Commodity provision control apparatus, commodity provision control method, and commodity provision control program

Abstract

To provide an apparatus, method and program for storing information for limiting provision of commodities in accordance with the status of a purchaser after a commodity is purchased.SOLUTION: In a sales management server, a system control unit includes: a question information transmission unit which transmits, to a purchaser terminal device, question information indicating a question for follow-up for a purchased commodity; an answer information receiving unit which receives, from the purchaser terminal device, answer information indicating an answer to the question; a continuous use availability information acquisition unit which acquires availability information indicating whether the purchased commodity can be continuously used or not, based on the answer information; and a commodity provision limitation information management unit which modifies, when the availability information indicates that the purchased commodity cannot be continuously used, limitation information for specifying whether to limit provision of commodities to the purchaser, for each of combinations of a customer and the commodities, to manage commodity provision limitation information for limiting the provision of commodities to a purchaser.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 29

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for performing a predetermined procedure on a purchased product.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, websites that enable online ordering of products are known. On such websites, generally, a purchaser can purchase a product without facing the seller. On the other hand, among the products sold, there are products for which a customer needs to receive an explanation from a seller or the like when purchasing the product. For example, when purchasing pharmaceuticals, a customer may need to receive a diagnosis from a medical institution and obtain a prescription, or may need to receive medication guidance from a pharmacist. Also, for example, when purchasing some cosmetics, a customer may need to receive counseling from a doctor or other experts. Systems corresponding to products with such purchase conditions are also known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that it is possible to accept a purchase request including prescription information for medical pharmaceuticals that require a prescription and a purchase request not including prescription information for medical pharmaceuticals that do not require a prescription, and based on the purchase request, generate sales information for selling medical pharmaceuticals.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, there are cases where follow-up with the purchaser is necessary after the purchase of a product. For example, when a pharmaceutical product is purchased, follow-up observations on the purchaser regarding the use of the pharmaceutical product may be carried out. In the prior art, even if it was possible to handle the procedures up to the purchase of the product, the post-purchase support was insufficient. Also, even if the purchaser wishes to continue purchasing the product, depending on the purchaser's situation after the purchase, it may be necessary to restrict the provision of the product.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an example of the problem is to provide a product provision control device, a product provision control method, and a product provision control program that enable storing information for restricting the provision of a product according to the situation of the purchaser after the purchase of the product.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] (Application Example 1) Application Example 1 includes a question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating questions for follow-up regarding the purchased product to the purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser of the purchased product, an answer information reception means for receiving answer information indicating an answer to the question from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, a permission information acquisition means for acquiring permission information indicating whether the continued use of the purchased product is permitted based on the received answer information, and when the acquired permission information indicates that the continued use of the purchased product is not permitted, a change means for changing the restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, which is restriction information that can specify whether the provision of the product to the customer is restricted for each combination of the customer and the product, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted. The product provision control device is characterized by comprising the above.

[0007] According to this application example, questions for follow-up regarding the purchased product are presented to the purchaser. Response information indicating the answers to these questions is received from the purchaser terminal. Based on this response information, approval information indicating whether the use of the purchased product can be continued is obtained. If the continued use of the product is not possible, the restriction information is changed. As a result, it becomes possible to identify from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted. Therefore, by referring to the restriction information, processing for restricting the provision of the product to the purchaser can be performed. Accordingly, it is possible to store information for restricting the provision of the product according to the situation of the purchaser after the purchase of the product.

[0008] (Application Example 2) Application Example 2 further includes identification information acquisition means for acquiring selection product identification information indicating the selected product selected by the customer for the order and customer identification information for identifying the customer who selected the selected product, and when it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information to the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information is restricted, interview support means for supporting an interview with a decision maker who determines the availability of use of the customer and the selected product, and confirmation means for confirming the order of the selected product after the interview supported by the interview support means. The confirmation means is characterized in that when it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information to the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information is not restricted, the order is confirmed without the interview.

[0009] According to this application example, when providing the customer with the product selected by the customer for an order is restricted, an interview between the customer and the decision maker who determines the availability of the product is enabled. After the interview, the order for the selected product is finalized. When providing the selected product to the customer is not restricted, the interview between the customer and the decision maker is omitted and the order for the selected product is finalized. Therefore, depending on whether the provision of the product is restricted, whether an interview is required for finalizing the order of the product differs. Accordingly, by setting conditions for the order, the provision of the product can be appropriately restricted.

[0010] (Application Example 3) In Application Example 3, the interview support means enables communication between the customer terminal device used by the customer and the decision maker terminal device used by the decision maker for the interview, and when it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the obtained selection product identification information to the customer indicated by the obtained customer identification information is restricted, after the connection between the customer terminal device and the decision maker terminal device by the interview support means, the confirmation means finalizes the order, and when it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the obtained selection product identification information to the customer indicated by the obtained customer identification information is not restricted, the connection between the customer terminal device and the decision maker terminal device by the interview support means is omitted, and the confirmation means finalizes the order. The product providing control device is characterized by this.

[0011] According to this application example, by communicating and connecting the customer terminal and the decision maker terminal, an online interview between the customer and the decision maker becomes possible. After the online interview, the order is finalized. Therefore, when the provision of a product to the customer is restricted, the interview as a condition for finalizing the order of the product can be realized online.

[0012] (Application Example 4) In Application Example 4, the provision of the purchased product is in the form of periodically shipping the purchased product to the purchaser. When it is specifically changed by the changing means so that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted, the product providing control device further includes a canceling means for canceling the next shipment of the purchased product to the purchaser.

[0013] According to this application example, when the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is not restricted, the product is periodically shipped to the purchaser. When the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted, the next shipment of the product is canceled. As a result, the periodic shipment of the product is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately restrict the provision of the product in the form in which the product is periodically shipped.

[0014] (Application Example 5) Application Example 5 is a screen related to an e-commerce transaction that enables ordering of products, and further includes screen information transmitting means for transmitting to the customer terminal device screen information for displaying on the customer terminal device a screen including information on the requested product in response to a request from the customer terminal device used by the customer. When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the requested product to the customer is not restricted, the screen information transmitting means transmits the screen information for displaying the screen for receiving an operation for selecting the requested product. When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the requested product to the customer is restricted, the screen information transmitting means transmits the screen information for displaying the screen that does not receive the operation. The product providing control device is characterized by this.

[0015] According to this application example, a screen including information on a product in response to a request from a customer terminal device is displayed on the customer terminal device. When the provision of the product to the customer is not restricted, the screen is displayed so that an operation of selecting the product is possible. Therefore, the customer can order the product. When the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, the screen is displayed so that an operation of selecting the product is impossible. Therefore, the customer cannot order the product. Therefore, the screen related to the e-commerce transaction can control the restriction on the provision of the product depending on whether an operation of selecting the product is accepted or not.

[0016] (Application Example 6) Application Example 6 further includes cancellation information acquisition means for acquiring cancellation information indicating cancellation of the provision restriction of the purchased product after the restriction information is changed so that it is possible to specify that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted by the change means. The change means is characterized in that when the cancellation information is acquired by the cancellation information acquisition means, the restriction information is changed so that it is possible to specify from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is not restricted.

[0017] According to this application example, after the provision of the purchased product is restricted, the restriction may be cancelled. In that case, the restriction information is re-changed. As a result, it becomes possible to specify from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is not restricted. Therefore, by referring to the restriction information, a process for enabling the provision of the product to the purchaser can be performed.

[0018] (Application Example 7) Application Example 7 further includes cancellation information acquisition means for acquiring cancellation information indicating cancellation of the provision restriction of the purchased product after the restriction information is changed so that it is possible to specify that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted by the change means, and removal means for removing the cancellation of the shipment by the cancellation means when the cancellation information is received by the cancellation information acquisition means.

[0019] According to this application example, after the provision of products regularly shipped to purchasers is restricted, the restriction may be lifted. In that case, the cancellation of the next shipment of the product is canceled. As a result, the regular shipment of the product can be resumed.

[0020] (Application Example 8) Application Example 8 is a product provision control device characterized by further comprising result information transmission means for transmitting, to the purchaser, result information indicating the result of follow-up including the availability of continued use indicated by the obtained availability information.

[0021] According to this application example, it is possible to present to the purchaser whether the purchased product can be continued to be used.

[0022] (Application Example 9) Application Example 9 is such that the purchased product is a pharmaceutical product, and further comprises connection means for connectably connecting the purchaser terminal device and the doctor terminal device used by a doctor for communication for examination by the doctor, and confirmation means for confirming an order for the product settled through the examination after connection between the purchaser terminal device and the doctor terminal device by the connection means, and the question information transmission means transmits the question information about the product for which the order has been confirmed by the confirmation means.

[0023] According to this application example, when the purchaser terminal and the doctor terminal are communicatively connected, it becomes possible to have an online examination by the doctor. The pharmaceutical product determined through this examination is purchased. Question information for follow-up is transmitted about the purchased pharmaceutical product. Therefore, it is possible to store information for restricting the provision of the pharmaceutical product according to the situation of the customer who has received an examination and purchased the pharmaceutical product.

[0024] (Applicable Example 10) In the product offering control method executed by a computer, a question information transmission step of transmitting question information indicating a question for follow-up regarding a purchased product to a purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser of the purchased product, an answer information reception step of receiving, from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, answer information indicating an answer to the question, a permission information acquisition step of acquiring permission information indicating whether continued use of the purchased product is possible or not based on the received answer information, and when the acquired permission information indicates that continued use of the purchased product is not possible, a modification step of modifying restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, the restriction information being capable of specifying for each combination of a customer and a product whether or not product offering to the customer is restricted, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that product offering of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted. The product offering control method is characterized by including these steps.

[0025] (Applicable Example 11) The applicable example 11 causes a computer to function as a question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating a question for follow-up regarding a purchased product to a purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser of the purchased product, an answer information reception means for receiving, from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, answer information indicating an answer to the question, a permission information acquisition means for acquiring permission information indicating whether continued use of the purchased product is possible or not based on the received answer information, and a modification means for modifying restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, the restriction information being capable of specifying for each combination of a customer and a product whether or not product offering to the customer is restricted, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that product offering of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted when the acquired permission information indicates that continued use of the purchased product is not possible. The product offering control program is characterized by this. [Advantages of the Invention]

[0026] According to the present invention, it is possible to store information for restricting product offering according to the situation of the purchaser after purchase of the product. [Brief Description of the Drawings]

[0027]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0028] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In at least one embodiment, a seller may sell a product to a customer. The product may be sold, for example, in a physical store or online. The product sold in a physical store may be handed over from the seller to the customer. The product sold online may be shipped from the seller to the customer. Examples of the seller include medical institutions, pharmacies, cosmetic stores, specialty stores, and the like.

[0029] A follow-up control device (or product providing control device) according to at least one embodiment may perform follow-up on a purchaser who has purchased a product or assist in performing the follow-up. The follow-up may include, for example, confirming at least one of the state of the purchaser after the purchase of the product and the state of the product to the customer, and providing information to the purchaser as necessary based on the confirmed state. The information provided to the purchaser may include, for example, advice to the purchaser or some determination result regarding the use of the product. The follow-up control device may transmit question information to the customer in order to confirm the customer's situation. The question information may be information indicating questions for confirming the state of the purchaser or the state of the product. The follow-up control device may receive answer information from the purchaser terminal used by the purchaser. The answer information may be information indicating the answer of the purchaser or the user of the product to the question indicated by the question information. The purchaser of the product and the user of the product may be the same person. Alternatively, the user may be a person related to the purchaser. The purchaser may purchase the product for a person related to him / her. Examples of the person related to the purchaser include family members, relatives, friends, and the like.

[0030] When the follow-up control device according to at least one embodiment receives response information from the purchaser terminal device, it may transmit follow-up result information indicating the result of the follow-up. As described above, the follow-up result information may include information provided to the purchaser. The follow-up control device may transmit the response information to a predetermined decision maker. The decision maker may be a person who determines the information provided to the purchaser. Examples of the decision maker include employees of the seller, experts on the purchased product, doctors, pharmacists, consultants, etc. The follow-up control device may receive the follow-up result information from the decision maker. Alternatively, the follow-up control device may automatically determine the information to be provided based on the response information. For example, the response and the information to be provided may be associated in advance and stored in a predetermined storage means.

[0031] The information provided to the purchaser may include whether the use of the purchased product can be continued. The decision maker or the follow-up control device may determine whether the use can be continued. If the response from the purchaser indicates that there is no problem with the purchaser continuing to use the product, the continuation of use may be determined. If the response from the purchaser indicates that there is a problem with the purchaser continuing to use the product, the discontinuation or suspension of use may be determined.

[0032] In at least one embodiment, the same product may be continuously provided by the customer. For example, it may be possible for the purchaser to reorder or repurchase the product, or the product may be continuously shipped to the purchaser. In the follow-up, if the discontinuation of use of the purchased product is determined, the follow-up control device may execute a process for restricting the provision of the product to the purchaser. Examples of restricting the provision of the product include making it impossible to purchase the product, permitting purchase only if the purchaser meets additional conditions, not shipping the product, canceling the purchase or shipping schedule of the product, etc.

[0033] All of the products sold by the seller may be subject to follow-up. Alternatively, some of the products may be subject to follow-up. For example, the products that can be purchased by the customer may be subject to follow-up on the condition that an interview between the customer (or related person) and the decision maker has been conducted. For example, it may be necessary that the interview be conducted at least before the confirmation of the order of the product. Examples of the interview include examination, counseling, consulting, medication guidance, information provision, etc. The interview may be conducted offline or online. In the interview, the decision maker may explain the product to the customer. Also in the interview, the decision maker may check the customer's condition. In the interview, the customer may be able to purchase the product only when the decision maker permits the customer to use the product. Alternatively, the customer may be able to purchase the product without the permission of the decision maker. The product to be purchased may be selected by the customer before the interview with the decision maker, determined by the decision maker during the interview, or determined by the customer or the decision maker after the interview. Among the products that do not require an interview before purchase, there may be products that are subject to follow-up. Also, among the products that require an interview before purchase, there may be products that are not subject to follow-up.

[0034] If the decision maker is a doctor, the products subject to follow-up may include medical drugs. In order for the seller to provide medical drugs to the customer, a doctor's prescription is required. The interview before the purchase of the product in this case may be an examination. Also, the follow-up in this case may be a follow-up observation. Among the drugs other than medical drugs, there may be drugs subject to follow-up. Also, among the cosmetics other than medical drugs, there may be cosmetics subject to follow-up. If the decision maker is a pharmacist, the products subject to follow-up may include drugs. The interview before the purchase of the product in this case may be medication guidance or information provision from the pharmacist to the customer.

[0035] Hereinafter, an example will be described where the seller is a medical institution, the product to be followed up is a medical drug, and the decision maker is a doctor. However, as described above, the present application is also applicable when the seller has a form different from that of a medical institution, the product to be followed up has a form different from that of a medical drug, or the seller has a form different from that of a medical institution.

[0036] [1. First Embodiment] [1-1. Configuration of Communication System] First, the configuration and functional overview of the communication system S according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the communication system S according to the present embodiment.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system S may include a sales management server 1, at least one doctor terminal 2, at least one shipping terminal 3, and a plurality of customer terminals 4. The sales management server 1, the doctor terminal 2, the shipping terminal 3, and each customer terminal 4 are connected to each other via a network NW. The network NW is constructed by, for example, the Internet, a dedicated communication line (e.g., a CATV (Community Antenna Television) line), a mobile communication network (including base stations, etc.), and a gateway, etc.

[0038] The sales management server 1 may be a server device that performs various processes related to a predetermined pharmaceutical EC (Electronic Commerce) platform. The pharmaceutical EC platform may be a website that enables customers to purchase pharmaceuticals and the like online from a predetermined medical institution. The main products sold on the pharmaceutical EC platform may be pharmaceuticals. As the pharmaceuticals sold, there may be medical-use pharmaceuticals and general-use pharmaceuticals. Medical-use pharmaceuticals are pharmaceuticals provided based on a prescription by a doctor. General-use pharmaceuticals are pharmaceuticals that do not require a prescription by a doctor. On the pharmaceutical EC platform, products other than pharmaceuticals may also be sold. Examples of such products include cosmetics, health foods, and the like. The sales management server 1 may transmit contents such as web pages included in the pharmaceutical EC platform to the customer terminal 4, for example, in response to a request from the customer terminal 4 or the like. Further, the sales management server 1 may execute a process for accepting an order for a product from a customer. Furthermore, the sales management server 1 may execute a process for accepting a reservation for a medical examination (or medical treatment) at a medical institution for a customer to order medical-use pharmaceuticals. This medical examination may be an online medical examination or a medical examination conducted offline. Still further, when an online medical examination is reserved, the sales management server 1 may execute a process for realizing the online medical examination. In the online medical examination, voice and video communication may be performed between the doctor terminal 2 and the customer terminal 4.

[0039] The doctor terminal 2 may be a terminal device used in a medical institution. This doctor terminal 2 may be a terminal device mainly used by doctors. For example, the doctor terminal 2 may be used for displaying and inputting electronic medical records, inputting prescriptions, displaying questions and answers for follow-up observations, inputting whether to continue prescribing medical drugs after purchase, etc. Also, the doctor terminal 2 may be used for online consultations. Examples of the doctor terminal 2 include personal computers, tablet computers, etc. The doctor terminal 2 may be equipped with a video camera for taking videos or may be connectable to a video camera. Also, the doctor terminal 2 may be equipped with a microphone used for voice input or may be connectable to a microphone. Software such as a web browser or an email client may be incorporated into the doctor terminal 2. The doctor terminal 2 may be an example of a decision-maker terminal device used by a doctor as a decision-maker who determines whether to continue using a purchased product.

[0040] The shipping terminal 3 may be a terminal device mainly used by a medical institution when shipping products. This shipping terminal 3 may be a terminal device used by pharmacists or other employees. For example, the shipping terminal 3 may display information about the products to be shipped and information about the delivery destination. Employees may perform the shipping operation of the ordered products based on the information displayed on the shipping terminal 3. Examples of the shipping terminal 3 include personal computers, tablet computers, etc. Software such as a web browser or an email client may be incorporated into the shipping terminal 3.

[0041] Each customer terminal 4 may be a terminal device used by a customer as a buyer of products available on the pharmaceutical EC platform. Each customer terminal 4 may receive and display content such as a web page from the sales management server 1 or the like based on an operation by the customer. Examples of the customer terminal 4 include mobile information terminals such as smartphones and tablet computers, mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), personal computers, set-top boxes, and the like. Each customer terminal 4 may be equipped with a video camera for taking videos or may be connectable to a video camera. Also, each customer terminal 4 may be equipped with a microphone used for voice input or may be connectable to a microphone. Software such as a web browser or an email client may be incorporated in each customer terminal 4. A dedicated app may be installable on the mobile customer terminal 4. The dedicated app is an application for using the pharmaceutical EC platform. The customer terminal 4 may send various requests to the sales management server 1 according to the dedicated app, receive content from the sales management server 1, and display it.

[0042] [1-2. Continuous Purchase and Follow-up Observation of Products] Next, the continuous purchase of products will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Purchasing a certain product for the first time is referred to as the first purchase. The continuous purchase of a product may be that the customer repurchases the product after purchasing it for the first time. From the perspective of the seller, the continuous purchase may correspond to continuously providing the same product to the customer. In particular, the continuous purchase in this embodiment may be that the customer repurchases the same product without having to meet specific conditions or additional conditions. Alternatively, the continuous purchase of a product may be that the customer repurchases the product after purchasing a product that is the subject of follow-up once. The specific conditions or additional conditions may be the conditions that the customer should meet when purchasing the product for the first time. For example, when the product is a medical pharmaceutical, this condition may be to receive a medical examination by a doctor or to have the doctor prescribe the product.

[0043] For medical drugs, a maximum prescription quantity may be defined. The maximum prescription quantity may indicate, for a single prescription or a single prescription form, the maximum amount of medical drugs that can be prescribed. The quantity of the product may be indicated, for example, by the length of the period during which the product is intended to be used, taken, or consumed. The length of this period may be indicated, for example, in days, weeks, or months. In this embodiment, months shall be used. For example, the quantity for one month of a drug taken three times a day, morning, noon, and night, one tablet each time, may correspond to 90 tablets. Examples of the maximum prescription quantity include 6 months, 12 months, etc. The maximum prescription quantity may be defined commonly for all medical drugs, for example, within the pharmaceutical EC platform. Alternatively, the maximum prescription quantity may be defined for each drug. Alternatively, the maximum prescription quantity may be defined for each category of drugs. Alternatively, the maximum prescription quantity may be determined by a doctor at the time of prescription. In this embodiment, the maximum prescription quantity is common for all medical drugs.

[0044] A right obtained by a customer on the condition that specific conditions such as receiving a doctor's examination are satisfied, and the right to purchase a product for the first time or to continue purchasing it is referred to as a purchase right. The quantity of medical drugs purchased by a customer for the first time is determined within the range of not exceeding the maximum prescription quantity. For example, the customer may select the purchase quantity, or the doctor may select the purchase quantity. The customer may be able to continue purchasing the drug within the range not exceeding the remaining quantity obtained by subtracting the purchase quantity of the drug at the first purchase from the maximum prescription quantity. The main effect of the purchase right may be that no further doctor's examination and prescription are required during continuous purchase.

[0045] For a product with a purchase right set, the total quantity that the customer has already purchased or the total quantity that the seller has shipped to the customer of that product is referred to as the already-purchased quantity. When the already-purchased quantity reaches the maximum prescribed quantity, the purchase right may be extinguished. Also, when a period of length corresponding to the maximum prescribed quantity has elapsed since the day the product was prescribed, the purchase right may or may not be extinguished. For a customer to repurchase a product whose purchase right has once been extinguished, it may be necessary for the customer to meet certain conditions such as receiving a medical examination by a doctor.

[0046] As forms of continuous purchase of products on a pharmaceutical EC platform, sequential purchase and regular automatic purchase may exist. It may be possible for the customer to select which form to purchase the product in, either sequential purchase or regular automatic purchase. Or, the pharmaceutical EC platform may be configured such that only one of sequential purchase and regular automatic purchase is possible. Or, for each product or for each category of products, it may be predetermined whether sequential purchase is possible and whether regular automatic purchase is possible.

[0047] Sequential purchase may be a form of purchase in which the customer selects and orders the product each time. Figure 2(a) is a diagram showing an example of sequential purchase. For example, the customer placed an order for a product for the first time, and the maximum prescribed quantity is for 6 months' worth. At this time, the customer received a medical examination by a doctor, and the doctor prescribed the product. As shown in Figure 2(a), the customer ordered the product for 1 month. The medical institution shipped the product for 1 month to the customer. At this point, the customer has the right to purchase the product for 5 months. One month after the prescription, the customer ordered the same product for 2 months. At this time, the medical examination by the doctor was omitted. The medical institution shipped the product for 2 months to the customer. At this point, the customer has the right to purchase the product for 3 months. Three months after the prescription, the customer ordered the same product for 3 months. At this time, the medical examination by the doctor was omitted. The medical institution shipped the product for 3 months to the customer. At this point, the customer's purchase right is extinguished. The purchase of the product after the second time may correspond to continuous purchase.

[0048] Recurring automatic purchase may be a form of purchase in which goods are regularly shipped to the purchaser. Regular delivery of goods is also referred to as regular shipping. FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing an example of recurring automatic purchase. For example, a customer first ordered a product with a maximum prescription quantity for 6 months. At this time, the customer received a medical examination by a doctor, and the doctor prescribed the product. As shown in FIG. 2(b), first, one month's worth of the product was shipped from the medical institution to the customer. Thereafter, one month's worth of the product was shipped from the medical institution to the customer at one-month intervals. The sales management server 1 may automatically settle the purchase price of one month's worth of the product each time. When the product is shipped a total of 6 times, including the first shipment, the customer's purchase right will expire. The settlement and shipment after the second time may correspond to continuous purchase. Note that the quantity of the product shipped at one time and the interval of shipment are not limited to one month.

[0049] During the period when the purchase right is valid or during the period corresponding to the maximum prescription quantity, as an example of follow-up for the customer, progress observation may be performed once or multiple times. For example, in the examples shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), progress observation is performed every month. However, the interval of progress observation is not limited to one month. When the purchase form is sequential purchase, the customer does not need to purchase the product until the quantity of the purchased product reaches the maximum prescription quantity. The customer may interrupt continuous purchase. When the purchase form is recurring automatic purchase, the sales management server 1 may be configured so that the customer can cancel the recurring automatic purchase midway. In these cases, progress observation may be performed only during the period corresponding to the quantity of the purchased product. Note that for products that do not require the customer to meet specific conditions such as a medical examination by a doctor for the first purchase, progress observation or follow-up may also be implemented.

[0050] In the follow-up observation, the sales management server 1 may transmit inquiry information indicating an inquiry for the follow-up observation to the customer terminal 4. The customer may input an answer to the inquiry. The sales management server 1 may transmit answer information indicating the input answer to the doctor terminal 2. The doctor may determine whether the customer can continue using the product based on the answer from the customer. For example, the doctor may determine either to continue the prescription or to discontinue the prescription. Continuing the prescription may indicate that the use of the product may be continued. Discontinuing the prescription may indicate that the continuation of the use of the product should be stopped. When the discontinuation of the prescription is determined, the purchase right set for the product may be extinguished or suspended. As a result, the provision of the product from the medical institution to the customer may be restricted. The restriction on the provision of the product may correspond to the restriction of the purchase of the product by the customer.

[0051] [1-3. Screen Transition] Next, a transition example of the screen of the customer terminal 4 from the selection of a product to the completion of an order in the pharmaceutical EC platform will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The screen in the pharmaceutical EC platform may be a screen related to an e-commerce transaction that enables the ordering of products. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the screen transition of the customer terminal 4. As described above, in the pharmaceutical EC platform, medical-use pharmaceuticals, general-use pharmaceuticals, and products are sold. A prescription by a doctor is required to sell medical-use pharmaceuticals. In order to issue a prescription, the doctor needs to examine the customer. Therefore, the screen transition for ordering products is different between medical-use pharmaceuticals and other products. Each screen may be provided from the sales management server 1 to the customer terminal 4, for example, as a web page.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 3, when the customer terminal 4 accesses the pharmaceutical EC platform, first, the product selection screen 1100 may be displayed. The product selection screen 1100 may be a screen for the customer to select a product for which detailed information is desired. The product selection screen 1100 may include multiple types of screens. For example, the product selection screen 1100 may include a search condition input screen, a search result screen, etc. The search condition input screen may be a screen for inputting or selecting the search conditions for the product. Examples of the search conditions include the category of the product, keywords, etc. The search result screen may be a screen that displays a list of products that meet the input search conditions as search results.

[0053] When the customer selects any product from the search results, the product screen 1200 may be displayed. The product screen 1200 may be a screen on which detailed information about the selected product is displayed. On the product screen 1200, the customer can perform an operation to select the product for ordering. For example, it may be possible to perform an operation of adding the product to the cart. The cart may be a virtual shopping container or list that each customer has on the pharmaceutical EC platform. The customer can order the products in the cart.

[0054] After that, based on the operation by the customer, the cart screen 1300 may be displayed. The cart screen 1300 may be a screen that shows a list of the products currently in the cart. On the cart screen 1300, the customer may be able to delete or change the quantity of the products to be ordered.

[0055] If none of the products in the cart are medical pharmaceuticals, the order confirmation screen 2100 may then be displayed. The order confirmation screen 2100 may be a screen that shows the order details and indicates that the order is to be confirmed with those details. The order details shown on the order confirmation screen 2100 include the products in the cart. The customer checks the order details on the order confirmation screen 2100 and performs an operation to confirm the order. In response to this operation, the order completion screen 2200 may be displayed. The order completion screen 2200 may be a screen indicating that the order has been confirmed.

[0056] On the other hand, if there are medical pharmaceuticals among the products in the cart, the order application details confirmation screen 1400 may be displayed after the cart screen 1300. The order application details confirmation screen 1400 may be a screen for applying to order (or requesting acceptance of an order for) the products in the cart. The order application details confirmation screen 1400 may include the order details to be applied. The order details may include the products in the cart.

[0057] When the customer applies to place an order, the medical examination reservation screen 1500 may be displayed. The medical examination reservation screen 1500 may be a screen for the customer to select the date and time of the medical examination for receiving a prescription for the medical pharmaceuticals for which the order has been applied. At this point, the customer's order may not yet have been formally accepted.

[0058] When the customer selects the medical examination date and time, the medical examination reservation confirmation screen 1600 may be displayed. The medical examination reservation confirmation screen 1600 may be a screen for confirming the reservation details of the medical examination.

[0059] When the customer confirms the medical examination reservation with the reservation details shown on the medical examination reservation confirmation screen 1600, the medical examination reservation acceptance completion screen 1700 may be displayed. The medical examination reservation acceptance completion screen 1700 may be a screen indicating that the medical examination reservation has been completed.

[0060] Next, the questionnaire screen 1800 may be displayed. The questionnaire screen 1800 may be a screen for the customer to fill out the questionnaire prior to the examination.

[0061] After the reservation of the examination is confirmed, a examination notice email may be sent to the customer. The examination notice email may be an email that notifies information regarding the reserved examination. The examination notice email may include the examination date and time, and may also include a URL for the online examination. When the customer selects this URL from the examination notice email on the day of the examination, the customer terminal 4 may access the sales management server 1 and the examination waiting screen 1900 may be displayed. Alternatively, when the customer selects the online examination from a predetermined menu within the pharmaceutical EC platform, the examination waiting screen 1900 may be displayed. The examination waiting screen 1900 may be a screen indicating a waiting state until the start of the examination.

[0062] Thereafter, when the examination start time arrives, the customer examination screen 2000 may be displayed. The customer examination screen 2000 may be a screen for the customer to communicate with a doctor at a medical institution during the online examination. On the customer examination screen 2000, the customer can receive an explanation about medical drugs from the doctor. Also, on the customer examination screen 2000, information regarding the product selected by the customer may be displayed as the product for which an order is scheduled. The order details may be changed by the doctor conducting the examination.

[0063] When the online examination ends and a prescription is issued by the doctor, an order details confirmation screen 2100 may be displayed. The order details confirmation screen 2100 may be a screen that shows the final order details and accepts an operation to confirm the order with those order details.

[0064] When the customer finalizes an order, the sales server 1 may receive the order and perform a process of settling the purchase price of the ordered product. When the settlement is completed, an order completion screen 2200 may be displayed. The order completion screen 2200 may be a screen indicating the completion of the order and the completion of the settlement. When the settlement is completed, the ordered product may be shipped from the medical institution to the customer.

[0065] In addition, when the pharmaceutical product selected by the customer is a medical-use pharmaceutical product, the sales management server 1 may be configured not to have the medical institution ship the pharmaceutical product but to provide a prescription to the customer. For example, when a prescription is issued by a doctor, the sales management server 1 or the doctor terminal 2 may print the prescription. An employee of the medical institution may mail the prescription to the customer. Alternatively, the sales management server 1 may generate an electronic prescription. The sales management server 1 may send the electronic prescription by email to the customer. Alternatively, the sales management server 1 may make the electronic prescription downloadable from a predetermined web page of the pharmaceutical EC platform.

[0066] Also, when the pharmaceutical product selected by the customer is a medical-use pharmaceutical product, the sales management server 1 may be configured to have the pharmacy ship the pharmaceutical product. For example, when the doctor's examination of the customer is completed, a prescription may be sent from the medical institution to the pharmacy. For example, the prescription may be mailed from the medical institution to the pharmacy. Alternatively, the sales management server 1 may send the electronic prescription to a pharmacy terminal (not shown), which is a terminal device used by the pharmacy. The pharmacist at the pharmacy that has received the prescription may provide medication guidance to the customer. The medication guidance may be provided, for example, online. Similar to the case of online consultation, in the case of online medication guidance, voice and video communication may be performed between the pharmacy terminal and the customer terminal 4. After the medication guidance is completed, the pharmacy may ship the medical-use pharmaceutical product to the customer.

[0067] In addition, among products different from medical drugs, there may be products that customers can order on the condition that they receive a doctor's examination. For example, products or product categories that require a doctor's examination may be predetermined in the pharmaceutical EC platform or by each pharmacy.

[0068] [1-4. Configuration of Sales Management Server] Next, the configuration of the sales management server 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the general configuration of the sales management server 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the sales management server 1 includes a system control unit 11, a system bus 12, an input / output interface 13, a storage unit 14, and a communication unit 15. The system control unit 11 and the input / output interface 13 are connected via the system bus 12.

[0069] The system control unit 11 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 11b, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 11c, and the like.

[0070] The input / output interface 13 performs interface processing between the storage unit 14 and the communication unit 15 and the system control unit 11.

[0071] The storage unit 14 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive or the like. In this storage unit 14, databases such as a member DB 14a, a product DB 14b, a cart DB 14c, a medical examination reservation DB 14d, a prescription history DB 14e, an order DB 14f, a purchase right DB 14g, a shipping schedule DB 14h, a follow-up observation period DB 14i, a question information DB 14j, a follow-up observation notice schedule DB 14k, an answer DB 14l, and a follow-up observation result DB 14m may be stored. "DB" is an abbreviation for database. At least one database may be stored in a server device different from the sales management server 1. The sales management server 1 may be able to access the database via the server device.

[0072] FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 are diagrams showing examples of information stored in the database of the sales management server 1. Member information regarding each customer who can use the pharmaceutical EC platform may be stored in the member DB 14a. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the member DB 14a may store, as member information, a customer ID, name, gender, date of birth, address, phone number, email address, credit card information, etc. in association with each other. The customer ID may be identification information for identifying the customer. The credit card information may be information regarding the credit card available to the customer. For example, the credit card information may include a card number, expiration date, name of the owner of the credit card, etc.

[0073] The product DB 14b may store product information regarding each product sold on the pharmaceutical EC platform. For example, the product DB 14b may store, as product information, a product ID, category information, a medical pharmaceutical flag, a product name, a generic name, a price, a product description, and a product image URL (Uniform Resource Locator), etc., in association with each other. The product ID may be identification information for identifying the product. The category information may be information indicating the category to which the product belongs. Examples of product categories include beauty oral medications, beauty topical medications, cosmetics, diet drugs, pills, AGA (Androgenetic Alopecia) treatment drugs, ED (Erectile Dysfunction) treatment drugs, etc. The medical pharmaceutical flag may indicate whether the product is a medical pharmaceutical. As shown in FIG. 3, the medical pharmaceutical flag may be used to determine whether to transition the screen displayed by the customer terminal 4 from the cart screen 1300 to the order application content confirmation screen 1400. When a product with the medical pharmaceutical flag set to TRUE is in the cart, the sales management server 1 may transition the screen of the customer terminal 4 to the order application content confirmation screen 1400. Thereafter, the customer will make a reservation for a medical examination, receive a medical examination by a doctor, and then confirm the order for the product. On the other hand, when only products with the medical pharmaceutical flag set to FALSE are in the cart, the sales management server 1 may transition the screen of the customer terminal 4 to the order content confirmation screen 2100. Thereafter, the customer will confirm the order for the product without having to receive a medical examination by a doctor. As described above, among products different from medical pharmaceuticals, there may be products that customers can order on the condition that they receive a medical examination by a doctor. In this case, the product DB 14b may store, for example, a medical examination target flag. The medical examination target flag may indicate whether a customer needs to receive a medical examination by a doctor in order to confirm the order for the product. When a product with the medical examination target flag set to TRUE is in the cart, the sales management server 1 may transition the screen of the customer terminal 4 to the order application content confirmation screen 1400. On the other hand, when only products with the medical examination target flag set to FALSE are in the cart, the sales management server 1 may transition the screen of the customer terminal 4 to the order content confirmation screen 2100.The product name may indicate the name of the product. The generic name may indicate the name of the main ingredient of the product in the case where the product is a pharmaceutical. The product image URL may be the URL of the data of the image of the product.

[0074] The cart DB14c may store cart information regarding the products currently in each customer's cart. For example, the cart DB14c may store, as cart information, a customer ID, cart product information, etc., in association with each other. The customer ID may indicate the customer who owns the card. The cart product information may be information regarding an individual product in the cart. When a plurality of products are in one cart, the cart DB14c may store cart product information for each of those plurality of products. Each cart product information may include a product ID, a purchase form, a quantity, a medical pharmaceutical flag, etc. The product ID may indicate the product in the cart. The purchase form may indicate whether the purchase form of the product is sequential purchase or regular automatic purchase. The quantity may indicate the purchase amount of the product in months. The medical pharmaceutical flag may indicate whether the product is a medical pharmaceutical. Similar to the case of the product DB14b, a diagnosis target flag may be stored in the cart DB14c. Note that the sales management server 1 may cause the cart information to be stored not in the storage unit 14 but, for example, in each customer terminal 4 as an HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) cookie.

[0075] The diagnosis reservation DB14d may store reservation information regarding each reservation of an online diagnosis. For example, the diagnosis reservation DB14d may store, as reservation information, a reservation number, a diagnosis date, a diagnosis start time, a diagnosis end time, a customer ID, etc., in association with each other. The reservation number may be a number for identifying the reservation. The diagnosis date may indicate the date on which the reserved diagnosis is performed. The diagnosis start time and the diagnosis end time may respectively indicate the start time and the end time of the time zone reserved for the diagnosis. The customer ID may indicate the customer who reserved the diagnosis.

[0076] The prescription history DB14e may store the prescription history by doctors in a medical institution. The prescription history DB14e may store only the history of prescriptions made in online consultations, or may also store the history of prescriptions made in offline consultations. For example, each time a prescription is made, the prescription history DB14e may store, as a prescription log, a prescription number, a prescription date and time, a reservation number, a customer ID, and prescription drug information, etc., in association with each other. The prescription number may be a number for identifying the prescription. The prescription date and time may indicate the date and time when the prescription was made. The reservation number may be a number for identifying the reservation of the consultation in which the prescription was made. The customer ID may indicate the customer to whom the prescribed drug is provided. That is, the customer ID may indicate the customer examined by the doctor. The prescription drug information may be information regarding the individual prescribed drug. When dispensing of a plurality of drugs is instructed in one prescription, the prescription history DB14e may store the prescription drug information for each of those plurality of drugs. Each prescription drug information may include a product ID, a purchase form, a quantity, and a medical drug flag, etc. The product ID may indicate the prescribed drug. The purchase form may indicate whether the purchase form of the drug is sequential purchase or regular automatic purchase. The quantity may indicate the purchase amount of the drug in months. The medical drug flag may indicate whether the product is a medical drug. Similar to the case of the product DB14b, the prescription history DB14e may store a consultation target flag.

[0077] In the order DB 14f, order information regarding orders received by the pharmaceutical EC platform may be stored each time an order is finalized. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the order DB 14f, order number, order date and time, customer ID, ordered product information, prescription number, payment amount, delivery destination information, etc. may be stored in association with each other as order information. The order number may be a number for identifying an order. The order date and time may indicate the date and time when the order was finalized. The customer ID may indicate the customer who placed the order. The ordered product information may be information regarding the individual products ordered. When multiple products are ordered in one order, the order DB 14f may store ordered product information for each of those multiple products. Each ordered product information may include a product ID, purchase form, quantity, medical pharmaceutical flag, and continuous purchase flag, etc. The product ID may indicate the product ordered. The purchase form may indicate whether the purchase form of the product is either sequential purchase or regular automatic purchase. The quantity may indicate the purchase quantity of the product in terms of the number of months. The medical pharmaceutical flag may indicate whether the product is a medical pharmaceutical. Similar to the case of the product DB 14b, the order DB 14f may store an examination target flag. The continuous purchase flag may indicate whether the purchase of the product is either a first-time purchase or a continuous purchase. The prescription number may be a number for identifying the prescription when the ordered product includes a medical pharmaceutical. The payment amount may be the total of the price of the ordered product and the shipping fee. The delivery destination information may be information indicating the delivery destination of the ordered product.

[0078] In the purchase right DB 14g, purchase right information regarding the purchase rights of medical drugs may be stored for each drug for which an order has been confirmed after a doctor's examination. For example, in the purchase right DB 14g, as purchase right information, a purchase right ID, an order number, a setting date, a customer ID, a product ID, a maximum prescription quantity, a quantity already purchased, and a right status, etc. may be stored in association with each other. The purchase right ID may be identification information for identifying the purchase right. The order number may indicate the order corresponding to the purchase right. The setting date may indicate the date on which the purchase right was set. The customer ID may indicate the customer having the purchase right. The product ID may indicate the product for which the purchase right was set. The maximum prescription quantity may indicate the maximum amount of the product that can be prescribed. If the maximum prescription quantity is the same for all medical drugs, the maximum prescription quantity may not be stored in the purchase right DB 14g. The quantity already purchased may indicate the amount of the product that has already been purchased by the purchaser. The right status may indicate the status of the purchase right. For example, the right status may be set to any one of "valid", "expired", and "suspended". "Valid" may indicate that the purchase right is validly existing. "Expired" may indicate that the purchase right has become invalid because the maximum prescription quantity of the product has been provided to the customer. "Suspended" may indicate that the purchase right has become invalid because the doctor has decided to discontinue the prescription.

[0079] In the shipping schedule DB 14h, shipping schedule information indicating the shipping schedule of the purchased goods may be stored for each scheduled shipping. For example, in the shipping schedule DB 14h, as shipping schedule information, a shipping schedule ID, order number, customer ID, purchase form, shipping number, shipping destination information, scheduled shipping date, shipping date, and shipping schedule product information, etc. may be stored in association with each other. The shipping schedule ID may be identification information for identifying the shipping schedule. The order number may indicate an order that requires shipping of the product. The customer ID may indicate the customer who ordered the product. The purchase form may indicate whether the product to be shipped was purchased through sequential purchase or regular automatic purchase. The shipping number may be valid when the purchase form is regular automatic purchase. The shipping number may indicate which delivery in the regular delivery is the scheduled delivery when the product is shipped by regular delivery. The scheduled shipping date may indicate the date on which the product is scheduled to be shipped. The shipping date may indicate the date on which the product was shipped. The shipping schedule product information may be information regarding an individual product for which shipping is scheduled. When multiple products are shipped in one shipping, the shipping schedule DB 14h may store the shipping schedule product information for those multiple products. Each shipping schedule product information may include a product ID, quantity, and shipping status. The product ID may indicate the product to be shipped. The quantity may indicate the purchase quantity of the product in months. The shipping status may indicate the shipping status of the product. For example, the shipping status may be set to any one of "not shipped", "shipped", and "cancelled". "Not shipped" may indicate that the product has not been shipped yet. "Shipped" may indicate that the product has already been shipped. "Cancelled" may indicate that the shipping of the product has been cancelled. "Cancelled" may be set for the shipping schedule for regular delivery in some cases.

[0080] In the progress observation period DB14i, progress observation period information regarding the period until a notice prompting a customer to answer questions for progress observation is sent may be stored for each combination of the category of the product and the number of times the progress observation is carried out. The number of times the progress observation is carried out may indicate which progress observation it is since the first purchase of the product. In the progress observation period DB14i, for example, as progress observation period information, category information, the number of times carried out, the length of the progress observation period, etc. may be stored in association with each other. The category information may indicate the category of the product that is the target of the progress observation. The length of the progress observation period may indicate the length of the period from the shipping date of the product of that category due to the first purchase until the notice of the progress observation of that number of times carried out. The length of the progress observation period may be an example of the product period length information indicating the length of the period until the follow-up time. Examples of the length of the progress observation period include the number of days, the number of weeks, the number of months, etc. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the length of the progress observation period is indicated in months.

[0081] In the question information DB14j, question information indicating the content of the questions for progress observation may be stored for each category of the product. For example, in the question information DB14j, category information, question methods, etc. may be stored in association with each other. The category information may indicate the category of the product that is the target of the question. The question information may indicate the content of each of one or more questions. For example, the question information may include, for each question, a question number, text indicating the content of the question, text indicating selectable options as answers, etc. In the storage unit 14, in addition to the question information DB14j, question sheet screen display information may be stored in association with the category information for each category of the product. The question sheet screen display information may be information for displaying the question sheet screen on the customer terminal 4. The question sheet screen may be a screen that displays questions for progress observation and accepts input of answers to those questions. The question sheet screen display information may be an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) document or other information. The sales management server 1 may generate the question sheet screen display information in advance based on the question information stored in the question information DB14j.

[0082] In the progress observation notice schedule DB 14k, progress observation notice schedule information indicating the schedule for notifying the customer to prompt an answer to the question for progress observation may be stored for each progress observation. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, in the progress observation notice schedule DB 14k, as the progress observation notice schedule information, a progress observation ID, a customer ID, category information, a product ID, a scheduled transmission date, etc. may be stored in association with each other. The progress observation ID may indicate the progress observation to be notified. The customer ID may indicate the customer to whom the notice is sent. The category information may indicate the category of the product subject to the progress observation. The product ID may indicate the product subject to the progress observation. When there are a plurality of products subject to the progress observation, the product IDs of each of those plurality of products may be stored in the progress observation notice schedule DB 14k. The scheduled transmission date may indicate the date on which the notice is scheduled to be sent.

[0083] In the answer DB 14l, answer result information regarding the answer to the question for progress observation may be stored for each progress observation. For example, in the answer DB 14l, as the answer result information, a progress observation ID, a customer ID, question information, and answer information, etc. may be stored in association with each other. The progress observation ID may indicate the progress observation corresponding to the answer. The customer ID may indicate the customer who gave the answer. The question information may indicate the question to which the answer is given. The answer information may indicate the content of the answer. For example, the answer information may include, for each question, a question number, the option selected by the customer, the text input by the customer, etc.

[0084] In the progress observation result DB14m, progress observation result information indicating the results of progress observations by doctors may be stored for each progress observation. For example, in the progress observation result DB14m, as progress observation result information, a progress observation ID, a customer ID, prescription continuation permission information, comments, etc. may be stored in association with each other. The progress observation ID may indicate the progress observation performed by the doctor. The customer ID may indicate the customer who is the subject of the progress observation. The prescription continuation permission information may be information related to the determination of whether prescription continuation is permitted. When there are multiple products that are the subjects of progress observations, the progress observation result DB14m may store the prescription continuation permission information for each of these multiple products. Each prescription continuation permission information may include a product ID, a prescription continuation flag, etc. The product ID may indicate the product that is the subject of the determination of whether prescription continuation is permitted. The prescription continuation flag may indicate which of prescription continuation and prescription discontinuation of the product has been determined by the doctor.

[0085] The storage unit 14 may further store various programs such as an operating system, a DBMS (Database Management System), and a server program. The server program may be a program that causes the system control unit 11 to execute processing related to the pharmaceutical EC platform. The server program may be obtained, for example, from another device via the network NW, or may be recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, an optical disk, or a memory card and read via a drive device.

[0086] The communication unit 15 is configured by, for example, a network interface card or the like. The communication unit 15 connects to the doctor terminal 2, the shipping terminal 3, or the customer terminal 4 via the network NW and controls the communication state with the connected device.

[0087] [1-5. Outline of the functions of the system control unit of the sales management server] Next, with reference to FIGS. 8 to 19, the functional overview of the system control unit 11 in the sales management server 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 11 in the sales management server 1 according to the present embodiment. The system control unit 11 may function as a sales screen information transmission unit 111, a selected product identification information acquisition unit 112, a cart information management unit 113, a diagnosis support unit 114, an order confirmation unit 115, a scheduled shipping information management unit 116, a purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117, a follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118, a question information transmission unit 119, an answer information reception unit 120, a usage continuation availability information acquisition unit 121, a follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122, a product provision restriction information management unit 123, etc., as shown in FIG. 8, when the CPU 11a reads and executes various program codes included in the server program.

[0088] [1-5-1. From product selection to shipping] The sales screen information transmission unit 111 may transmit screen information for causing the customer terminal 4 to display various screens related to the pharmaceutical EC platform to the customer terminal 4. The sales screen information transmission unit 111 may transmit, for example, an HTML document of a web page corresponding to the screen as the screen information to the customer terminal 4. Alternatively, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may cause the screen to be displayed by transmitting, for example, the information to be displayed within the screen to the customer terminal 4. Alternatively, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may only transmit an instruction to display a specific screen to the customer terminal 4. The customer terminal 4 may display a screen corresponding to an instruction from the sales management server 1 based on the information pre-stored in the customer terminal 4. The sales screen information transmission unit 111 may mainly cause the customer terminal 4 to display screens related to the selection and ordering of products. For example, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may transmit the screen information of a screen including information related to a product in response to a request from the customer terminal 4. Examples of products in response to a request from the customer terminal 4 include products selected by the customer, products satisfying conditions specified by the customer, products that are predetermined to be listed on the screen requested by the customer, and the like. Specific examples of products in response to a request from the customer terminal 4 include a search result screen that is one of the product selection screens 1100, a product screen 1200, a cart screen 1300, an order application content confirmation screen 1400, an order content confirmation screen 2100, and the like.

[0089] The sales screen information transmission unit 111 may cause the customer terminal 4 to display a screen on which an operation for selecting the purchase form of a product is possible. Further, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may cause the customer terminal 4 to display a screen on which an operation for selecting the purchase quantity of a product is possible. This screen may be, for example, the product screen 1200.

[0090] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the product screen 1200. As shown in FIG. 9, information about the product, such as the product name, product category, product image, product description, price, etc., may be displayed on the product screen 1200. When the product for which information is displayed on the product screen 1200 is a medical pharmaceutical, precautions may be further displayed on the product screen 1200. For example, it may be displayed that a doctor's examination is required for the order of the product, and to prompt the reservation of the examination. Further, the product screen 1200 may further include a purchase form / quantity selection button group 1210, a cart addition button 1220, and a cart icon 1230. The purchase form / quantity selection button group 1210 may include a plurality of buttons for selecting the purchase quantity and the purchase quantity. For example, the purchase form / quantity selection button group 1210 may include a regular delivery button 1211, a 1-month button 1212, a 3-month button 1213, a 6-month button 1214, etc. The regular delivery button 1211 is a button for selecting regular automatic purchase. When regular automatic purchase is selected, the purchase quantity may be automatically determined to be for 1 month. The 1-month button 1212, the 3-month button 1213, and the 6-month button 1214 are all buttons for selecting sequential purchase. The 1-month button 1212 is a button for selecting the purchase of a quantity for 1 month. The 2-month button 1213 is a button for selecting the purchase of a quantity for 1 month. The 3-month button 1214 is a button for selecting the purchase of a quantity for 1 month. The cart addition button 1220 is a button for adding the product for which information is displayed on the product screen 1200 to the cart. The cart icon 1230 is an operable icon for displaying the cart screen 1300.

[0091] The selected product identification information acquisition unit 112 may acquire a product ID that identifies the product selected by the customer for ordering and the customer ID of that customer. The selection of a product for ordering may be, for example, putting that product into the cart. Alternatively, the selection of a product for ordering may be applying for an order of that product. For example, when the customer performs an operation of pressing the cart addition button 1220 in the product screen 1200 shown in FIG. 9, the customer terminal 4 may transmit the customer ID of that customer and the product ID of that product to the sales management server 1. The pharmaceutical product identification information acquisition unit 111 may acquire the transmitted customer ID and product ID.

[0092] The cart information management unit 113 may manage the cart information of each customer. Further, the cart information management unit 113 may execute a process of putting the pharmaceutical product selected by the customer into the cart based on the product ID and customer ID acquired by the selected product identification information acquisition unit 112. For example, the cart information management unit 113 may search the product DB 14b for a medical pharmaceutical flag associated with the acquired product ID. The cart information management unit 113 may generate cart product information including the product ID, the medical pharmaceutical flag, and the purchase form and quantity corresponding to the selected button among the purchase form · quantity selection button group 1210. The cart information management unit 113 may add the generated cart product information to the cart information of that customer stored in the cart DB 14c.

[0093] When the product indicated by the product ID acquired by the selected product identification information acquisition unit 112 is a medical pharmaceutical product, the medical examination support unit 114 may support the medical examination as an interview between the customer (or related person) and the doctor. The support for the medical examination may include at least one of enabling the customer to make a reservation for the medical examination and realizing an online interview. The medical examination for which a reservation can be made may be an online medical examination or an offline medical examination.

[0094] In order to enable the reservation of examinations, the examination support unit 114 may transmit reservation application screen information to the customer terminal 4. The reservation application screen information may be information for displaying the reservation application screen on the customer terminal 4. The reservation application screen may be a screen capable of receiving operations for applying for the reservation of an examination. This screen may be at least one of the examination reservation screen 1500 and the examination reservation confirmation screen 1600. The reservation application screen information may be, for example, an HTML document, information to be displayed within the screen, or an instruction for displaying the reservation application screen. Further, the examination support unit 114 may accept the reservation of an examination in response to the customer's operation on the reservation application screen. Then, the examination support unit 114 may generate examination reservation information and store this examination reservation information in the examination reservation DB 14d. Further, the examination support unit 114 may transmit information regarding the examination reservation indicated by the examination reservation information stored in the examination reservation DB 14d to the doctor terminal 2. Thereby, the examination support unit 114 may notify the doctor that there is a reservation for an examination.

[0095] To realize online diagnosis, the diagnosis support unit 114 may connect the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 so as to enable communication for diagnosis. For example, the communication connection unit 115 may use a protocol used for video calls, video conferences, web conferences, etc. Examples of such protocols include H.323, WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication), etc. During online diagnosis, media data (or media stream) is transmitted and received between the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2. The media data may include at least audio data among audio data indicating sound and video data indicating video. The video may be either a still image or a moving image. The media data may be directly transmitted and received peer-to-peer between the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2. Alternatively, in a client-server system, the media data may be transmitted and received via a server device such as the sales management server 1. As a protocol for transmitting and receiving media data, for example, RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol), HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP), RTMP (Real Time Messaging Protocol), etc. may be used. Examples of the format of audio data include AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3), etc. Examples of the container format of video data include MPEG2-TS, MP4, FLV (Flash Video), etc. Examples of the format of video include H.264, MPEG-2, etc.

[0096] During the online consultation, the consultation support unit 114 may display the customer consultation screen 2000 on the customer terminal 4 and the doctor consultation screen on the doctor terminal 2. Information about the customer may be displayed on the doctor consultation screen. Also, information about the product selected by the customer may be displayed on the doctor consultation screen. For example, the product name, purchase form, and quantity may be displayed. Further, the doctor consultation screen may be able to accept input of information regarding the product prescribed by the doctor. For example, it may be possible to input the product to be prescribed, the purchase form, and the quantity. If the doctor does not change the customer's order details, the doctor may input the prescription-related information as selected by the customer. The doctor may be able to change part or all of the customer's order details and prescribe. Examples of changes to the order details include deletion, addition, change of the product, change of the purchase form, change of the quantity, etc. The card information management unit 113 may reflect the change in the order details in the cart DB 14c.

[0097] The examination support department 114 may send the HTML document of the customer examination screen 2000 to the customer terminal 4. Also, the examination support department 114 may send the HTML document of the doctor examination screen to the doctor terminal 2. These HTML documents may contain information for realizing online examinations. For example, these HTML documents may contain tags and scripts for connecting the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2, inputting and outputting video and audio, and transmitting and receiving media data. The customer terminal 4 may send the session information of the customer terminal 4 to the doctor terminal 2 via the sales management server 1 according to the script. The session information may include, for example, the IP address of the customer terminal 4, the port number, information regarding available media, information regarding paths available for transmitting and receiving media data, and the like. Similarly, the doctor terminal 2 may also send the session information of the doctor terminal 2 to the customer terminal 4 via the sales management server 1. The customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 that have received the respective session information may connect to each other based on the session information. Each connected terminal device may capture video with the video camera of the terminal device to generate video data and collect sound with the microphone of the terminal device to generate audio data. Then, each terminal device transmits the video data and the audio data to the terminal device at the connection destination. Also, each terminal device may display the video on the display according to the video data transmitted from the terminal device at the connection destination. Also, each terminal device may output the audio from the speaker according to the audio data transmitted from the terminal device at the connection destination.

[0098] If the product selected by the customer is not a medical pharmaceutical product, the examination support department 114 may omit the examination support. In this case, the examination may not be performed.

[0099] Even if the product selected by the customer is a medical pharmaceutical product, if the customer has a valid purchase right for that product, the examination support department 114 may omit the examination support. Also in this case, the examination may not be performed. For example, by referring to the right state stored in the purchase right DB 14g, it is possible to determine whether the purchase right is valid.

[0100] The order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order of the product indicated by the product ID acquired by the selected product identification information acquisition unit 112. For example, the order confirmation unit 115 may generate order information in response to the customer performing an operation to confirm the order on the order content confirmation screen 2100. The order confirmation unit 115 may store the generated order information in the order DB 14f. Here, when the product selected by the customer is a medical pharmaceutical, the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order after the examination supported by the examination support unit 114. For example, the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order after connecting the customer terminal 4 enabling communication for online examination and the doctor terminal 2. When the product selected by the customer is not a medical pharmaceutical, the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order without examination. Also, even if the selected product is a medical pharmaceutical, if the customer has a valid purchase right for that product, the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order without examination. For example, the order confirmation unit 115 may omit the connection between the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 by the examination support unit 114 and confirm the order.

[0101] Also, the order confirmation unit 115 may execute the settlement of the purchase price for the confirmed order. For example, the order confirmation unit 115 may execute the settlement process based on the payment method information included in the generated order information. For example, when the payment method is credit card settlement, the payment method information may include the card number, expiration date, and name of the credit card owner. The order confirmation unit 115 may send a settlement request to a settlement server (not shown) managed by the credit card company. The settlement server may be a server device that approves and controls the settlement using the credit card. The settlement request may include information indicating the card number, expiration date, name of the credit card owner, payment amount, and payment destination. The payment destination may be, for example, a medical institution or an operator that manages the pharmaceutical EC platform. When the payment destination is an operator that manages the pharmaceutical EC platform, the operator may pay the sales amount obtained by subtracting the fee from the payment amount to the medical institution at a later date. The settlement server may perform confirmation of the credit card information, confirmation of the expiration date, confirmation of the usage limit, etc. based on the settlement request. When the settlement server determines that the customer can pay the price, it may approve the settlement and send a settlement success to the sales management server 1.

[0102] The scheduled delivery information management unit 116 may manage the scheduled delivery information of the product. For example, the scheduled delivery information management unit 116 may generate the scheduled delivery information when the order is confirmed by the order confirmation unit 115 or when the settlement process is completed. At this time, the scheduled delivery information management unit 116 may set the delivery status included in the scheduled delivery product information of each ordered product to "not yet delivered". Also, the order confirmation unit 115 may set the scheduled delivery date to the order date or the date after a predetermined number of days from the order date. When the delivery date is specified by the customer, the order confirmation unit 115 may set the scheduled delivery date to the date a predetermined number of days before the delivery date. The scheduled delivery information management unit 116 may store the generated scheduled delivery information in the scheduled delivery DB 14h.

[0103] The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may transmit the generated shipping schedule information to the shipping terminal 3. For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may transmit the shipping schedule information at the timing when the shipping schedule information was generated. Alternatively, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may transmit the shipping schedule information on the scheduled shipping date, or may transmit the shipping schedule information a predetermined number of days before the scheduled shipping date. Alternatively, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may transmit the shipping schedule information for which the scheduled shipping date is within a period specified by an employee of the medical institution. The shipping terminal 3 may display the shipping schedule of the product on the screen based on the shipping schedule information from the sales management server 1. For example, the shipping terminal 3 may display the name of the product scheduled for shipping, the quantity of the product, the shipping destination information, the scheduled shipping date, etc. The employee of the medical institution may perform the shipping operation of the product based on the displayed shipping schedule.

[0104] The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may receive a shipping completion notice indicating that the product has been shipped to the customer from the shipping terminal 3. For example, when the shipping operation of the product is completed, the employee of the medical institution may input at least one of the shipping date and the invoice number attached to the delivery invoice of the product into the shipping terminal 3. The shipping terminal 3 may transmit, for example, a shipping completion notice including the input shipping date and the shipping schedule ID to the sales management server 1. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may update the shipping schedule information stored in the delivery schedule DB 14h based on the shipping completion notice received from the shipping terminal 3. For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may change the shipping status included in the shipping schedule product information of each shipped product to "shipped". In addition, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may set the shipping date included in the delivery schedule information to the shipping date included in the shipping completion notice or the date when the shipping completion notice was received.

[0105] If there are products for which regular automatic purchase has been selected by the customer among the purchased products, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate shipping schedule information for the second and subsequent deliveries in regular deliveries. For example, when the shipping schedule information management unit 116 receives a shipping completion notice from the shipping terminal 3 and confirms that the shipping of the products for a certain delivery has been completed, it may generate shipping schedule information only for the next delivery. Alternatively, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate shipping schedule information in advance for each of all the deliveries scheduled during the period corresponding to the maximum prescription quantity. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may set the scheduled shipping date based on, for example, the shipping date of the products for previous deliveries and the quantity of products shipped in one delivery. For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may calculate the scheduled shipping date by adding the length of the period corresponding to the quantity of products to the shipping date of the products for the previous delivery.

[0106] If the regular automatic purchase by the customer is canceled, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may cancel the subsequent shipments. For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may change the shipping status included in the shipping schedule information of each product for which the regular automatic purchase has been canceled to "Canceled". Also, as a result of follow-up observation, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may cancel the subsequent shipments of the products for which prescription interruption has been determined by the doctor. For example, when transmitting the shipping schedule information to the shipping terminal 3, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may delete the shipping scheduled product information of the products for which the shipping has been canceled from the shipping schedule information. Thereby, the shipping terminal 3 does not display on the screen the products for which the shipping has been canceled as products for which shipping is scheduled. Therefore, those products are not shipped. Alternatively, the shipping terminal 3 may display on the screen that the shipping of the product has been canceled based on the fact that the shipping status included in the shipping scheduled product information is set to "Canceled".

[0107] [1-5-2. Follow-up Observation] The purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117 may acquire purchased product identification information for identifying the purchased product among a plurality of products determined to be the objects of follow-up observation. The purchased product identification information may be, for example, the product ID of the product, or may be category information of the category to which the product belongs. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the purchased product identification information is the product ID. The purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117 may acquire the product ID at a predetermined timing after the order is confirmed by the order confirmation unit 115. For example, the purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117 may acquire the product ID from the order DB 14f, the purchase right DB 14g, or the scheduled shipment DB 14h after the purchased product is shipped. Further, the purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117 may acquire the shipment date of the product from the scheduled shipment DB 14h.

[0108] The follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118 may transmit a follow-up observation notification for the product identified by the product ID acquired by the purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117. The follow-up observation notification may be information that prompts the purchaser of the product to answer questions for the follow-up observation of the product identified by the product ID. For example, the follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118 may transmit the follow-up observation notification by an e-mail or an instant message addressed to the purchaser. Alternatively, the follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118 may transmit the follow-up observation notification by a push notification to the customer terminal 4 of the purchaser.

[0109] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a follow-up observation notification email. The follow-up observation notification email is an email indicating a follow-up observation notification. As shown in FIG. 10, the follow-up observation notification email 3100 may include a product name 3110, prompting information 3120, a response button 3130, and the like. The product name 3110 indicates the product subject to follow-up observation. In one follow-up observation, one or more products may be subject to follow-up observation. The prompting information 3120 may be text that prompts a response to a question for follow-up observation. For example, as the prompting information 3120, texts such as "Let's regularly check your physical condition for safe use." and "If there is a problem, please let us know the details from the following form." may be displayed. Note that the prompting information 3120 may be any information as long as it is information included in the follow-up observation notification email 3100. The prompting information 3120 is not limited to text. For example, the prompting information 3120 may include at least one of the product name 3110 and the response button 3130. The response button 3130 is a button that can be operated to display a questionnaire screen on the customer terminal 4. The questionnaire screen may be a screen on which questions are displayed and the input of responses to the questions can be accepted.

[0110] The follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118 may determine the timing of transmitting a follow-up observation notification based on, for example, the follow-up observation period length information. The follow-up observation period length information may be information including the follow-up observation period length indicating the length of the period until the follow-up observation time. Also, the follow-up observation period length information may be information capable of specifying the follow-up observation period length corresponding to each of a plurality of products determined as the follow-up observation targets. This may mean that when a certain product is specified, it is possible to obtain the follow-up observation period length corresponding to that product. Not necessarily, the follow-up observation period length is not always defined for each product. The follow-up observation period length information may be, for example, a database or a table. For example, the follow-up observation period length information may be a combination of the product DB 14b and the follow-up observation period DB 14i. From the combination of the product ID and the category information stored in the product DB 14b, the category of the purchased product can be specified. From the combination of the category information and the follow-up observation period length stored in the follow-up observation period DB 14i, the follow-up observation period length corresponding to that category can be specified. In addition, when the follow-up observation period length is defined for each product, in the follow-up observation period DB 14i, the product ID and the follow-up observation period length may be associated and stored for each product. Since the follow-up observation period length can be defined for each product or for each category of the product, a follow-up observation notification can be transmitted at a timing corresponding to the purchased product.

[0111] The follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118 may transmit a follow-up observation notification after the expiration of the period of the follow-up observation period length corresponding to the product from the reference date related to the purchase of the product. The reference date related to the purchase of the product may be, for example, the date related to the purchase act or purchase procedure of the product. For example, the reference date may be the date when the customer is considered to have purchased the product, the date when the customer's intention to purchase the product is considered to have been determined, or the date when the purchase or order application of the product is received. Examples of the reference date include the order confirmation date, the payment completion date, the product shipping date, and the product delivery date. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the reference date is the shipping date.

[0112] There may be cases where multiple products are purchased in a single order. When multiple products are purchased in a single order, the progress observation notification sending unit 118 may send a progress observation notification for each product among those multiple products for which the sending timing (or the length of the progress observation period) of the progress observation notification is the same. For example, the progress observation notification sending unit 118 may send a progress observation notification for each category of products.

[0113] As will be described later, the questions for progress observation may vary depending on the product. When multiple products are purchased in a single order, the progress observation notification sending unit 118 may send a progress observation notification for each product among the purchased multiple products for which the questions are the same. Alternatively, regardless of whether the questions are the same or not, the progress observation notification sending unit 118 may send a progress observation notification for the purchased multiple products together. There may be cases where among the purchased products, there are products for which the questions are the same, but the sending timing (or the length of the progress observation period) of the progress observation notification is different. In this case, the progress observation notification sending unit 118 may send a progress observation notification for each product for which the sending timing is the same. Alternatively, the progress observation notification sending unit 118 may merge the sending timings of the progress observation notifications for those products. The progress observation notification sending unit 118 may send a progress observation notification for those products together at the merged timing.

[0114] The length of the follow-up observation period may be defined to exceed the length of the period corresponding to the maximum prescription quantity. When a product corresponding to the maximum prescription quantity is actually purchased, the purchase right set for that product is extinguished. For a customer to repurchase a product whose purchase right has been extinguished, it is necessary to receive a doctor's examination. The purchase in this case may be regarded as a special continuous purchase. The follow-up observation notification sending unit 118 may send a follow-up observation notification after the expiration of the follow-up observation period from the shipping date of the product at the time of the first purchase of the product. Alternatively, the length of the follow-up observation period may not be defined to exceed the length of the period corresponding to the maximum prescription quantity. In this case, the repurchase of a product whose purchase right has been extinguished may be regarded as the first purchase. The follow-up observation notification sending unit 118 may send a follow-up observation notification after the expiration of the follow-up observation period for the first follow-up observation from the shipping date of the product at the time of the second first purchase.

[0115] FIGS. 11(a), 11(b), and 11(c) are diagrams showing examples of the transmission timing of follow-up observation notifications for products A, B, and C, respectively. As shown in FIG. 11(a), when product A is purchased, follow-up observation notifications may be sent on a monthly basis. For example, the first follow-up observation notification is sent one month after the shipping date. Thereafter, the second follow-up observation notification is sent two months after the shipping date. Thereafter, the third follow-up observation notification is sent three months after the shipping date. Thereafter, the fourth follow-up observation notification is sent four months after the shipping date. Similarly, follow-up observation notifications after the fifth time are sent. As shown in FIG. 11(b), when product B is purchased, follow-up observation notifications may be sent on a two-month basis. For example, the first follow-up observation notification is sent two months after the shipping date. Thereafter, the second follow-up observation notification is sent four months after the shipping date. Thereafter, the third follow-up observation notification is sent six months after the shipping date. As shown in FIG. 11(c), when product C is purchased, for the first three months, follow-up observation notifications may be sent on a monthly basis. For example, the first follow-up observation notification is sent one month after the shipping date. Thereafter, the second follow-up observation notification is sent two months after the shipping date. Thereafter, the third follow-up observation notification is sent three months after the shipping date. Thereafter, the fourth follow-up observation notification is sent six months after the shipping date.

[0116] When the purchase form is sequential purchase, the follow-up observation notice sending unit 118 may send the follow-up observation notice not on the exact N months (N is an integer of 1 or more) after the shipping date, but on the day before a predetermined number of days from N months later. Or the follow-up observation notice sending unit 118 may send the follow-up observation notice on the day after a predetermined number of days from N months later. Thereby, the notification timing of the follow-up observation notice can be shifted from the timing of shipping of the product by continuous purchase.

[0117] The follow-up observation notice sending unit 118 may send the follow-up observation notice only during the period corresponding to the already purchased quantity among the maximum prescribed quantities of the purchased product. For example, assume that in sequential purchase and the first purchase, product C is purchased for 2 months. In this case, the follow-up observation notice sending unit 118 may send the follow-up observation notice only 1 month and 2 months after the shipping date of the first purchase. Thereafter, assume that in continuous purchase, product C is purchased for 4 months. In this case, the follow-up observation notice sending unit 118 may send the follow-up observation notice 3 months and 6 months after the shipping date of the first purchase.

[0118] After the follow-up observation notice sending unit 118 sends the follow-up observation notice, the question information sending unit 119 may send question information indicating questions for follow-up observation to the customer terminal 4 used by the purchaser who is the recipient of the follow-up observation notice in response to a request from the customer terminal 4. The question information sending unit 119 may send question sheet screen information. The question sheet screen may be information for displaying the question sheet screen on the customer terminal 4. The question sheet screen information may include the question information. The question sheet screen information may be an HTML document, may be information to be displayed on the question sheet screen, or may be an instruction for displaying the question sheet screen. The question information sending unit 119 may send the question information, for example, in response to the operation of the answer button 3130 of the follow-up observation notice email 3100. When the answer button 3130 is operated, the customer terminal 4 may send a question sheet screen request to the sales management server 1. The question sheet screen request may include, for example, product ID of the product subject to follow-up observation or category information indicating the category of the product.

[0119] The question information transmission unit 119 may determine question information to be transmitted to the customer terminal 4 based on, for example, product question information. The product question information may be information capable of specifying questions corresponding to each of a plurality of products determined to be the subject of follow-up observation. This may mean that when a certain product is specified, it is possible to obtain question information corresponding to that product. Not necessarily, the question information is not necessarily defined for each product. The product question information may include the question information itself. Alternatively, the product question information may include identification information for identifying the question information. Separately from the product question information, question information may be stored in the storage unit 14 in association with each piece of identification information. The product question information may be, for example, a database or a table. For example, the product question information may be a combination of a product DB 14b and a question information DB 14j. From the combination of the product ID and the category information stored in the product DB 14b, the category of the purchased product can be specified. From the combination of the category information and the question information stored in the question information DB 14j, the question information corresponding to that category can be specified. In addition, when the question information is defined for each product, in the question information DB 14j, the product ID and the question information may be stored in association with each other for each product. Since the question information can be defined for each product or for each category of the product, questions corresponding to the purchased product can be presented to the purchaser.

[0120] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the content of questions for follow-up observation. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, assume that there are at least pills, beauty internal medicines, diet drugs, and external medicines as product categories. The questions about pills may include questions for confirming the presence or absence of diseases and the use of other medicines, questions for confirming the presence or absence of changes in physical condition, questions for confirming the presence or absence of digestive symptoms, questions for confirming the presence or absence of abnormal bleeding, questions for confirming the presence or absence of weight gain or loss, questions for confirming the presence or absence of hypertension, questions for confirming the presence or absence of taking beauty internal medicines, and questions for confirming the presence or absence of other symptoms. The questions about beauty internal medicines may include questions for confirming the presence or absence of diseases and the use of other medicines, questions for confirming the presence or absence of changes in physical condition, questions for confirming the presence or absence of taking pills, questions for confirming the presence or absence of problems with the skin condition, and questions for confirming the presence or absence of other symptoms. The questions about diet drugs may include questions for confirming the presence or absence of diseases and the use of other medicines, questions for confirming the presence or absence of changes in physical condition, questions for confirming the presence or absence of digestive symptoms, questions for confirming the presence or absence of weight gain or loss, and questions for confirming the presence or absence of other symptoms. The questions about external medicines may include questions for confirming the presence or absence of diseases and the use of other medicines, questions for confirming the presence or absence of changes in physical condition, questions for confirming the presence or absence of problems with the skin condition, and questions for confirming the presence or absence of other symptoms.

[0121] A plurality of products with different question information may be the subject of a single follow-up observation. In this case, the question information transmission unit 119 may merge the question information of those products. The question information transmission unit 119 may transmit the merged question information to the customer terminal 4. Alternatively, the follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118 or the question information transmission unit 119 may function so that the subject of a single follow-up observation is a product with the same question information.

[0122] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a questionnaire screen. As shown in FIG. 13, the questionnaire screen 3200 may include one or more input forms 3210, a response button 3220, and the like. Each input form 3210 may be a form for inputting an answer to a single question. Each input form 3210 may include, for example, a question 3210 and a group of radio buttons 3212. The question 3210 is text indicating the question. The group of radio buttons 3212 may include a plurality of radio buttons operable to select an answer to the question. At least one input form 3210 may further include an answer input field 3213. For example, when either "yes" or "no" can be selected by the group of radio buttons 3212 as an answer, the answer input field 3213 may be displayed. The answer input field 3213 may be an area for inputting text indicating specific answer content when the answer to the question is "yes". The response button 3220 may be a button operable to transmit the response input on the questionnaire screen to the sales management server 1.

[0123] The response information receiving unit 120 may receive response information indicating an answer to the question indicated by the question information transmitted by the question information transmitting unit 119 from the customer terminal 4. For example, when the response button 3220 on the questionnaire screen 3200 is operated, the customer terminal 4 may transmit the response information to the sales management server 1. The response information receiving unit 120 may store the response information received from the customer terminal 4 in the response DB 14l.

[0124] The usage continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 may acquire usage continuation permission information based on the response information received by the response information receiving unit 120. The usage continuation permission information may be information indicating whether the use of the purchased product can be continued. The usage continuation permission information may be, for example, prescription continuation permission information. The prescription continuation permission information may be information indicating whether the prescription of the purchased product can be continued.

[0125] The usage continuation availability information acquisition unit 121 may acquire prescription continuation availability information, for example, by transmitting response information to the doctor terminal 2. For example, the doctor terminal 2 may display the response information on the screen. The doctor may determine whether prescription continuation is available based on the response information displayed on the screen. The doctor may input the determined availability of prescription continuation into the doctor terminal 2. The usage continuation availability information acquisition unit 121 may receive the prescription continuation availability information indicating the input availability from the doctor terminal 2. Note that the system control unit 11 may function as a usage continuation availability information reception unit (not shown). The usage continuation availability information reception unit may receive the prescription continuation availability information from the doctor terminal 2.

[0126] The usage continuation availability information acquisition unit 121 may transmit the response information to the doctor terminal 2 and may also transmit progress observation screen information to the doctor terminal 2. The progress observation screen information may be information for displaying a progress observation screen on the doctor terminal 2. The progress observation screen may be a screen for inputting the results of progress observation by the doctor. The progress observation screen may be a screen capable of accepting a selection of whether prescription continuation of the purchased product is available. The progress observation screen information may be an HTML document, may be information to be displayed on the progress observation screen, or may be an instruction to display the progress observation screen. The usage continuation availability information acquisition unit 121 may include the response information in the transmitted progress observation screen information. In this case, the response may be displayed on the progress observation screen.

[0127] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a progress observation screen. As shown in FIG. 14, the progress observation screen 3300 may include question-and-answer information 3310, one or more input forms 3320, a comment input field 3330, a send button 3340, and the like. The question-and-answer information 3310 may indicate questions presented to the customer and answers input by the customer. Each input form 3320 may be a form for inputting whether prescription continuation for one product is possible. In the example shown in FIG. 14, input forms 3320 are displayed for each of products AAAAAA, BBBBBB, and CCCCCC. Each input form 3320 may include the product name, purchase quantity, etc. of the product to be the subject of progress observation. Each input form 3320 may also include a prescription continuation selection menu 3321. The prescription continuation selection menu 3321 may be a pull-down menu operable to select the action determined by the doctor between prescription continuation and prescription discontinuation. The comment input field 3330 may be an area for inputting text indicating comments to the customer. The send button 3340 may be a button for sending the progress observation result information to the sales management server 1. The progress observation result information may be information indicating the result of progress observation. The progress observation result information may include prescription continuation availability information indicating whether prescription continuation selected in the prescription continuation selection menu 3321 is available.

[0128] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a progress observation screen after inputting whether prescription continuation is possible. As shown in FIG. 15, for product AAAAA, prescription discontinuation is selected. For products BBBBBB and CCCCCC, prescription continuation is selected. In the comment input field 3330, the reason for discontinuing the prescription of product AAAAAA is input.

[0129] The progress observation result information transmission unit 122 may transmit the progress observation result information to the purchaser of the product. The progress observation result information may be information indicating the result of the progress observation. The progress observation result may include the availability of continued use indicated by the continued use availability information acquired by the continued use availability information acquisition unit 121. The progress observation result information transmission unit 122 may transmit the progress observation result information by an e-mail or an instant message addressed to the purchaser. Alternatively, the progress observation result information transmission unit 122 may transmit the progress observation result information to the customer terminal 4 of the purchaser by push notification. Alternatively, the progress observation result information transmission unit 122 may transmit screen information for causing the customer terminal 4 to display a screen including the progress observation result in response to a request from the customer terminal 4 to the customer terminal 4.

[0130] FIGS. 16(a) to 16(c) are diagrams showing an example of a progress observation result mail. The progress observation result mail is an e-mail indicating the progress observation result. FIG. 16(a) shows an example of a progress observation result mail when the prescription continuation is determined by a doctor. As shown in FIG. 16(a), the progress observation result mail 3400 may include continued use availability information 3410, a comment 3420, a medical examination reservation link 3430, and the like. The continued use availability information 3410 may be text indicating that the continued use of the product is possible. For example, as the continued use availability information 3410, "There is no problem with taking / using the medicine." or the like may be displayed. The comment 3420 indicates a comment input by a doctor. The medical examination reservation link 3430 may be a link that can be operated to make a reservation for an online medical examination. When the customer selects the medical examination reservation link 3430, the customer terminal 4 may display, for example, a medical examination reservation screen 1500. As shown in FIG. 3, the customer can make a reservation for an online medical examination and then receive the online medical examination. In this state, the product to be ordered is not selected. In the online medical examination, the doctor may determine the product.

[0131] FIG. 16(b) shows an example of a follow-up observation result email when a doctor decides to discontinue prescription for a product purchased through sequential purchases. In FIG. 16(b), the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements as in FIG. 16(a). As shown in FIG. 16(b), the follow-up observation result email 3400 may include discontinuation information 3440, product name 3450, comment 3420, and consultation reservation link 3430, etc. The discontinuation information 3440 may be text indicating to prompt the discontinuation of the use of the product. For example, as the discontinuation information 3440, "Please discontinue taking the medicine." etc. may be displayed. The product name 3450 indicates the name of the product subject to discontinuation of use.

[0132] FIG. 16(c) shows an example of a follow-up observation result email when a doctor decides to discontinue prescription for a product purchased through regular automatic purchases. In FIG. 16(c), the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements as in FIG. 16(b). As shown in FIG. 16(c), the follow-up observation result email 3400 may include discontinuation information 3440, regular delivery cancellation information 3460, product name 3450, comment 3420, and consultation reservation link 3430, etc. The regular delivery cancellation information 3460 may be text indicating that the regular delivery to the customer is cancelled for the product for which prescription discontinuation is determined. For example, as the regular delivery cancellation information 3460, "If you are using regular delivery, due to the doctor's judgment, payment and shipping will be cancelled for subsequent orders." etc. may be displayed.

[0133] [1-5-3. Restriction on Product Provision] The product offering restriction information management unit 123 may manage product offering restriction information. The product offering restriction information may be information that can identify whether the offering of a product to a customer is restricted for each combination of the customer and the product. The restriction on offering that can be identified from the product offering restriction information may be to restrict the offering of a product for which the suspension of use or prescription has been determined through follow-up observation. The combination of a customer for whom the offering of a product is restricted and the product for which the offering to that customer is restricted is referred to as an offering restriction combination. The combination of a customer for whom the offering of a product is not restricted and the product for which the offering to that customer is not restricted is referred to as an offering non-restriction combination. The product offering restriction information may include information indicating each offering restriction combination. From the product DB 14b, it is possible to identify all medical drugs handled by the pharmaceutical EC platform. Also, from the member DB 14a, it is possible to identify all customers who can use the pharmaceutical EC platform. Therefore, if the offering restriction combination can be identified from the product offering restriction information, inevitably, the offering non-restriction combination can also be identified. Alternatively, the product offering restriction information may include information indicating each offering non-restriction combination. For the same reason as described above, if the offering non-restriction combination can be identified, inevitably, the offering restriction combination can also be identified. The product offering restriction information does not necessarily have to include information about all combinations of customers and products. For example, the product offering restriction information may include only information regarding each offering restriction combination, or may include only information regarding each offering non-restriction combination. The product offering restriction information may be, for example, a database or a table.

[0134] The product availability restriction information may be, for example, the purchase right DB 14g. Each purchase right information stored in the purchase right DB 14g may indicate the purchase rights set in the past. The customer ID included in the purchase right information may indicate the customer who has the purchase right. The product ID included in the purchase right information may indicate the product for which the purchase right is set. The right status included in the purchase right information may indicate whether the provision of the product is restricted. For example, a right status indicating "valid" may indicate that the provision of the product is not restricted. A right status indicating "suspended" may indicate that the provision of the product is restricted. Also, a right status indicating "expired" may indicate that the provision of the product is restricted. When an order is confirmed by the order confirmation unit 115, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 may generate purchase right information for each ordered product. At this time, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 may set the right status included in the purchase right information to "valid".

[0135] When the product availability restriction information management unit 123 acquires the product continuation availability information obtained by the product continuation availability information acquisition unit 121 and the information indicates that the product cannot be continued, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 may change or update the product availability restriction information. Thereby, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 may make it possible to specify from the product availability restriction information that the provision of the product is restricted for the purchaser of the product for which the product continuation is not possible. For example, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 may add information directly indicating that the combination of the purchaser and the product is a restricted combination to the product availability restriction information. Alternatively, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 may delete from the product availability restriction information information indicating that the combination of the purchaser and the product is an unrestricted combination. Alternatively, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 may change the information indicating that the combination of the purchaser and the product included in the product availability restriction information is an unrestricted combination to information indicating that the combination of the purchaser and the product is a restricted combination.

[0136] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of updating the purchase right DB 14g. Assume that the product provision restriction information is the purchase right DB 14g. For example, assume that a doctor has decided to discontinue prescribing product A for customer X. In this case, as shown in FIG. 17, the prescription continuation availability information acquisition unit 121 acquires prescription continuation availability information indicating the discontinuation of the prescription. In this case, the product provision restriction information management unit 123 may change the right status included in the purchase right information indicating the combination of customer X and product A from "valid" to "suspended".

[0137] The restriction on the provision of a product may be such that the purchase of the product becomes possible on the condition that a customer satisfies specific conditions. While the purchase of the product is not restricted, the customer may be able to purchase the product without having to satisfy the conditions. The specific conditions may be, for example, receiving a medical examination by a doctor or being prescribed the product by a doctor. By a doctor prescribing the product, the customer may be able to acquire a new purchase right for the product.

[0138] For example, when it is specified from the product provision restriction information that the provision of the product indicated by the product ID acquired by the selected product identification information acquisition unit 112 is restricted for the customer indicated by the customer ID acquired by the selected product identification information acquisition unit 112 for the diagnosis support unit 114, the diagnosis support unit 114 may support the medical examination of the doctor for that customer. In this case, the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order after the medical examination. On the other hand, when it is specified from the product provision restriction information that the provision of the product is not restricted for the customer for the diagnosis support unit 114, the diagnosis support unit 114 may not support the medical examination of the doctor for that customer. In this case, the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order without the medical examination.

[0139] As described above, when the customer has a valid purchase right for a product selected by the customer, even though the product is a medical pharmaceutical, the examination support unit 114 may omit the examination support, and the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order without such examination. This indicates that the provision of the product is not restricted. At least one of the examination support unit 114 and the order confirmation unit 115 may function to be able to confirm the order without examination when the right status included in the purchase right information is "valid". For example, in the screen transition example shown in FIG. 3, after the display of the cart screen 1300, the order confirmation unit 115 may function so that the customer terminal 4 displays the order content confirmation screen 2100. On the other hand, when the product selected by the customer is a medical pharmaceutical and the customer does not have a valid purchase right for that product, the examination support unit 114 may support the examination, and the order confirmation unit 115 may confirm the order after such examination. This indicates that the provision of the product is restricted. At least one of the examination support unit 114 and the order confirmation unit 115 may function to be able to confirm the order on the condition that the customer has received the examination when the right status included in the purchase right information is "suspended". For example, in the screen transition example shown in FIG. 3, after the display of the cart screen 1300, the examination support unit 114 may function so that the customer terminal 4 displays the order application content confirmation screen 1400. Thereafter, for example, the examination support unit 114 may function so that these screens are displayed in the order of the examination reservation screen 1500, the examination reservation confirmation screen 1600, the examination reservation acceptance completion screen 1700, the inquiry form screen 1800, the examination waiting screen 1900, and the customer examination screen 2000. Thereafter, the order confirmation unit 115 may function so that the order content confirmation screen 2100 is displayed.

[0140] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a restricted example of product offering. For example, a customer attempts to purchase a certain product for one month. At this point, the purchase right DB 14g does not store purchase right information indicating the combination of the customer and the product. Therefore, the customer needs to receive a medical examination. When the customer purchases the product after receiving the examination, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 may store the purchase right information in the purchase right DB 14g. The purchase right status at this time is set to "valid". Suppose follow-up observations are carried out every month. In the follow-up observation one month after the first purchase, it is determined that continued use is possible. Therefore, the right status remains "valid". Also, one month after the first purchase, the customer purchases the product for two months. Since the right status is "valid", the customer does not need to receive a medical examination. In the follow-up observation one month after the first purchase, it is determined that use should be stopped. Therefore, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 changes the right status to "stopped". Three months after the first purchase, the customer purchases the product for three months. Since the right status is "stopped", the customer needs to receive a medical examination.

[0141] When the purchase form is regular automatic purchase, the restriction of product offering may be to cancel the subsequent deliveries in regular delivery. For example, when the product offering restriction information is changed by the product offering restriction information management unit 123 such that it can be specified that the offering of the product is restricted for the purchaser of the product for which continued use is determined to be impossible, the scheduled delivery information management unit 116 may cancel the subsequent deliveries of the product to that purchaser. The scheduled delivery information management unit 116 may change the delivery status to "cancelled" for the scheduled delivery information regarding the subsequent deliveries corresponding to the combination of the customer and the product for which the right status has been changed to "stopped" by the product offering restriction information management unit 123, for example.

[0142] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a restricted example of product offering in regular automatic purchase. For example, a customer attempts to purchase a certain product through regular automatic purchase. At this point, the purchase right DB 14g does not store the purchase right information indicating the combination of the customer and the product. Therefore, the customer needs to receive a medical examination. When the customer purchases the product after receiving the examination, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 may store the purchase right information in the purchase right DB 14g. The purchase right status at this time is set to "valid". Then, for example, a regular delivery including products for one month is shipped. Assume that follow-up observations are performed every month. In the follow-up observation one month after the first purchase, it is determined that continuous use is possible. Therefore, the right status remains "valid". For this reason, the product is shipped one month after the first purchase. In the follow-up observation two months after the first purchase, it is determined that continuous use is possible. Therefore, the right status remains "valid". For this reason, the product is shipped two months after the first purchase. In the follow-up observation three months after the first purchase, it is determined to discontinue use. Therefore, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 changes the right status to "suspended". Since the right status is "suspended", the shipment of products after three months from the first purchase is cancelled.

[0143] The product offering restriction information about the product purchased through regular automatic purchase may be, for example, the purchase right DB 14g or the scheduled shipment DB 14h. When the product offering restriction information management unit 123 in the case where the product offering restriction information is the scheduled shipment DB 14h may be the scheduled shipment information management unit 116. The scheduled shipment DB 14h stores the scheduled shipment information indicating the next shipment of the product purchased through regular automatic purchase. The shipment status for each product included in the scheduled shipment information may indicate whether the offering of the product is restricted. For example, the shipment status indicating "not yet shipped" may indicate that the offering of the product is not restricted. The shipment status indicating "cancelled" may indicate that the offering of the product is restricted. Alternatively, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 may delete the scheduled shipment product information of the product for which use interruption has been determined from the scheduled shipment information. Thereby, the offering of the product may be restricted.

[0144] When the response information is not sent from the customer terminal 4 to the sales management server 1, the provision of the product subject to the progress observation may not be restricted. Also, a transmission deadline for the response information may be set. When the response information is not sent from the customer terminal 4 by this transmission deadline, the provision of the product may not be restricted. When the prescription continuation permission information is not sent from the doctor terminal 2 to the sales management server 1, the provision of the product subject to the progress observation may not be restricted. Also, a transmission deadline for the prescription continuation permission information may be set. When the prescription continuation permission information is not sent from the doctor terminal 2 by this transmission deadline, the provision of the product may not be restricted.

[0145] The system control unit 11 may perform a process for restricting the provision of products to the customer without managing or referring to the product provision restriction information. For example, when the use continuation permission information acquired by the use continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 indicates that use continuation is possible, the system control unit 11 may omit the examination and confirm the order, or may not cancel the next regular delivery. When the use continuation permission information acquired by the use continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 indicates that use continuation is not possible, the system control unit 11 may confirm the order after the examination, or may cancel the next regular delivery.

[0146] [1-6. Operation of the communication system] Next, the operation of the communication system S will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 to 26. FIGS. 20 to 26 are sequence diagrams showing processing examples of the communication system S according to the present embodiment. The order of the processing is not limited to the order shown in FIGS. 20 to 26. Also, at least one of the steps shown in FIGS. 20 to 26 may not be executed. The system control unit 11 of the sales management server 1 may execute the processing of the sales management server 1 shown in FIGS. 20 to 26 according to various program codes related to the server program.

[0147] For example, when the customer selects any product from the product selection screen 1100, the customer terminal 4 displays the product screen 1200. The customer operates any button included in the purchase form / quantity selection button group 1210 on the product screen 1200 to select the purchase form and quantity. Then, as shown in FIG. 20, the customer presses the cart addition button 1220 (step S101). The customer terminal 4 that has detected this operation sends a cart addition request to the sales management server 1 (step S102). The cart addition request may include the customer ID of the customer, the product ID of the selected product, and the selected purchase form and quantity. The cart information management unit 113 of the sales management server 1 that has received the cart addition request updates the cart information stored in the cart DB 14c in association with the customer ID of the customer (step S103). For example, the sales management server 1 may obtain the medical pharmaceutical flag associated with the product ID included in the cart addition request from the product DB 14b. The cart information management unit 113 may generate cart product information including the product ID, the medical pharmaceutical flag, the purchase form, and the quantity. The cart information management unit 113 may add the generated cart product information to the cart information.

[0148] Thereafter, the customer selects, for example, the cart icon 1230 on the product screen 1200 (step S104). The customer terminal 4 that has detected this operation sends a cart screen request to the sales management server 1 (step S105). The sales screen information transmission unit 111 of the sales management server 1 that has received the cart screen request sends the HTML document of the cart screen 1300 to the customer terminal 4 (step S106). At this time, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may generate a list of the products currently in the cart based on the cart information of the customer. The sales screen information transmission unit 111 may generate an HTML document including this list. The customer terminal 4 displays the cart screen 1300 based on this HTML document.

[0149] On the cart screen 1300 displayed by the customer terminal 4, the customer performs an operation to proceed to the next procedure (step S107). The customer terminal 4 that has detected this operation transmits a request for advancing the order procedure to the sales management server 1 (step S108). The order confirmation unit 115 of the sales management server 1 that has received the request for advancing the order procedure determines whether the products in the customer's cart include medical pharmaceuticals (step S109). For example, the order confirmation unit 115 may determine that the products in the cart include medical pharmaceuticals if the medical pharmaceutical flag of at least one cart product information included in the customer's cart information is set to TRUE. If the products in the cart include medical pharmaceuticals (step S109: YES), the order confirmation unit 115 determines whether the customer has a valid and existing purchase right for the products that are medical pharmaceuticals (step S110). For example, the order confirmation unit 115 may search the purchase right DB 14g for the purchase right information including the latest setting date among the purchase right information including the combination of the product ID of the product and the customer ID of the customer. If there is no corresponding purchase right information, the order confirmation unit 115 may determine that the customer does not have a valid and existing purchase right. If the right status included in the searched purchase right information is "valid", the order confirmation unit 115 may determine that the customer has a valid and existing purchase right. If the right status included in the searched purchase right information is "suspended" or "extinguished", the order confirmation unit 115 may determine that the customer does not have a valid and existing purchase right. If the cart product information includes an examination target flag, the order confirmation unit 115 may determine, based on the examination target flag, whether the products in the customer's cart include products that require a doctor's examination for order confirmation. If the products in the cart include products that require a doctor's examination, the process may proceed to step S110.

[0150] If the customer does not have a valid and existing purchase right (step S110: NO), the examination support department 114 transmits the HTML document of the order application content confirmation screen 1400 to the customer terminal 4 (step S111). At this time, the examination support department 114 may generate a list of the products currently in the cart based on the cart information of the customer. The examination support department 114 may generate an HTML document including the generated list. The customer terminal 4 displays the order application content confirmation screen 1400 based on this HTML document.

[0151] On the order application content confirmation screen 1400 displayed by the customer terminal 4, an operation for applying for an order is performed (step S112). The customer terminal 4 that detects this operation transmits the order application to the sales management server 1 (step S113). The examination support department 114 of the sales management server 1 that receives the order application transmits the HTML document of the examination reservation screen 1500 to the customer terminal 4 (step S114). The customer terminal 4 displays the examination reservation screen 1500 based on this HTML document (step S115).

[0152] As shown in FIG. 21, the customer selects an examination date and an examination start time from the examination reservation screen 1500 (step S201). The customer terminal 4 that detects this operation transmits a reservation confirmation screen request to the sales management server 1 (step S202). The reservation confirmation screen request may include the selected examination date and examination start time. The examination support department 114 of the sales management server 1 that receives the reservation confirmation screen request transmits the HTML document of the examination reservation confirmation screen 1600 to the customer terminal 4 (step S203). The customer terminal 4 displays the examination reservation confirmation screen 1600 based on this HTML document.

[0153] On the reservation confirmation screen 1600 for medical examinations, the customer performs an operation to confirm the reservation (step S204). The customer terminal 4 that has detected this operation sends a reservation confirmation request to the sales management server 1 (step S205). The medical examination support section 114 of the sales management server 1 that has received the reservation confirmation request generates reservation information and stores it in the medical examination reservation DB 14d (step S206). Next, the medical examination support section 114 sends the HTML document of the medical examination reservation acceptance completion screen 1700 to the customer terminal 4 (step S207).

[0154] The customer causes the customer terminal 4 to display the medical examination waiting screen 1900 on the reserved medical examination date. In response to the operation of the doctor terminal 2 by the doctor of the medical institution, the medical examination support section 114 sends the HTML document of the doctor's medical examination screen for the customer who has reserved the medical examination to the doctor terminal 2. The doctor terminal 2 displays the doctor's medical examination screen as shown in FIG. 22 based on this HTML document (step S301). On the doctor's medical examination screen, the doctor performs an operation to start a call for the medical examination. The doctor terminal 2 that has detected this operation sends a call connection request to the sales management server 1 (step S302). The call connection request may include, for example, the reservation number of the medical examination and the customer ID of the customer who has reserved the medical examination. The medical examination support section 114 of the sales management server 1 that has received the call connection request sends the HTML document of the customer medical examination screen 2000 to the customer terminal 4 of the customer indicated by the customer ID (step S303). The customer terminal 4 displays the customer medical examination screen 2000 based on this HTML document (step S304).

[0155] When the customer terminal 4 displays the customer medical examination screen 2000, it sends session information to the doctor terminal 2 via the sales management server 1 based on the script included in the HTML document. The doctor terminal 2 also sends session information to the customer terminal 4 via the sales management server 1 based on the script included in the HTML document of the doctor's medical examination screen (step S305). The customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 connect to each other based on the exchanged session information (step S306). When the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 are connected, online medical examination is started by transmitting and receiving media data between those terminal devices (step S307).

[0156] During the online consultation, the doctor refers to the information of the products in the customer's cart and enters the information of the products to be prescribed on the doctor consultation screen (step S308). For example, the doctor may select the product to be prescribed, the purchase form, and the quantity. A list of the products in the customer's cart is displayed on the doctor consultation screen. The doctor may refer to the list and enter a prescription. When a prescription is entered, the doctor terminal 2 sends the input information to the sales management server 1 (step S309). The input information may include the product ID, purchase form, and quantity of the product selected by the doctor.

[0157] The consultation support unit 114 of the sales management server 1 that has received the input information updates the customer's cart information stored in the cart DB14c based on this input information (step S310). For example, the consultation support unit 114 may rewrite each piece of cart product information included in the cart information with the input information. At this time, the consultation support unit 114 may add a medical pharmaceutical flag of the product selected by the doctor to each piece of cart product information. Steps S308 to S310 may be repeated as necessary.

[0158] After that, the doctor performs an operation to confirm the prescription content (step S311). The doctor terminal 2 that has detected this operation sends a prescription content confirmation request to the sales management server 1 (step S512). The consultation support unit 114 of the sales management server 1 that has received the prescription content confirmation request generates a prescription log based on the customer's cart information and stores it in the prescription history DB14e (step S313).

[0159] After that, for example, in response to an operation by the customer or doctor to end the call, the connection between the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 is disconnected, and the transmission and reception of media data also stop. Then, the order confirmation unit 115 transmits the HTML document of the order content confirmation screen 2100 to the customer terminal 4 (step S314). When the products in the cart do not include medical pharmaceuticals (step S109: NO), or when the customer has a valid and existing purchase right (step S110: YES), the order confirmation unit 115 also transmits the HTML document of the order content confirmation screen 2100 to the customer terminal 4 (step S314). The customer terminal 4 displays the order content confirmation screen 2100 based on this HTML document (step S315). On the order content confirmation screen 2100, the customer performs an operation to confirm the order. (Step SS316). The customer terminal 4 that detects this operation sends an order confirmation request to the sales management server 1 (step S317).

[0160] Upon receiving the order confirmation request, the order confirmation unit 115 of the sales management server 1 generates order information and stores this order information in the order DB 14f (step S401). The order confirmation unit 115 may generate order information based on the cart information of the customer. For example, the order confirmation unit 115 may generate order product information corresponding to each cart product information included in the cart information. At this time, the order confirmation unit 115 may add a continuous purchase flag to the order product information of each product that is a medical pharmaceutical. If the customer does not have a valid purchase right for the ordered product, the order confirmation unit 115 may set the continuous purchase flag to "first purchase". If the customer has a valid purchase right, the order confirmation unit 115 may set the continuous purchase flag to "continuous purchase". Also, the order confirmation unit 115 may generate a new order number. Further, the order confirmation unit may obtain the current date and time as the order date and time. The order confirmation unit 115 may generate order information including the order number, order date and time, customer ID of the customer who placed the order, order product information, shipping destination information indicating the shipping destination specified by the customer, and the scheduled shipping date according to the customer's specification. Next, the order confirmation unit 115 executes a settlement process (step S402).

[0161] Next, the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 determines whether the ordered products include medical-use pharmaceuticals based on the medical-use pharmaceutical flag included in each generated ordered product information (step S403). If the ordered products include medical-use pharmaceuticals (step S403: YES), the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 determines whether the purchase of the product is a first-time purchase based on the continuous purchase flag included in the ordered product information of the product that is a medical-use pharmaceutical (step S404). If the purchase of the product is a first-time purchase (step S404: YES), the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 generates purchase right information and stores the purchase right information in the Purchase Right DB 14g (step S405). For example, the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 may generate a new purchase right ID. Also, the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 may set the setting date to today's date. Also, the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 may set the already-purchased quantity to 0 months. Also, the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 may set the right status to "valid". The Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 may generate purchase right information including the purchase right ID, order number, customer ID of the customer, setting date, product ID of the product, maximum prescription quantity, already-purchased quantity, and right status. In the present embodiment, the purchase right information is generated at the time of completion of settlement. However, the Product Provision Restriction Information Management Unit 123 may generate the purchase right information at the time of confirmation of a prescription by a doctor or at the time of confirmation of an order.

[0162] When step S405 ends, if the ordered product does not include medical pharmaceuticals (step S403: NO), or if the purchase of the product is a continuous purchase (step S404: NO), the shipping schedule information management unit 116 generates shipping schedule information and stores this shipping schedule information in the shipping schedule DB 14h (step S406). For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate a new shipping schedule ID. Also, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may obtain the order number, customer ID, each ordered product information, shipping destination information, shipping schedule date, etc. from the generated order information. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate shipping schedule information for each purchase form, for example. When at least one of the purchase forms included in at least one of the obtained ordered product information is "sequential purchase", the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate shipping schedule information for the product targeted for sequential purchase. When at least one of the purchase forms included in at least one of the obtained ordered product information is "regular automatic purchase", the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate shipping schedule information for the product targeted for regular automatic purchase. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate shipping schedule product information based on each ordered product information. At this time, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may set the shipping status to "not shipped". Also, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may set the shipping number to 1. Also, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate shipping schedule information including the shipping schedule ID, order number, customer ID, purchase form, shipping number, shipping schedule product information, shipping destination information, shipping schedule date, and shipping status, etc. Next, the order confirmation unit 115 transmits the HTML document of the order completion screen to the customer terminal 4 (step S407).

[0163] For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 of the sales management server 1 searches the shipping schedule DB 14h for the shipping schedule information to be transmitted to the shipping terminal 3 at a predetermined time every day. For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may perform the search based on today's date and the shipping date included in the shipping schedule information. As shown in FIG. 24, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 transmits the retrieved shipping schedule information to the shipping terminal 3 (step S501). At this time, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may delete the shipping schedule product information whose shipping status is set to "cancelled" from the shipping schedule information to be transmitted. If the shipping status of all the shipping schedule product information is "cancelled", the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may not transmit the shipping schedule information itself. The shipping terminal 3 displays the shipping schedule of the product on the screen based on the received shipping schedule information. After shipping the product according to the shipping schedule, the employee inputs at least one of the shipping date and the invoice number attached to the delivery invoice of the product into the shipping terminal 3 (step S502). In response to this input, the shipping terminal 3 transmits a shipping completion notification to the sales management server 1 (step S503). The shipping completion notification may include the information input by the employee and the shipping schedule ID of the shipping schedule.

[0164] The shipping schedule information management unit 116 of the sales management server 1 acquires the information input by the employee and the shipping schedule ID from the shipping completion notification. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 searches the shipping schedule DB 14h for the shipping schedule information including this shipping schedule ID. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 changes the shipping status set to "not shipped" among the shipping statuses of each product included in the retrieved shipping schedule information to "shipped" (step S504). Further, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 adds the shipping date to the shipping schedule information.

[0165] Next, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 updates the purchase right information stored in the purchase right DB 14g (step S505). For example, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 may obtain the customer ID of the customer at the shipping destination of the product and the product information scheduled for shipment of the shipped product from the retrieved shipping schedule information. The product offering restriction information management unit 123 may search for the purchase right information including the latest setting date among the purchase right information including the combination of the customer ID and the product ID included in the product information scheduled for shipment. The product offering restriction information management unit 123 may add the quantity included in the product information scheduled for shipment to the already purchased quantity included in the retrieved purchase right information and update this already purchased quantity. When the updated already purchased quantity reaches the maximum prescription quantity, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 may change the right status included in the purchase right information to "expired". In the present embodiment, the purchase right information is updated when the shipment is completed. However, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 may update the purchase right information when the prescription by the doctor is confirmed or when the order is confirmed.

[0166] Next, the scheduled shipment information management unit 116 determines whether the purchase form included in the retrieved scheduled shipment information is "recurring automatic purchase" (step S506). If the purchase form is "recurring automatic purchase" (step S506: YES), the scheduled shipment information management unit 116 determines whether the purchase right for the product is validly continuing based on the right state included in the purchase right information of the product with the purchase form of recurring automatic purchase (step S507). If the purchase right is validly continuing (step S507: YES), the scheduled shipment information management unit 116 generates scheduled shipment information for the next shipment in regular delivery and stores this scheduled shipment information in the scheduled shipment DB 14h (step S508). For example, the scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may generate a copy of the retrieved scheduled shipment information. The scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may change the scheduled shipment ID included in the copy. Also, the scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may update this shipment number by adding 1 to the shipment number included in the copy. Further, the scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may calculate the scheduled shipment date by adding the length of the shipment cycle of regular delivery to the shipment date included in the copy. The scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may update the scheduled shipment date included in the copy with the calculated scheduled shipment date. The scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may search the copy for the shipment state set to "shipment completed". The scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may change the retrieved shipment state to "not shipped". The scheduled shipment information management unit 116 may store this copy in the scheduled shipment DB 14h as the scheduled shipment information for the next shipment.

[0167] When step S508 ends, if the purchase form is "sequential purchase" (step S506: NO), or if the purchase right does not exist (step S507: NO), the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 determines whether the current shipment is for the shipment of goods for the second and subsequent deliveries based on the purchase form and the shipment number included in the scheduled shipment information (step S509). If the current shipment is not for the shipment of goods for the second and subsequent deliveries (step S509: NO), the purchased product identification information 117 acquires the product ID of the purchased product from the scheduled shipment product information included in the scheduled shipment information, where the shipment status is "shipment completed" (step S510). Next, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 acquires the length of the progress observation period for each purchased product (step S511). For example, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may acquire the category information associated with the product ID from the product DB14b. The progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may acquire one or more lengths of the progress observation period associated with the acquired category information from the progress observation period DB14i. For products with a sequential purchase form, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may acquire a progress observation period length equal to or less than the length corresponding to the quantity already purchased. For products with a regular automatic purchase form, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may acquire a progress observation period length equal to or less than the length corresponding to the maximum prescribed quantity. Next, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 generates progress observation notification scheduled information and stores this progress observation notification scheduled information in the progress observation notification scheduled DB14k (step S512). For example, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may generate progress observation notification scheduled information for each combination of products with identical questions and the length of the progress observation period. In this embodiment, the questions are identical among products belonging to the same category. The progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may generate a new progress observation ID. Also, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may calculate the scheduled transmission date by adding the length of the progress observation period to the scheduled shipment date included in the scheduled shipment information. As described above, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may shift the scheduled transmission date exactly N months after the shipment date. When the purchase form is sequential purchase and the current purchase is a continuous purchase, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may search the scheduled shipment DB14h for the scheduled shipment information at the time of the first purchase.The progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may calculate the scheduled transmission date based on the shipping date included in the retrieved shipping schedule information. The progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may generate progress observation notification schedule information including a progress observation ID, a customer ID of the customer to whom the product is to be shipped, category information, a product ID, and the scheduled transmission date, etc.

[0168] As shown in FIG. 25, for example, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 searches the progress observation notification schedule DB 14k for progress observation notification schedule information whose scheduled transmission date is today at a predetermined time every day (step S601). Next, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 transmits a progress observation notification email for each retrieved progress observation notification schedule information (step S602). For example, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may obtain the product name of the product to be subject to progress observation from the product DB 14b based on the product ID included in the progress observation notification schedule information. The progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may add the product name to the body of the progress observation notification email. Also, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may obtain the email address of the customer who is the recipient of the progress observation notification email based on the customer ID included in the progress observation notification schedule information. The progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may set the recipient address of the progress observation notification email to this email address. Further, the progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may generate a progress observation notification email such that when the response button 3130 included in the progress observation notification email is operated, a questionnaire screen request is transmitted from the customer terminal 4 to the sales management server 1. The progress observation notification transmission unit 118 may include the progress observation ID in the questionnaire screen request.

[0169] The customer terminal 4 receives and displays a progress observation notification email in response to an operation by the customer (step S603). The customer presses the response button 3130 (step S604). The customer terminal 4 that has detected this operation sends a questionnaire screen request to the sales management server 1 (step S605). The purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117 of the sales management server 1 acquires the progress observation ID from the questionnaire screen request. The purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117 searches the progress observation notification schedule DB 14k for progress observation notification schedule information including this progress observation ID. The purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117 acquires category information from the retrieved progress observation notification schedule information (step S606). Next, the questionnaire information transmission unit 119 acquires the HTML document of the questionnaire screen 3200 associated with the acquired category information from the storage unit 14 (step S607). The questionnaire information transmission unit 119 transmits the acquired HTML document to the customer terminal 4 (step S608). The customer terminal 4 displays the questionnaire screen 3200 based on this HTML document (step S609).

[0170] The customer inputs an answer on the questionnaire screen 3200 (step S610). The customer terminal 4 sends answer information indicating the input answer and questionnaire information indicating the questions displayed on the questionnaire screen 3200 to the sales management server 1 (step S611). The answer information reception unit 120 of the sales management server 1 stores the received answer information and questionnaire information in association with the customer ID and progress observation ID of that customer in the answer DB 14l (step S612).

[0171] The doctor selects any one of the progress observations from the list of progress observations displayed on the screen of the doctor terminal 2. The doctor terminal 2 that has detected this operation sends a progress observation screen request to the sales management server 1 as shown in FIG. 26 (step S701). The progress observation screen request may include the progress observation ID of the selected progress observation. The usage continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 of the sales management server 1 acquires the response information and question information associated with the progress observation ID from the response DB 14l (step S702). The usage continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 generates an HTML document of the progress observation screen 3300 including the acquired response information and question information, and sends this HTML document to the doctor terminal 2 (step S703). The doctor terminal 2 displays the progress observation screen 3300 based on this HTML document (step S704). The doctor selects whether to continue prescribing each product on the progress observation screen 3300 (step S705). The doctor also inputs comments as necessary. When the doctor presses the send button 3340, the doctor terminal 2 sends the progress observation result information to the sales management server 1 (step S706). The progress observation result information may include the progress observation ID of the selected progress observation, the customer ID of the customer who is the subject of the progress observation, and comments. The progress observation result information may also include, for each product, the product ID and the prescription continuation permission information according to the doctor's selection. The usage continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 stores the received progress observation result information in the progress observation result DB 14m.

[0172] The product provision restriction information management unit 123 of the sales management server 1 determines whether there is a product for which prescription suspension has been determined based on the prescription continuation permission information included in the progress observation result information (step S707). If there is a product for which prescription suspension has been determined (step S707: YES), the product provision restriction information management unit 123 searches the purchase right DB 14g for the purchase right information including the combination of the customer ID of the customer who is the subject of the progress observation and the product ID of the product for which prescription suspension has been determined, and includes the purchase right information with the latest setting date. The product provision restriction information management unit 123 changes the right status included in the searched purchase right information to "suspended" (step S708).

[0173] Next, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 searches the shipping schedule DB 14h for shipping schedule information including the combination of the customer ID of the customer subject to follow-up observation, the product ID of the product for which prescription suspension has been determined, and the purchase form indicating "regular automatic purchase". At this time, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may search for shipping schedule product information with a shipping status of "not yet shipped" included in the shipping schedule product information of the product. Based on the result of this search, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 determines whether the purchase of the product is a regular automatic purchase (step S709). If the purchase of the product is a regular automatic purchase (step S709: YES), the shipping schedule information management unit 116 changes the shipping status of the shipping schedule product information of the product included in the searched shipping schedule information to "cancelled" (step S710).

[0174] When step S710 ends, if there is no product for which prescription suspension has been determined (step S707: NO), or if the purchase of the product is not a regular automatic purchase (step S709: NO), the follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 transmits a follow-up observation result email (step S711). Here, the follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 may generate the follow-up observation result email to be transmitted based on the follow-up observation result information. For example, if there is no product for which prescription suspension has been determined, the follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 may generate the follow-up observation result email shown in Fig. 16(a). If there is a product for which prescription suspension has been determined and the purchase form is sequential purchase, the follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 may generate the follow-up observation result email shown in Fig. 16(b). If there is a product for which prescription suspension has been determined and the purchase form is regular automatic purchase, the follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 may generate the follow-up observation result email shown in Fig. 16(c). The follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 may add the name of the product for which prescription suspension has been determined to the follow-up observation result email. The follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 may obtain the email address of the customer who is the recipient of the follow-up observation result email based on the customer ID included in the follow-up observation result information. The follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122 may set the recipient address of the follow-up observation result email to this email address.

[0175] As described above, according to this embodiment, the sales management server 1 may acquire the product IDs of the purchased products among the plurality of products. Further, the sales management server 1 may send a progress observation notice for the purchased products. At this time, the sales management server 1 may send a progress observation notice after the elapse of a period of a length corresponding to the product after the reference date related to the purchase of the product identified by the product ID based on the product DB 14b and the progress observation period DB 14i. Further, after sending the progress observation notice, the sales management server 1 may send question information to the customer terminal 4 in response to a request from the customer terminal 4 used by the purchaser of the product. At this time, the sales management server 1 may send question information corresponding to the purchased product based on the product DB 14b and the question information DB 14j. From the product DB 14b and the progress observation period DB 14i, for each of the plurality of products, the length of the period from the reference date related to the purchase of the product to the time of progress observation can be specified. Therefore, even if the length of the period varies depending on the product, a progress observation notice can be sent after the elapse of a period of a length corresponding to the purchased product. From the product DB 14b and the question information DB 14j, for each of the plurality of products, the question information about the product can be specified. Therefore, even if the questions vary depending on the product, questions about the purchased product can be presented to the purchaser. Accordingly, the burden of progress observation on the purchaser of the product can be eliminated.

[0176] Here, the sales management server 1 may receive answer information from the customer terminal 4. Further, the sales management server 1 may acquire use continuation permission information based on the answer information. Further, the sales management server 1 may send progress observation result information indicating the result of progress observation including the permission or non-permission of use continuation indicated by the use continuation permission information to the customer terminal 4. In this case, the result of progress observation is presented to the purchaser of the product. The result of this progress observation includes the permission or non-permission of use continuation of the purchased product. The use continuation permission information is acquired based on the answer information. Therefore, the permission or non-permission of use continuation of the product according to the situation of the purchaser can be presented to the purchaser.

[0177] Here, the sales management server 1 may send to the doctor terminal 2 the response information and the screen information for displaying on the doctor terminal 2 a screen capable of accepting a selection of whether to continue using the purchased product. Further, the sales management server 1 may receive from the doctor terminal 2 the continued use permission information indicating whether to continue using the product selected on the screen displayed by the doctor terminal 2 based on the screen information. In this case, the response information is sent to the doctor terminal 2. Therefore, the decision maker using the doctor terminal 2 can decide whether to continue using the purchased product based on the response information. Also, on the doctor terminal 2, a screen capable of accepting a selection of whether to continue using the purchased product is displayed. Therefore, the decision maker can select on the screen whether to continue using the product.

[0178] Further, the sales management server 1 may connect the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 so as to enable communication for a doctor's examination. Also, after connecting the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2, the sales management server 1 may obtain the product ID of the product settled through the examination as the purchased product. In this case, by connecting the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 for communication, an online examination by a doctor becomes possible. The medicine instructed by the doctor to be provided in this examination is purchased. A follow-up observation notice is sent for the purchased medicine. Therefore, the burden of follow-up observation on the customer who purchased the medicine after receiving the examination can be eliminated.

[0179] In addition, the sales management server 1 may receive a shipping completion notice from the shipping terminal 3. Also, when the sales management server 1 receives the shipping completion notice, it may change the shipping status stored in the shipping schedule DB 14h from "not shipped" to "shipped". Further, the sales management server 1 may send an elapsed observation notice on the condition that the shipping status is set to "shipped". At this time, the sales management server 1 may send an elapsed observation notice after the elapse of a period of the length corresponding to the purchased product from the shipping date of the purchased product. In this case, when the purchased product is shipped, a shipping completion notice is sent from the shipping terminal 3 used by the shipper, and the shipping status of the product is changed from "not shipped" to "shipped". After the shipping status is changed to "shipped", an elapsed observation notice is sent. The elapsed observation notice is sent after the elapse of a period of the length corresponding to the product from the shipping date of the product. Therefore, elapsed observation can be performed at a time corresponding to the purchased product and at a time corresponding to the shipping time of the product.

[0180] In addition, the sales management server 1 may send inquiry information to the customer terminal 4. Also, the sales management server 1 may receive response information from the customer terminal 4 that has received the inquiry information. Further, the sales management server 1 may obtain usage continuation permission information based on the response information. Also, the sales management server 1 may change the purchase right DB 14g so that it can be specified from the purchase right DB 14g that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted. In this case, an inquiry for elapsed observation of the purchased product is presented to the purchaser. Response information indicating an answer to this inquiry is received from the purchaser terminal. Based on this response information, usage continuation permission information indicating whether the use of the purchased product can be continued is obtained. If the continuation of use of the product is not possible, the purchase right DB 14g is changed. As a result, it can be specified from the purchase right DB 14g that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted. Therefore, by referring to the purchase right DB 14g, processing for restricting the provision of the product to the purchaser can be performed. Therefore, information for restricting the provision of the product according to the situation of the purchaser after the purchase of the product can be stored.

[0181] Here, the sales management server 1 may acquire a product ID indicating a product selected by a customer for an order and a customer ID of the customer who selected the product. Also, when it is specified from the purchase right DB 14g that the provision of the product indicated by the product ID to the customer indicated by the customer ID is restricted, the sales management server 1 may assist in the interview between the customer and the doctor. Further, after the interview, the sales management server 1 may confirm the order of the selected product. Also, when it is specified from the purchase right DB 14g that the provision of the selected product indicated by the product ID to the customer indicated by the customer ID is not restricted, the sales management server 1 may confirm the order without an interview. In this case, when the provision of the product selected by the customer for the order to the customer is restricted, an interview between the customer and the doctor who determines the usability of the product is enabled. After the interview, the order of the selected product is confirmed. When the provision of the selected product to the customer is not restricted, the interview between the customer and the doctor is omitted and the order of the selected product is confirmed. Therefore, depending on whether the provision of the product is restricted or not, whether an interview is required for the confirmation of the order of the product is different. Therefore, by setting conditions for the order, the provision of the product can be appropriately restricted.

[0182] Here, the sales management server 1 may connect the customer terminal 4 used by the customer and the doctor terminal 2 used by the doctor so as to enable communication for the interview. Also, when it is specified from the purchase right DB 14g that the provision of the product indicated by the product ID to the customer indicated by the customer ID is restricted, after connecting the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2, the sales management server 1 may confirm the order. Also, when it is specified from the purchase right DB 14g that the provision of the product to the customer is not restricted, the sales management server 1 may omit the connection between the customer terminal 4 and the doctor terminal 2 and confirm the order. In this case, by the communication connection between the customer terminal and the doctor terminal, an online interview between the customer and the doctor becomes possible. After the online interview, the order is confirmed. Therefore, when the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, the interview as a condition for confirming the order of the product can be realized online.

[0183] In addition, when it is determined that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is to be restricted, the sales management server 1 may cancel the next shipment of the product to the purchaser. In this case, if the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is not restricted, the product is regularly shipped to the purchaser. If the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted, the next shipment of the product is cancelled. As a result, the regular shipment of the product is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately restrict the provision of the product in the form of regular shipment of the product.

[0184] [2. Second Embodiment] Next, the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28. In this embodiment, the provision of the product to the customer may be restricted by restricting the operations required for placing an order for the product. The second embodiment may be the same as the first embodiment except for the points described below.

[0185] As described above, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 transmits screen information including information about the product in response to a request from the customer terminal 4 to the customer terminal 4. When it is not specified from the product provision restriction information that the provision of the product corresponding to the request to the customer using the customer terminal 4 is restricted, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may transmit screen information for displaying a screen for receiving an operation for selecting the product. On the other hand, when it is specified from the product provision restriction information that the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may transmit screen information for displaying a screen that does not receive an operation for selecting the product. The operation for selecting the product may be an operation that, by performing the operation, finally enables the customer to order the product. Examples of the operation for selecting the product include an operation of selecting any product from the list of products displayed on the search result screen, an operation of adding the product to the cart on the product screen 1200, an operation of applying for an order of the product on the order application content confirmation screen 1400, an operation of finalizing the order of the product on the order content confirmation screen 2100, and the like.

[0186] FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of the product screen 1200. In FIG. 27, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements as in FIG. 9. When the provision of the product to the customer is not restricted, the product screen 1200 as shown in FIG. 9 may be displayed. In this case, the customer can operate the cart addition button 1220. Thereby, the product is added to the cart. When the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, the product screen 1200 as shown in FIG. 12 may be displayed. As shown in FIG. 12, in addition to the purchase form / quantity selection button group 1210, the cart addition button 1220, and the cart icon 1230, etc., the product screen 1200 may include a message 1240 and a medical examination reservation link 1250. In FIG. 12, the cart addition button 1220 is shown by a dashed line. This indicates that the cart addition button 1220 is invalid. Therefore, the customer cannot operate the cart addition button 1220. Note that the cart addition button 1220 itself may not be displayed. Since the product cannot be added to the cart, the customer cannot order the product. The message 1240 may indicate that the provision of the product to the customer is restricted. The medical examination reservation link 3430 may be a link that can be operated to make a reservation for an online medical examination. Although it is not possible to select and apply for an order for a product whose provision is restricted, the customer may be able to have the product prescribed again by a doctor in an online medical examination.

[0187] The system control unit 11 may perform processing for restricting the provision of products to the customer without managing or referring to the product provision restriction information. For example, when the use continuation permission information acquired by the use continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 indicates that use continuation is permitted, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may transmit screen information for displaying a screen for receiving an operation for selecting the product. When the use continuation permission information acquired by the use continuation permission information acquisition unit 121 indicates that use continuation is not permitted, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 may transmit screen information for displaying a screen that does not receive an operation for selecting the product.

[0188] FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing an example of product screen information transmission processing executed by the system control unit 11 of the sales management server 1 according to the present embodiment. For example, a customer performs an operation of selecting one of the searched products from the search result screen. The customer terminal 4 that has detected this operation transmits a product screen request to the sales management server 1. The product screen request may include the customer ID of the customer and the product ID of the selected product. The system control unit 11 may execute product screen information transmission processing in response to the sales management server 1 receiving a product screen request from the customer terminal 4.

[0189] As shown in FIG. 28, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 acquires the HTML document of the product screen of the product selected by the customer (step S801). For example, in the storage unit 14, the HTML document of the product screen of each product may be stored in association with the product ID. The sales screen information transmission unit 111 may acquire the HTML document associated with the product ID included in the product screen request. Next, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 searches the purchase right DB 14g for the purchase right information including the latest setting date among the purchase right information including the customer ID of the customer and the product ID of the selected product (step S802). As a result of the search, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 determines whether there is corresponding purchase right information (step S803). If there is corresponding purchase right information (step S803: YES), the sales screen information transmission unit 111 determines whether the right state included in the purchase right information is "stopped" (step S804). If the right state is not "stopped" (step S804: NO), or if there is no corresponding purchase right information (step S803: NO), the sales screen information transmission unit 111 validly sets the information indicating the validity of the cart addition button 1220 in the HTML document of the product screen (step S805). If the right state is "stopped" (step S804: YES), the sales screen information transmission unit 111 invalidly sets the information indicating the validity of the cart addition button 1220 (step S806). When step S805 or S806 ends, the sales screen information transmission unit 111 transmits the HTML document of the product screen to the customer terminal 4 (step S807), and the product screen information transmission process ends. The customer terminal 4 displays the product screen based on this HTML document. When the information indicating the validity of the cart addition button 1220 is valid, the customer terminal 4 displays the cart addition button 1220 so that the cart addition button 1220 can be operated. When the information indicating the validity is invalid, the customer terminal 4 displays the cart addition button 1220 so that the cart addition button 1220 cannot be operated.

[0190] As described above, according to the present embodiment, a screen including information on a product corresponding to a request from the customer terminal 4 is displayed on the customer terminal 4. When the provision of the product to the customer is not restricted, the screen is displayed so that the customer can perform an operation of selecting the product. Therefore, the customer can order the product. When the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, the screen is displayed so that the operation of selecting the product is impossible. Therefore, the customer cannot order the product. Therefore, the screen related to the e-commerce transaction can control the restriction on the provision of the product depending on whether or not an operation of selecting the product is accepted.

[0191] [3. Third Embodiment] Next, the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. In this embodiment, there may be a case where the restriction on the provision of a product to a customer is lifted. Except for the points described below, the second embodiment may be the same as at least one of the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

[0192] As described so far, even if the provision of a product to a customer has been restricted once, the customer can purchase the product by having the doctor prescribe the product again. This may correspond to the customer obtaining a new purchase right. In this case, the customer can purchase the product within the range of the maximum prescribed amount. On the other hand, the lifting of the provision restriction in this embodiment may be that the suspension of the purchase right is lifted, or the extinguished purchase right is restored. In this case, the customer may be able to continue purchasing the product within the range of the remaining amount calculated by subtracting the quantity already purchased by the customer from the maximum prescribed amount. If the customer has been purchasing the product through regular automatic purchase, the suspended regular delivery may be resumed.

[0193] FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in the sales management server 1 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 29, the same elements as those in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in FIG. 29, the system control unit 11 may function as a product provision restriction release information acquisition unit 124 and a product provision restriction release notification transmission unit 125 in addition to a sales screen information transmission unit 111, a selected product identification information acquisition unit 112, a cart information management unit 113, a medical examination support unit 114, an order confirmation unit 115, a scheduled shipping information management unit 116, a purchased product identification information acquisition unit 117, a follow-up observation notification transmission unit 118, a question information transmission unit 119, an answer information reception unit 120, a usage continuation availability information acquisition unit 121, a follow-up observation result information transmission unit 122, and a product provision restriction information management unit 123.

[0194] The product provision restriction release information acquisition unit 124 may receive product provision restriction release information after the product provision restriction information is changed by the product provision restriction information management unit 123 so that it can be specified that the provision of the product to the purchaser of the product is restricted. The product provision restriction release information may be information indicating that the restriction on the provision of the product to the purchaser is released. The product provision restriction release information may include the product ID of the product whose provision restriction is released. Further, the product provision restriction release information may include the customer ID of the customer whose product provision is released. Alternatively, the product provision restriction release information may include the follow-up observation ID of the follow-up observation in which the restriction on the provision of the product was determined.

[0195] The product provision restriction release information acquisition unit 124 may acquire the product provision restriction release information from the doctor terminal 2. For example, a doctor may determine whether to release the restriction on the provision of a product to a customer. For example, as a result of the communication between the customer and the doctor, the doctor may make a decision. For example, based on a medical examination, it may be determined whether the restriction on the provision of the product is to be released. The doctor may make a decision during the medical examination or after the medical examination. Alternatively, follow-up observation may be performed after the prescription is discontinued. In this follow-up observation, questions may be presented to the customer to confirm the customer's condition on the assumption that the customer has not used the product whose provision was restricted. In this follow-up observation, the doctor may determine to release the restriction on the provision of the product.

[0196] When the product offering restriction information management unit 123 obtains product offering restriction information by the product offering restriction release information acquisition unit 124, it may change the product offering restriction information so that it can be specified from the product restriction information that the offering of the product to the purchaser of the product is not restricted. For example, the product offering restriction information management unit 123 may change the right state included in the corresponding purchase right information from "suspended" to "valid". Thereby, the suspension of the purchase right may be lifted. By lifting the suspension of the purchase right, continuous purchase by sequential purchase becomes possible. For example, in the case of the first embodiment, the customer can order the product without receiving a doctor's examination. In the case of the second embodiment, the customer can select the product.

[0197] When the product offering restriction information management unit 116 obtains product offering restriction information by the product offering restriction release information acquisition unit 124 for a product purchased by regular automatic purchase, it may cancel the cancellation of the delivery after the next time. Thereby, regular delivery may be resumed. For example, the product offering restriction information management unit 116 may change the delivery status of the corresponding product included in the delivery schedule information from "cancelled" to "undelivered".

[0198] When the product offering restriction release notice transmission unit 125 obtains product offering restriction information by the product offering restriction release information acquisition unit 124, it may transmit a product offering restriction release notice to the purchaser. The product offering restriction release notice may be information that notifies the purchaser that the restriction on the offering of the product to the purchaser is lifted. The product offering restriction release notice may include the name of the product for which the offering restriction has been lifted. The product offering restriction release notice transmission unit 125 may transmit the product offering restriction release notice by an e-mail or an instant message addressed to the purchaser. Alternatively, the product offering restriction release notice transmission unit 125 may transmit the product offering restriction release notice to the customer terminal 4 of the purchaser by a push notification. Alternatively, the product offering restriction release notice transmission unit 125 may transmit screen information including the product offering restriction release notice to the customer terminal 4 to be displayed on the customer terminal 4 in response to a request from the customer terminal 4.

[0199] FIG. 30 is a sequence diagram showing a processing example of the communication system S according to the present embodiment. For example, a doctor operates the doctor terminal 2 and selects a follow-up observation in which a prescription interruption was determined in the past. In response to this operation, the doctor terminal 2 displays a screen showing the result of the follow-up observation including the determination result of whether the prescription of each product can be continued. This screen may be able to accept a selection to cancel the prescription interruption for the product whose prescription has been interrupted. As shown in FIG. 30, the doctor selects to cancel the prescription interruption for any one of the products (step S901). The doctor terminal 2 that has detected this operation transmits prescription interruption cancellation information to the sales management server 1 (step S902). The prescription interruption cancellation information corresponds to product offering restriction cancellation information. The prescription interruption cancellation information may include, for example, the follow-up observation ID of the follow-up observation, the customer ID of the customer targeted by the follow-up observation, and the product ID of the product for which the prescription interruption has been canceled.

[0200] Based on the prescription interruption cancellation information, the product availability restriction information management unit 123 of the sales management server 1 searches the purchase right DB 14g for the purchase right information including the customer ID of the customer who is the subject of the follow-up observation and the product ID of the product for which the prescription interruption has been cancelled, and includes the purchase right information with the latest setting date. The product availability restriction information management unit 123 changes the right status included in the retrieved purchase right information to "valid" (step S903). Next, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 determines whether the purchase form of the product for which the prescription interruption has been cancelled is regular automatic purchase (step S904). For example, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may search the shipping schedule DB 14h for the shipping schedule information including the latest shipping schedule date among the shipping schedule information including the customer ID of the customer who is the subject of the follow-up observation and the product ID of the product for which the prescription interruption has been cancelled. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may make the determination based on the purchase form included in the retrieved shipping schedule information. If the purchase form is regular automatic purchase (step S904: YES), the product availability restriction information management unit 123 changes the shipping status included in the retrieved shipping schedule information to "not shipped" (step S905). In the case where a plurality of products are shipped in one delivery for regular delivery, among those products, the products for which prescription continuation has been determined may already have been shipped. In this case, the shipping schedule information management unit 116 may generate new shipping schedule information for the product for which the prescription interruption has been cancelled. The shipping schedule information management unit 116 may also set a new shipping date.

[0201] When step S905 ends, or when the purchase form is sequential purchase (step S9904: NO), the product provision restriction release notice sending unit 125 sends a product provision restriction release notice email (step S906). The product provision restriction release notice email is an email indicating the release of the product provision restriction. For example, the product provision restriction release notice sending unit 125 may obtain the product name of the product for which the prescription interruption is released from the product DB14b based on the product ID included in the prescription interruption release information. The product provision restriction release notice sending unit 125 may add the product name to the body of the product provision restriction release notice email. Also, the product provision restriction release notice sending unit 125 may obtain the customer's email address based on the customer ID included in the prescription interruption release information. The product provision restriction release notice sending unit 125 may set the recipient address of the product provision restriction release notice email to this email address.

[0202] As described above, according to this embodiment, after the provision of the purchased product is restricted, the restriction may be released. In that case, the purchase right DB14g is re-changed. As a result, it can be specified from the purchase right DB14g that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is not restricted. Therefore, by referring to the purchase right DB14g, processing for enabling the provision of the product to the purchaser can be performed.

[0203] (Appendix 1-1) A purchased product identification information acquisition means for acquiring purchased product identification information for identifying a purchased product among a plurality of products; a prompting information transmission means for transmitting prompting information for prompting a purchaser of the purchased product to answer questions for follow-up regarding the purchased product identified by the acquired purchased product identification information; and a question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating the questions to the purchaser terminal device in response to a request from the purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser after the transmission of the prompting information. The prompting information transmission means transmits the prompting information after the elapse of a period of the length corresponding to the purchased product from a reference date related to the purchase of the purchased product identified by the acquired purchased product identification information, based on product period length information indicating the length of the period until the follow-up time, and the product period length information enables specification of the length corresponding to each of the plurality of products. The question information transmission means transmits the question information corresponding to the purchased product identified by the acquired purchased product identification information, based on product question information indicating the question information that enables specification of the question information corresponding to each of the plurality of products. A follow-up control device characterized by the above.

[0204] (Appendix 1-2) An answer information receiving means for receiving answer information indicating an answer to the question indicated by the transmitted question information from the purchaser terminal device; a permission information acquisition means for acquiring permission information indicating whether it is possible to continue using the purchased product identified by the acquired purchased product identification information, based on the received answer information; and a result information transmission means for transmitting result information indicating the result of the follow-up including whether it is possible to continue using the product indicated by the acquired permission information to the purchaser terminal device. The follow-up control device according to Appendix 1-1, further comprising the above.

[0205] (Appendix 1-3) The approval information acquisition means transmits, to the decision maker terminal device used by a decision maker who determines whether to continue using the purchased product, screen information for displaying, on the decision maker terminal device, a screen capable of receiving a selection of whether to continue using the purchased product identified by the received response information and the acquired purchased product identification information, and answer information transmission means for transmitting the screen information to the decision maker terminal device; and approval information reception means for receiving, from the decision maker terminal device, the approval information indicating whether to continue using the product selected on the screen displayed on the decision maker terminal device based on the transmitted screen information. The follow-up control device according to Appendix 1-2 is characterized by including the above.

[0206] (Appendix 1-4) The purchased product is a pharmaceutical product, and the follow-up control device further includes connection means for connectably connecting the purchaser terminal device and a doctor terminal device used by a doctor for communication for diagnosis by the doctor. The purchased product identification information acquisition means acquires, after connection of the purchaser terminal device and the doctor terminal device by the connection means, the purchased product identification information for identifying the product settled through the diagnosis as the purchased product. The follow-up control device according to any one of Appendices 1-1 to 1-3 is characterized by the above.

[0207] (Appendix 1-5) The follow-up control device further includes delivery completion information reception means for receiving, from a sender terminal device used by a sender of the purchased product, delivery completion information indicating that the purchased product has been shipped to the purchaser, and change means for changing, when the delivery completion information is received by the delivery completion information reception means, a delivery state stored in a predetermined storage means, which is a delivery state of the purchased product to the purchaser, from an undelivered state to a delivered state. The reference date is the delivery date of the purchased product. The prompting information transmission means transmits the prompting information on the condition that the delivery state is set to the delivered state, and transmits the prompting information after elapse of a period of the length corresponding to the purchased product from the delivery date. The follow-up control device according to any one of Appendices 1-1 to 1-4 is characterized by the above.

[0208] (Appended Note 1-6) In a follow-up control method executed by a computer, a purchased product identification information acquisition step of acquiring purchased product identification information for identifying a purchased product among a plurality of products; a prompting information transmission step of transmitting prompting information for prompting a purchaser of the purchased product to answer questions for follow-up regarding the purchased product identified by the acquired purchased product identification information; and a question information transmission step of transmitting question information indicating the questions to the purchaser terminal device in response to a request from the purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser after the transmission of the prompting information, wherein the prompting information transmission step is product period length information indicating the length of the period until the time of follow-up, and based on the product period length information capable of specifying the length corresponding to each of the plurality of products, after the elapse of the period of the length corresponding to the purchased product from the reference date related to the purchase of the purchased product identified by the acquired purchased product identification information, the prompting information is transmitted, and the question information transmission step is based on product question information indicating the question information capable of specifying the question information corresponding to each of the plurality of products, and transmits the question information corresponding to the purchased product identified by the acquired purchased product identification information. A follow-up control method characterized by the above.

[0209] (Appendix 1-7) A computer is made to function as a purchase product identification information acquisition means for acquiring purchase product identification information for identifying purchased products among a plurality of products, a prompting information transmission means for transmitting prompting information for prompting a purchaser of the purchased product to answer questions for follow-up regarding the purchased product identified by the acquired purchase product identification information, and a question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating the questions to the purchaser terminal device in response to a request from the purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser after the transmission of the prompting information. The prompting information transmission means transmits the prompting information after the elapse of a period of the length corresponding to the purchased product identified by the acquired purchase product identification information, based on product period length information indicating the length of the period until the follow-up time, and the product period length information is such that the length corresponding to each of the plurality of products can be specified. The question information transmission means transmits the question information corresponding to the purchased product identified by the acquired purchase product identification information, based on product question information indicating the question information such that the question information corresponding to each of the plurality of products can be specified. A follow-up control program characterized by the above.

[0210] (Appendix 2-1) A product provision control device comprising: a question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating questions for follow-up regarding a purchased product to a purchaser terminal device used by a purchaser of the purchased product; an answer information reception means for receiving, from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, answer information indicating an answer to the question; a permission information acquisition means for acquiring permission information indicating whether the use of the purchased product can be continued, based on the received answer information; and a change means for changing restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, which is restriction information that can specify whether the provision of a product to a customer is restricted for each combination of the customer and the product, such that it can be specified from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted, when it is indicated by the acquired permission information that the use of the purchased product cannot be continued.

[0211] (Appendix 2-2) Identification information acquisition means for acquiring selection product identification information indicating the selected product selected by the customer for the order and customer identification information for identifying the customer who selected the selected product, and the acquired customer identification information When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information is restricted for the customer indicated by, interview support means for assisting an interview with a decision maker who determines the availability of use of the customer and the selected product, and after the interview supported by the interview support means, confirmation means for finalizing the order of the selected product, and further comprising, the confirmation means, when it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information is not restricted for the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information, the order is finalized without the interview The product providing control device according to Appendix 2-1, characterized by that.

[0212] (Appendix 2-3) The interview support means connects the customer terminal device used by the customer and the decision maker terminal device used by the decision maker so as to enable communication for the interview, and for the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information is restricted, after the connection between the customer terminal device and the decision maker terminal device by the interview support means, the confirmation means finalizes the order, and the acquired customer identification information When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information is not restricted for the customer indicated by, the connection between the customer terminal device and the decision maker terminal device by the interview support means is omitted, and the confirmation means finalizes the order. The product providing control device according to Appendix 2-2, characterized by that.

[0213] (Supplementary Note 2-4) The provision of the purchased goods is in the form of regularly shipping the purchased goods to the purchaser. When it is specifically changed by the changing means so that the provision of the purchased goods to the purchaser is restricted, it further comprises cancellation means for canceling the next shipment of the purchased goods to the purchaser. The merchandise offering control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 2-1 to 2-3, characterized in that.

[0214] (Supplementary Note 2-5) A screen related to an e-commerce transaction that enables ordering of merchandise, further comprising screen information transmitting means for transmitting to the customer terminal device screen information for displaying on the customer terminal device a screen including information on requested merchandise in response to a request from the customer terminal device used by a customer. When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the requested merchandise to the customer is not restricted, the screen information transmitting means transmits the screen information for displaying the screen for receiving an operation for selecting the requested merchandise. When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the requested merchandise to the customer is restricted, the screen information transmitting means transmits the screen information for displaying the screen that does not receive the operation. The merchandise offering control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 2-1 to 2-4, characterized in that.

[0215] (Supplementary Note 2-6) After the restriction information is changed so that it can be specified that the provision of the purchased goods to the purchaser is restricted by the changing means, it further comprises cancellation information acquisition means for acquiring cancellation information indicating cancellation of the restriction on the provision of the purchased goods. When the cancellation information is acquired by the cancellation information acquisition means, the changing means changes the restriction information so that it can be specified from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased goods to the purchaser is not restricted. The merchandise offering control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 2-1 to 2-5, characterized in that.

[0216] (Appendix 2-7) After the restriction information is changed so that it can be specified that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted by the change means, cancel information acquisition means for acquiring cancel information indicating cancellation of the provision restriction of the purchased product; and when the cancel information is received by the cancel information acquisition means, a removal means for removing the cancellation of the shipment by the cancellation means, The product provision control device according to Appendix 2-4, further comprising:

[0217] (Appendix 2-8) The product provision control device according to any one of Appendices 2-1 to 2-7, further comprising result information transmission means for transmitting, to the purchaser, result information indicating a follow-up result including whether or not to continue using, indicated by the acquired approval information.

[0218] (Appendix 2-9) The purchased product is a pharmaceutical product, connection means for connectably connecting the purchaser terminal device and a doctor terminal device used by a doctor for communication for the doctor's examination; and after the connection between the purchaser terminal device and the doctor terminal device by the connection means, determination means for determining an order for a product settled through the examination, The product provision control device according to any one of Appendices 2-1 to 2-8, wherein the question information transmission means transmits the question information about the product for which the order is determined by the determination means.

[0219] (Appendix 2-10) In a product offering control method executed by a computer, a question information transmission step of transmitting question information indicating a question for follow-up regarding a purchased product to a purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser of the purchased product, an answer information reception step of receiving, from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, answer information indicating an answer to the question, a permission information acquisition step of acquiring permission information indicating whether continuation of use of the purchased product is permitted based on the received answer information, and a modification step of modifying restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, the restriction information being capable of specifying for each combination of a customer and a product whether product offering to the customer is restricted, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that product offering of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted, when it is indicated from the acquired permission information that continuation of use of the purchased product is not permitted. A product offering control method characterized by including these steps.

[0220] (Appendix 2-11) A product offering control program characterized by causing a computer to function as a question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating a question for follow-up regarding a purchased product to a purchaser terminal device used by the purchaser of the purchased product, an answer information reception means for receiving, from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, answer information indicating an answer to the question, a permission information acquisition means for acquiring permission information indicating whether continuation of use of the purchased product is permitted based on the received answer information, and a modification means for modifying restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, the restriction information being capable of specifying for each combination of a customer and a product whether product offering to the customer is restricted, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that product offering of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted, when it is indicated from the acquired permission information that continuation of use of the purchased product is not permitted.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0221] 1 Sales management server 2 Physician terminal 3 Shipping terminal 4 Customer terminal 11 System control unit 12 System bus 13 Input / output interface 14 Storage unit 14a Member DB 14b Product DB 14c Cart DB 14d Medical examination reservation DB 14e Prescription history DB 14f Order DB 14g Purchase right DB 14h Scheduled delivery DB 14i Follow-up observation period DB 14j Question information DB 14k Scheduled follow-up observation notice DB 14l Answer DB 14m Follow-up observation result DB 111 Sales screen information transmission unit 112 Selected product identification information acquisition unit 113 Cart information management unit 114 Medical examination support unit 115 Order confirmation unit 116 Scheduled delivery information management unit 117 Purchased product identification information acquisition unit 118 Follow-up observation notice transmission unit 119 Question information transmission unit 120 Answer information reception unit 121 Unit for obtaining information on whether to continue use 122 Follow-up observation result information transmission unit 123 Product provision restriction information management unit 124 Unit for obtaining product provision restriction removal information 125 Product provision restriction removal notice transmission unit NW Network

Claims

1. Question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating questions for follow-up regarding purchased goods to a purchaser terminal device used by a purchaser of the purchased goods; Answer information receiving means for receiving, from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, answer information indicating an answer to the question; Permission information acquisition means for acquiring permission information indicating whether continued use of the purchased goods is permitted based on the received answer information; When it is indicated that continued use of the purchased goods is not permitted based on the acquired permission information, modification means for modifying restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, the restriction information being capable of specifying, for each combination of a customer and a product, whether the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased goods to the purchaser is restricted; A product provision control device comprising the above.

2. Identification information acquisition means for acquiring selection product identification information indicating a selected product selected by a customer for an order and customer identification information for identifying the customer who selected the selected product; Interview support means for supporting an interview between the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information and a decision maker who determines the usability of the selected product when it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information to the customer is restricted; Confirmation means for confirming the order of the selected product after the interview supported by the interview support means; further comprising, The confirmation means is characterized in that, when it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information to the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information is not restricted, the order is confirmed without the interview. The product provision control device according to claim 1.

3. The interview support means enables communication for the interview by connecting a customer terminal device used by the customer and a decision maker terminal device used by the decision maker. If it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information is restricted for the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information, after the connection between the customer terminal device and the decision maker terminal device by the interview support means, the confirmation means confirms the order. If it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the selected product indicated by the acquired selection product identification information is not restricted for the customer indicated by the acquired customer identification information, the connection between the customer terminal device and the decision maker terminal device by the interview support means is omitted, and the confirmation means confirms the order. The product providing control device according to claim 2, characterized in that.

4. The provision of the purchased product is in a form of regularly shipping the purchased product to the purchaser. The product providing control device according to claim 1, further comprising cancellation means for canceling the next shipment of the purchased product to the purchaser when it is specified by the change means that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted.

5. A screen related to an e-commerce transaction that enables ordering of products, further comprising screen information transmitting means for transmitting screen information for displaying on the customer terminal device a screen including information on a requested product in response to a request from the customer terminal device used by the customer. When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the requested product is not restricted for the customer, the screen information transmitting means transmits the screen information for displaying the screen for receiving an operation for selecting the requested product. When it is specified from the restriction information that the provision of the requested product is restricted for the customer, the screen information transmitting means transmits the screen information for displaying the screen that does not receive the operation. The product providing control device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

6. After the restriction information is changed by the change means so that it can be specified that the provision of the purchased product is restricted for the purchaser, the product providing control device further comprises cancellation information acquisition means for acquiring cancellation information indicating cancellation of the provision restriction of the purchased product. The change means, when the cancellation information is acquired by the cancellation information acquisition means, changes the restriction information so that it can be specified from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is not restricted. The product provision control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. After the restriction information is changed by the change means so that it can be specified that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted, cancellation information acquisition means for acquiring cancellation information indicating cancellation of the provision restriction of the purchased product; When the cancellation information is received by the cancellation information acquisition means, removal means for removing the cancellation of the shipment by the cancellation means; The product provision control device according to claim 4, further comprising:

8. The product provision control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising result information transmission means for transmitting result information indicating a follow-up result including whether the use can be continued indicated by the acquired approval information to the purchaser.

9. The purchased product is a pharmaceutical product, Connection means for connecting the purchaser terminal device and a doctor terminal device used by a doctor so as to enable communication for diagnosis by the doctor; After connection between the purchaser terminal device and the doctor terminal device by the connection means, confirmation means for confirming an order for a product settled through the diagnosis; further comprising The product provision control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the question information transmission means transmits the question information about the product for which the order has been confirmed by the confirmation means.

10. In a product provision control method executed by a computer, A question information transmission step of transmitting question information indicating a question for follow-up of a purchased product to a purchaser terminal device used by a purchaser of the purchased product; An answer information reception step of receiving answer information indicating an answer to the question from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information; An approval information acquisition step of acquiring approval information indicating whether the use of the purchased product can be continued based on the received answer information; When the obtained approval information indicates that the continued use of the purchased product is not possible, a change step of changing restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, the restriction information being capable of specifying for each combination of a customer and a product whether or not the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted. A product provision control method characterized by including the above.

11. A computer is Question information transmission means for transmitting question information indicating a question for follow-up regarding a purchased product to a purchaser terminal device used by a purchaser of the purchased product. Answer information reception means for receiving, from the purchaser terminal device that has received the transmitted question information, answer information indicating an answer to the question. Approval information acquisition means for acquiring approval information indicating whether or not the continued use of the purchased product is possible based on the received answer information. When the obtained approval information indicates that the continued use of the purchased product is not possible, a change means for changing restriction information stored in a predetermined storage means, the restriction information being capable of specifying for each combination of a customer and a product whether or not the provision of the product to the customer is restricted, so that it can be specified from the restriction information that the provision of the purchased product to the purchaser is restricted. A product provision control program characterized by causing the computer to function as described above.

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