is updated. In this way, since the permission is set mainly by the user side operation, transmission of useless mail from the store to the user is restricted.
A program for causing a computer to realize each means of the mail transfer system described above as a function is also the present invention.

In the mail transfer system of the present invention, a transfer address corresponding to each raw address of a member such as a community on the Internet (for example, a registered store and a registered user in the virtual shopping mall system) is prepared in advance, and an e-mail is sent. Transfer. For an unregistered user, a transfer address is prepared as a member by performing user registration. Thereby, it is possible to send and receive e-mail without disclosing the actual e-mail address (raw address) of the member to other members. Since e-mail from non-members is not forwarded, even if the forwarding address leaks to a third party, the third party cannot use the forwarding address.
Furthermore, the present invention restricts members who can send an e-mail to the forwarding address by setting a permission. Since e-mails are not transferred without permission settings, a member who does not have permission settings for the member cannot use the obtained transfer address. In addition, it is possible to prevent a member who has withdrawn from using a forwarding address obtained at the time of membership.
In addition, since the live address is not known to other members, the community can be used with peace of mind. In particular, it does not receive e-mails from other members after withdrawal.
In addition, it is possible to realize a permission system with a high degree of freedom, such as setting an expiration date for the permission, or deleting the permission when it becomes unnecessary or when trouble occurs.
If the transfer address is not encrypted from the raw address but an unrelated meaningless character string or the like is used, there is no possibility of being decrypted.
The mail transfer system of the present invention is not limited to the virtual shopping mall system exemplified here, but is also an Internet auction system, mail order system, membership community such as social networking service (SNS), and other similar Internet. Very useful in the above services.

Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the mail transfer system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, a case where the mail transfer system of the present embodiment is used in the conventional virtual shopping mall system shown in FIG. 1 will be described as an example.
In the example of this embodiment, the following rules are set as a premise in order to perform mail transfer between members (here, registered stores and registered users) using the virtual shopping mall system. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, “store” means a registered store, and “user” means a registered user.

<1. Prerequisite>
(1-1. Transfer address creation rules)
The transfer address corresponding to the store raw address (hereinafter referred to as “store transfer address”) and the transfer address corresponding to the user raw address (hereinafter referred to as “user anonymous address”) are created, for example, according to the following rules. This rule is an example, and the forwarding address may be determined by another rule.
(1) The store transfer address is “xxx-info@shop.rakuten.co.jp” (where “xxx” is the store ID).
(2) The user anonymous address is “yyy@fw.rakuten.ne.jp” (where “yyy” is a meaningless character string).
It is possible to provide a plurality of user anonymous addresses, such as for personal computer addresses and mobile phone addresses. Although an example in which one transfer address is provided per store will be described here, a plurality of transfer addresses may be provided per store, for example, for each department or person in charge. An example of using a plurality of transfer addresses for one store will be described later.

(1-2. E-mail transfer rule)
FIG. 4 shows an example of rules for whether or not to transfer email between the store and the user in the mail transfer system of the present embodiment.
(1) The store A that is permitted for the user a (permission is set) can send an e-mail to the user a. That is, if an e-mail is sent to the user anonymous address of the user a, it is transferred to the user a.
(2) On the other hand, store B without permission (no permission is set) cannot send an e-mail to user a. That is, even if an e-mail is sent to the user anonymous address of the user a, it is not transferred to the user a.
(3) Moreover, even if a third party other than the store in the virtual shopping mall obtains the user anonymous address and sends an e-mail addressed to the user anonymous address, it is not transferred to the user a.
(4) It is assumed that the user a can send an e-mail to both the store A and the store B. That is, if an e-mail is sent to the store transfer addresses of store A and store B, it is transferred to each store.

<2. Configuration of this embodiment>
FIG. 5 shows an example of the system configuration when the mail transfer system of the present embodiment is used in the conventional virtual shopping mall system shown in FIG. The reference numerals in FIG. 5 correspond to those in FIG.
The store terminal 110, browser 112, and mail software 114, and the user terminal 120, browser 122, and mail software 124 are the same as in FIG.
Main items of the store database 134 and the user database 136 of the virtual shopping mall server 130 in this embodiment are shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, respectively. Store ID and user ID are the same as the same item of each conventional database shown in FIG. The store transfer address is a transfer address corresponding to the store raw address. The user anonymous address is a transfer address corresponding to the user raw address. Thus, in this embodiment, it is necessary to store transfer addresses in the store database 134 and the user database 136.

In FIG. 5, a mail transfer server 140 is a transfer server that receives an e-mail addressed to a transfer address and transfers the e-mail address to a raw address. Processing necessary for mail transfer is performed by the mail transfer system 142. The mail transfer system 142 is a system that performs mail transfer with reference to each of the store address database 144, the user address database 146, the permission database 148, and the store information database 149.
The store address database 144 is a database in which store raw addresses and transfer addresses are associated with each other. FIG. 7A is a main item of the store address database 144, and stores a store raw address and a store transfer address using the store ID as a main key.
The user address database 146 is a database that associates a user's raw address with a forwarding address. FIG. 7B is a main item of the user address database 146 and stores a user raw address and a user anonymous address with the user ID as a main key.
The permission database 148 is a database that manages a combination of a store and a user permitted to send and receive mail by forwarding. FIG. 7C shows the main items of the permission database 148, which uses the store ID and the user ID as main keys. The expiration date is a time limit (date, etc.) during which e-mail can be sent and received by forwarding.

The store information database 149 is a database that manages, for each store, whether or not electronic mail can be sent and received by current transfer. FIG. 7D shows the main items of the store information database 149, with the store ID as the main key. The mail availability flag is a flag indicating whether or not the store is currently capable of sending and receiving e-mails by forwarding, and when this flag indicates “email unavailable” (for example, when the store is closed) Etc.), the e-mail from the store to the user and the e-mail from the user to the store are not transferred.
The store information database 149 is provided in the example of this embodiment, and is not an essential database for the mail transfer system. A similar database can also be provided for users.

<3. Processing procedure of mail transfer system>
(3-1. Overview)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the mail transfer system 142.
The mail transfer system 142 is an electronic mail (order confirmation mail (circled number 2 in FIG. 5) and thanks mail (circled number 4)) transmitted from the order receiving system 132 of the virtual shopping mall server 130, mail software 114 of the store terminal 110. The e-mail (circled number 5) transmitted to the user from the e-mail and the e-mail (circled number 6) transmitted to the store from the mail software 124 of the user terminal 120 are received (S810).
In the present embodiment, the received e-mail (S810) is received from the order receiving system 132 of the virtual shopping mall server 130 from the store according to the preconditions described in the above (1-2. It is assumed that the e-mail to the user and the e-mail from the user to the store are divided into the permission registration / update process (S820) and the e-mail address replacement process (S830). This is an example when the mail transfer system of this embodiment is used in a virtual shopping mall system, and the rules can be freely determined as necessary.

Next, it is confirmed whether or not a permission is set between the store and the user, and the permission or registration between the store and the user is registered or updated as necessary (S820).
In the present embodiment, when the mail received by the mail transfer system 142 is an e-mail (order confirmation e-mail, thanks mail) from the order receiving system 132 of the virtual shopping mall server 130, and by an e-mail from the user to the store In some cases, if no permission is set between the user and the store, the permission is registered, and if the permission is set, the permission is updated (in this embodiment, the expiration date is updated). Shall. Therefore, for example, the user can send an e-mail to the store using the store transfer address posted on the Web page of the virtual shopping mall server 130.
On the other hand, if the mail received by the mail transfer system 142 is an e-mail from the store to the user, the e-mail is not transferred unless permission is set between the user and the store. Therefore, for example, even if a store obtains a user anonymous address through some non-regular route, the address cannot be used.
Note that the above is an example of permission setting rules when the mail transfer system of this embodiment is used in a virtual shopping mall system, and the registration and update of the permissions may be performed using other rules.
Finally, the raw address is replaced with the forwarding address or the forwarding address is replaced with the raw address so that the store and the user do not know each other's raw address (S830), and the replaced e-mail is sent to the user terminal 120 (FIG. 5 (circle number 2 ′, circle number 4 ′, circle number 5 ′) and the store terminal 110 (circle number 2 ″, circle number 4 ″, circle number 6 ′ in FIG. 5).

(3-2. Mail reception processing)
As described above, the mail transfer system 142 according to the present embodiment is an e-mail (order confirmation e-mail and thanks mail) transmitted from the order receiving system 132 of the virtual shopping mall server 130, and is sent to the user from the mail software 114 of the store terminal 110. Three kinds of e-mails are received: the sent e-mail and the e-mail sent to the store from the mail software 124 of the user terminal 120 (S810).
An example of an order confirmation mail (circled number 2 in FIG. 5) and Thanks mail (circled number 4 in FIG. 5) transmitted from the order receiving system 132 of the virtual shopping mall server 130 is shown in the left column of FIG. 9A. The sender address (from) is an e-mail address (for example, order@rakuten.co.jp) prepared for automatic transmission performed by the order receiving system 132, as in the conventional system shown in FIG. It is. The destination address (to) is a user anonymous address stored in the user database 136, and the broadcast address (cc) is a store transfer address stored in the store database 134. The text of the e-mail is the same as the conventional system described above.
Further, as shown in the left column of FIG. 9 (b), the sender address (from) is an email sent to the user terminal 120 from the mail software 114 of the store terminal 110. The destination address (to) is a user anonymous address.
As shown in the left column of FIG. 9 (c), the sender address (from) is the user's raw address, as shown in the left column of FIG. 9 (c). Yes, the destination address (to) is a store transfer address.

(3-3. Permissions registration / update processing, email address replacement processing)
As described above, in this embodiment, the mail transfer system 142 receives the received email (S810) from the order receiving system 132 of the virtual shopping mall server 130, the email from the store to the user, and the user to the store. The e-mail to the e-mail is subjected to permission registration / update processing (S820) and mail address replacement processing (S830).

(1) In the case of an e-mail from the order receiving system 132 FIG. 10 shows that the e-mail received by the mail transfer system 142 (S810 in FIG. 8) is an e-mail from the order receiving system 132 (order confirmation e-mail (circle number 2 in FIG. 5). ) Or Thanks mail (circled number 4)) is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the permission registration / update process (S820) and the mail address replacement process (S830).
When an order confirmation mail or a thanks mail is received (S810), first, it is confirmed whether or not a permission is set between the store and the user (S1010). More specifically, the user ID is acquired by referring to the user address database 146 from the user anonymous address of the destination confirmation mail or Thanks mail destination address (to). Further, the store ID is obtained by referring to the store address database 144 from the store transfer address of the broadcast address (cc). Next, the permission database 148 is referred to using the acquired user ID and store ID.
If the combination of the user ID and the store ID is not registered in the permission database 148 (No in S1010), a record is added to the permission database 148 and the permission between the store and the user is added. Is registered (S1020). Thereafter, the e-mail can be transmitted and received between the store and the user within the expiration date of the permission.
On the other hand, if it is registered (Yes in S1010), the expiration date of the permission database 148 is updated (S1030) to extend the permission expiration date.

Next, the e-mail is transmitted to the user terminal 120 and the store terminal 110 by replacing the e-mail addresses (S1040), respectively (S840).
The replacement of the mail address of the order confirmation mail and the Thanks mail is shown in the right column of FIG. Order confirmation mail addressed to the user terminal 120 (circle numeral 2 ′) and thanks mail (circle numeral 4 ′) replace the user anonymous address of the destination address (to) with the user raw address stored in the user address database 146. To do. In addition, in the order confirmation mail (circle numeral 2 ″) and thank you mail (circle numeral 4 ″) addressed to the store terminal 110, the store transfer address of the broadcast address (cc) is stored in the store address database 144. Replace with store raw address.
By receiving the e-mail with the e-mail address replaced in this way, the store can know the user anonymous address and the user can know the store transfer address, but does not know each other's raw address.

(2) In the case of e-mail from the mail software of the store terminal to the user The store can know the user anonymous address by receiving the order confirmation e-mail and the like, and at that time between the store and the user Since the permission is set (registered / updated), an e-mail can be sent to the user anonymous address.
FIG. 11 shows permission registration / update processing (S820) and mail when the email received by the mail transfer system 142 (S810 in FIG. 8) is an email from the store to the user (circled number 5 in FIG. 5). It is the flowchart which showed the example of the process sequence of an address substitution process (S830).
When an e-mail from the store to the user (circled number 5 in FIG. 5) is received (S810), it is first confirmed whether or not the store is a store that can send e-mail (S1110). Specifically, the store ID is obtained by referring to the store address database 144 from the store raw address of the sender address (from). Next, referring to the mail transmission enable / disable flag of the store information database 149 with the acquired store ID, if the store is not a store that can transmit an email (No in S1110), an error mail is transmitted to the store ( The store is notified by a method such as S1120).

On the other hand, if the store is a store that can send an e-mail (Yes in S1110), it is confirmed whether or not a permission is set between the store and the user (S1130). Specifically, the user ID is acquired by referring to the user address database 146 from the user anonymous address of the destination address (to). Further, the store ID is obtained by referring to the store address database 144 from the store raw address of the sender address (from). Next, the permission database 148 is referred to using the acquired user ID and store ID.
When the combination of the user ID and the store ID is not registered in the permission database 148 (No in S1130), an error mail is generated (S1120) and transmitted to the store. Notify the store. On the other hand, if registered (Yes in S1130), the e-mail address is replaced (S1140), and the e-mail is transmitted (circled number 5 'in FIG. 5) (S840).
As shown in the right column of FIG. 9B, the mail address is replaced with the destination address (to) by the user raw address and the sender address (from) with the store transfer address.

(3) In the case of e-mail from the mail software of the user terminal to the store The user can know the store transfer address by receiving an order confirmation e-mail or the like. Further, for example, if a store transfer address is posted on a Web page of a store in a virtual shopping mall, the user can know the store transfer address and can send an e-mail to the store transfer address.
FIG. 12 shows permission registration / update processing (S820) and mail when the email received by the mail transfer system 142 (S810 in FIG. 8) is an email from the user to the store (circled number 6 in FIG. 5). It is the flowchart which showed the example of the process sequence of an address substitution process (S830).
When an e-mail from the user to the store (circled number 6 in FIG. 5) is received (S810), it is first confirmed whether the store is a store capable of sending e-mail (S1210). Specifically, the store ID is acquired by referring to the store address database 144 from the store transfer address of the destination address (to). Next, referring to the mail transmission enable / disable flag of the store information database 149 with the acquired store ID, if the store is not a store that can transmit an email (No in S1210), an error mail is generated for the user (S1220). The user is notified by a method such as transmission.
On the other hand, if the store is a store that can send an e-mail (Yes in S1210), it is confirmed whether or not a permission is set between the store and the user (S1230). Specifically, the store ID is acquired by referring to the store address database 144 from the store transfer address of the destination address (to). Further, the user ID is obtained by referring to the user address database 146 from the user raw address of the sender address (from). Next, the permission database 148 is referred to using the acquired user ID and store ID.

When the combination of the user ID and the store ID is not registered in the permission database 148 (No in S1230), a record is added to the permission database 148, and the permission between the store and the user is added. Is registered (S1240). On the other hand, if it is registered (Yes in S1230), the expiration date of the permission in the permission database 148 is updated (S1250), and the expiration date of the permission is extended.
Next, the mail address is replaced (S1260), and the electronic mail is transmitted (circled number 6 'in FIG. 5) (S840).
As shown in the right column of FIG. 9C, the replacement of the mail address is performed by replacing the destination address (to) with the store raw address and the sender address (from) with the user anonymous address.

Further, in the mail receiving process after ordering in the virtual shopping mall system described with reference to FIG. 5 (S810 in FIG. 8), a sender (here, an order receiving system, a store, a user in the virtual shopping mall) assumed in advance. If an e-mail with a sender other than is received, the e-mail from a third party can be easily blocked by performing processing such as discarding the e-mail or returning an error e-mail to the sender.
However, when a new user sends an e-mail addressed to the store transfer address posted on the Web page of the store in the virtual shopping mall, it is confirmed whether the store is a store capable of sending e-mail (S1210), and the store itself. No error mail is returned except when the user has withdrawn from the virtual shopping mall system. In this case, for a new user, a user ID and a user anonymous address are registered in the user database 136 of the virtual shopping mall server 130, and a user ID, a user raw address, and a user anonymous address are registered in the user address database 146 of the mail transfer server 140. Register the store ID, user ID, and expiration date in the permission database 148. In the three sorts of e-mail from the order receiving system 132 of the virtual shopping mall server 130, e-mail from the store to the user, and e-mail from the user to the store, by widely accepting e-mail from the user to the store, On the other hand, the use of the virtual shopping mall system can be promoted widely.

  In addition, in the mail transmission process (S840 in FIG. 8), a server for spool is prepared in case an e-mail cannot be transmitted (transferred) due to a malfunction of the mail server of the store raw address or the user raw address provider. Good. If the electronic mail that could not be transmitted is stored in the spool server and retransmitted, the load of the mail transmission processing can be reduced.

<4. Application example 1>
In the above description, the case where one transfer address is provided for one store has been described as an example. Furthermore, if a plurality of transfer addresses are provided for each store, for example, for each department or person in charge, division of labor within the store is facilitated. It is also possible to prevent impersonation of the person in charge in the store.
FIG. 13 is an example of a mail transfer rule when a plurality of transfer addresses are provided for one store. Staff (1), Staff (2), ..., Staff (N-1), Staff (N) are employees of store A, who have raw addresses and can send and receive e-mails. Suppose there is.
Here, staff (1), staff (2),... Use a transfer address such as “xxx-info@shop.rakuten.co.jp”. On the other hand, the staff (N-1) uses a transfer address such as “xxx-order@shop.rakuten.co.jp”, and the staff (N), for example, “xxx-support@shop.rakuten.co”. .Jp "is used. Taking staff (1), staff (2)... As an example, the items in store address database 144 are changed as shown in FIG. The raw addresses (staff raw address 1, staff raw address 2,...) Can be realized by corresponding to one transfer address (stuff transfer address “xxx-info@shop.rakuten.co.jp”).
Moreover, since the staff transfer address corresponding to each staff's raw address is matched with store ID, as long as permission is set between a store and a user (permission is set), staff transfer address All staff members who can send and receive e-mails to users.

  As another embodiment, it may be realized by changing the items of the permission database 148 as shown in FIG. 14B and setting the permission by a combination of “store ID + staff ID” and user ID. Good. In this case, since the permission is set only for some staff members, it is possible to sort the transmission / reception of electronic mails based on the work contents of the staff members, authority, presence / absence of nomination from the user, and the like.

<5. Application Example 2>
In addition, if you have multiple branches in a virtual shopping mall, or if you have stores with special relationships such as affiliated companies, if you can set permissions for each group of such stores, related stores such as batch management of customers It is easy to organize in
FIG. 15 is an example of a mail transfer rule when permission is set for each group of stores. Store A and store B are in the same group. The group registration can be realized by adding a group ID to the store information database 149 as shown in FIG. Store A and store B have different transfer addresses registered in the store address database 144.
Further, the permission database 148 is changed as shown in FIG. 16B so that the permission is managed by a combination of the group ID and the user ID.

By preparing each database in this way, a mail transfer system corresponding to the rules shown in FIG. 15 can be realized.
(1) The store A which has permission with the user a (permission is set) can transmit an e-mail to the user a. That is, if an e-mail is sent to the user anonymous address of the user a, it is transferred to the user a.
(2) The store B belonging to the same group as the store A can also send an e-mail to the user a.

  In the above description, the mail transfer system of this embodiment is used as an example for a virtual shopping mall system. However, the mail transfer system of this embodiment is not limited to a virtual shopping mall system, It can be used for mail order systems, membership networks such as social networking services (SNS), and other similar services on the Internet.

It is the figure which showed an example of the email transmission / reception performed with the conventional virtual shopping mall system It is the figure which showed the main items of (a) store database and (b) user database in the conventional virtual shopping mall system. It is the figure in the conventional virtual shopping mall system which showed the example of (a) order confirmation mail, (b) Thanks mail, (c) E-mail from a store to a user, (d) E-mail from a user to a store. . It is the figure which showed an example of the rule of the email transfer possibility between a shop and a user in the mail transfer system of this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of the system configuration at the time of using the mail transfer system of this embodiment for the conventional virtual shopping mall system. It is the figure which showed the main items of (a) store database and (b) user database in this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the main items of (a) store address database, (b) user address database, (c) permission database, and (d) store information database in this embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the example of the process sequence of the mail transfer system of this embodiment. It is the figure in this embodiment which showed the example of (a) order confirmation mail and Thanks mail, (b) E-mail from a store to a user, and (c) E-mail from a user to a store. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of permission registration / update processing and email address replacement processing in the case of an email from a virtual shopping mall server 130. It is the flowchart which showed the example of the process sequence of permission registration / update process and mail address substitution process in the case of the electronic mail from the mail software of a shop terminal to a user terminal. It is the flowchart which showed the example of the process sequence of permission registration / update process and mail address replacement process in the case of being an electronic mail from the mail software of the user terminal to the store terminal. It is an example of a mail transfer rule when a plurality of transfer addresses are provided for one store. It is the figure which showed the item of (a) store address database and (b) permission database in the case of providing several transfer addresses per store. It is an example of the rule of mail transfer when setting permission for every group of a store. It is the figure which showed the item of (a) store information database and (b) permission database in the case of setting permission for every group of stores.

Explanation of symbols

110 store terminal 112 browser 114 mail software 120 user terminal 122 browser 124 mail software 130 virtual shopping mall server 132 order receiving system 134 store database 136 user database 140 mail transfer server 142 mail transfer system 144 store address database 146 user address database 148 Permission database 149 Store information database

Claims (5)

A mail forwarding system for forwarding an email addressed to a member's forwarding address to the actual address of the member,
Address storage means for storing the address of the member and the forwarding address corresponding to the address;
Mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail addressed to the forwarding address;
Referring to the address storage means, an address replacement means for replacing the forwarding address of the destination of the received e-mail with the corresponding address, and replacing the sender address with the corresponding forwarding address;
A mail transfer system comprising: mail transmission means for transmitting the e-mail after the address replacement. In the mail transfer system according to claim 1,
Furthermore, it comprises a permission storage means for storing a permission that allows transmission and reception of e-mail between the members,
After receiving the mail, referring to the permission storage means, the address replacement and the mail transmission are performed when the permission exists between the destination member and the transmission source member, and the address when there is no permission. A mail transfer system characterized by not performing replacement and mail transmission. In the mail transfer system according to claim 2,
Further, in the case where there is no permission between the destination member and the transmission source member, if the predetermined condition is satisfied, the permission between the destination member and the transmission source member is stored in the permission storage means. A mail transfer system comprising a permission registration means for registration. In the mail transfer system according to claim 2 or 3,
Furthermore, the permission storage means stores an expiration date of the permission,
Further, when there is the permission between the destination member and the transmission source member, if the predetermined condition is satisfied, the expiration date of the permission between the destination member and the transmission source member is set. A mail transfer system comprising a permission update means for updating. The program for making a computer implement | achieve each means of the mail transfer system in any one of Claims 1-4 as a function.

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