A communication terminal includes circuitry configured to: perform first transmission of connection request information indicating a connection request to a first explainer terminal that preferentially responds to the connection request from the communication terminal provided in an unmanned store; and receive response information indicating a response of connection availability from the first explainer terminal. The circuitry is further configured to perform second transmission of the connection request information to a second explainer terminal that does not preferentially respond to the connection request from the communication terminal provided in the unmanned store, when the circuitry receives the response information indicating that connection is unavailable from the first explainer terminal, or when the circuitry receives from the first explainer terminal no response information indicating whether the connection is available within a certain time period after the first transmission of the connection request information.