This document provides an overview of e-commerce, including its advantages and disadvantages. It describes different types of e-commerce platforms based on licensing models (on-premise, SaaS, open source), sales scenarios (B2B, B2C, C2B, C2C), and data exchange (integrated, interfaced). It also outlines the typical process flow for an e-commerce site, from entry point to product listing/search to checkout to order confirmation. Key components are described for pages like home, product details, cart, and checkout.

1. E Commerce
Overview
13th May 2015
(v0.1)
PramodKumar

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Table of Contents
1.1 E-commerce........................................................................................................................ 2
1.1.1 Advantages of Ecommerce: ........................................................................................... 2
1.1.2 Disadvantages of Ecommerce: ....................................................................................... 3
1.2 Types of e-commerce ..........................................................................................................4
1.2.1 Types of licensing models.............................................................................................. 4
1.2.2 Types of Sales scenario..................................................................................................5
1.2.3 Types of data exchange.................................................................................................6
1.3 E Commerce Process Flow ...................................................................................................8
1.3.1 Entry Point Sub Process Flow......................................................................................... 9
1.3.2 Home Page components.............................................................................................. 10
1.3.3 Product Listing/Search Results Page............................................................................. 11
1.3.4 Product Details Page ................................................................................................... 12
1.3.5 Product Details Page with Bundle products................................................................... 13
1.3.5 Cart Page.................................................................................................................... 14
1.3.6 Checkout Page............................................................................................................ 15
1.3.8 Billing details Page ...................................................................................................... 16
1.3.7 Shipping details Page................................................................................................... 17
1.3.9 Payment details Page.................................................................................................. 18
1.3.10 Order Review Page.................................................................................................... 19
1.3.11 Order Confirmation/Thank you Page.......................................................................... 20

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1.1 E-commerce
Electroniccommerce,commonlyknownase-commerce oreCommerce,istradinginproductsor
servicesusingcomputernetworks,suchasthe Internet
E-commerce businessesmayemploysome orall of the following:
 Online shoppingwebsitesforretail salesdirecttoconsumers
 Providingorparticipatinginonlinemarketplaces,whichprocessthird-partybusiness-to-
consumeror consumer-to-consumersales
 Business-to-businessbuyingandselling
 Business-to-businesselectronicdatainterchange
 Marketingto prospective andestablishedcustomersbye-mail orfax (forexample,with
newsletters)
 Engaginginpretail forlaunchingnew productsandservices
1.1.1 AdvantagesofEcommerce:
1. AdvantagestoOrganizations
2. AdvantagestoConsumers
3. AdvantagestoSociety
1.1.1.1 Advantages toOrganizations
1. UsingE-Commerce,organizationcanexpandtheirmarkettonational andinternational
marketswithminimumcapital investment.Anorganizationcaneasilylocate more
customers,bestsuppliersandsuitablebusinesspartnersacrossthe globe.
2. E-Commerce helpsorganizationtoreduce the costto create process,distribute,retrieveand
manage the paperbasedinformationbydigitizingthe information.
3. E-commerce improvesthe brandimage of the company.
4. E-commerce helpsorganizationtoprovide bettercustomerservices.
5. E-Commerce helpstosimplifythe businessprocessesandmake themfasterandefficient.
6. E-Commerce reducespaperworkalot.
7. E-Commerce increasedthe productivityof the organization.Itsupports"pull"type supply
management.In"pull"type supplymanagement,abusinessprocessstartswhenarequest
comesfroma customerandit usesjust-in-timemanufacturingway.
1.1.1.2 Advantages toCustomers
1. 24x7 supports.Customercando transactionsforthe product or enquiryaboutany
product/servicesprovidedbyacompany anytime,anywherefromanylocation.Here 24x7
refersto24 hoursof each sevendaysof a week.
2. E-Commerce applicationprovidesusermore optionsandquickerdeliveryof products.
3. E-Commerce applicationprovidesusermore optionstocompare andselectthe cheaperand
betteroption.
4. A customercan putreviewcommentsaboutaproduct andcan see whatothersare buying
or see the reviewcommentsof othercustomersbefore makingafinal buy.
5. E-Commerce providesoptionof virtual auctions.

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6. Readilyavailable information.A customercansee the relevantdetailedinformationwithin
secondsratherthan waitingfordaysor weeks.
7. E-Commerce increasescompetitionamongthe organizationsandasresultorganizations
providessubstantial discountstocustomers.
1.1.1.3 Advantages toSociety
1. Customersneednottotravel to shopa product thuslesstrafficonroad and low air
pollution.
2. E-Commerce helpsreducingcostof productsso lessaffluentpeople canalsoaffordthe
products.
3. E-Commerce hasenabledaccesstoservicesandproductstorural areasas well whichare
otherwise notavailable tothem.
4. E-Commerce helpsgovernmenttodeliverpublicserviceslike healthcare,education,social
servicesatreducedcostand inimprovedway.
1.1.2 DisadvantagesofEcommerce:
1. Initial cost: The cost of creating/ buildingE-Commerce applicationin-housemaybe very
high.There couldbe delayinlaunchingthe E-Commerce applicationdue tomistakes,lackof
experience.
2. User resistance:Usermaynot trust the site beingunknownfacelessseller.Suchmistrust
makesitdifficulttomake userswitchfromphysical storestoonline/virtual stores.
3. Security/Privacy:Difficulttoensure securityorprivacyononline transactions.
4. Lack of touch or feel of productsduring onlineshopping.
5. E-Commerce applicationsare still evolvingandchangingrapidly.
6. Internetaccessisstill notcheaperandis inconvenienttouse formany potential customers
like one livinginremote villages.

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1.2 Types of e-commerce
Varioustypesof e-commerce platformsfall intoseveralindustryclassificationsbasedupontheir
licensingmodel,salesscenarioanddataexchange.
1.2.1 Typesoflicensingmodels
1.2.1.1 On-premisee-commerce
On-premisee-commerce software usuallyrequires initial one time purchase investmentintermsof
licensingfees.Also,itimpliesextracostsrelatedtohardware andinstallationservicesaswell asdata
migrationandon-goingmaintenance feesthatare usuallychargedona yearlybasisforsoftware
updatesandsupport.Some examplesof typical onpremise E-commerce platformsare Hybris
(company) andIBM WebSphere.
Advantages:
7. Easilycustomizable
8. Data security
9. Highperformance
Disadvantages:
10. Large initial investment
11. Self-maintenance
12. Technical knowledge
1.2.1.2 Softwareas a service(SaaS)E-commerce
Software as a Service (SaaS)- isacloudbaseddeliverymodel inwhichapplicationsare hostedand
managedina service provider'sdatacenter,paidforona subscriptionbasisandaccessedviaa
browseroveran internetconnection.Twoexamplesof typical SaaSE-commerce solutions
are Shopifyand Demandware.
Advantages:
1. Affordable low-costsolution
2. Hosted/upgradedbyE-commerce provider
3. Easilyscalable
Disadvantages:
1. Limitedintegrationwithback-endsystems
2. Lack of data security
3. Limitedcontrol overthe system
1.2.1.3 OpensourceE-commerce
Opensource e-Commerce isafree of charge platformthat doesn’timplylicensesfee.Furthermore,
opensource usersare alsoresponsible forinstalling,maintaining,securingandconfiguringthe
software ontheirownservers.Inorderto setup an opensource platform, basictechnical expertise
isrequiredinthe areasof webdesignanddevelopment.Software productsthatare distributedas

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opensource are generallyfree,anduserscanaccessand modifythe source code.Three examplesof
typical opensource E-commerce platformsare Paycart, Magentoand Thelia.
Advantages:
1. Free of charge system
2. Wide varietyof available addons/plugins/extensions
3. Betterflexibility withacustomizablesource code
Disadvantages:
1. More technical knowledge required
2. Performance dependsonhostingcosts
3. No standardintegrationwithback-endsystem
1.2.2 TypesofSalesscenario
There are multiple types of sales scenario that eCommerce system can combine depending on a
company’s sales approach towards their customers.
Business
(organization)
Consumers
(individual)
Business
(organization)
B2B
(e.gAlibaba,Shopclues)
B2C
(e.gfilpkart,snapdeal,paytm)
Consumers
(individual)
C2B
(e.gbloggerdisplayingproducts
ads on itsblog)
C2C
(e.gOLX,Quickr)
1.2.2.1 Business-to-Consumer(B2C)
In a Business-to-ConsumerE-commerceenvironment,companiessell theironline goodsto
consumerswhoare the endusersof theirproductsor services.Usually, B2CE-commerce webshops
have an openaccessfor any visitor,meaningthatthere isnoneedfora persontologininorderto
make any productrelatedinquiry.
1.2.2.2 Business-to-Business (B2B)
In a Business-to-BusinessE-commerce environment,companiessell theironlinegoodstoother
companieswithoutbeingengagedinsalestoconsumers.InmostB2B E-commerce environments
enteringthe webshopwill require alogin.B2B webshopusuallycontainscustomer-specificpricing,
customer-specificcollections andcustomer-specificdiscounts.
1.2.2.3 Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
In a Consumer-to-BusinessE-commerceenvironment,consumersusuallyposttheirproductsor
servicesonlineonwhichcompaniescanposttheirbids.A consumerreviewsthe bidsandselectsthe
companythat meetshisprice expectations. Examplescouldbe abloggerdisplayingproductsadson
itsblog,or a photographerofferingstockimagesto businesses.Thiscouldalsobe someone
answeringapoll througha survey site, orofferingjobhiring service byreferringsomeone
throughreferral hiringsites.

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1.2.2.4 Consumer-to-Consumer(C2C)
In a Consumer-to-ConsumerE-commerce environmentconsumerssell theironlinegoodstoother
consumers.A well-knownexample is Olx,Quickr.
1.2.3 Typesofdata exchange
Many E-commerce software retrieve the informationfromacertainback-endsystem, suchas
an Enterprise resource planning (ERP) or Customerrelationshipmanagement (CRM) system.This
informationisstoredinthe database of that system.The Businesslogic containsall of the business
rulesthatdefine the waydatais stored,created,displayed,calculatedandisbeingrecreatedinside
an ERP or CRM system.Forexample:differentproductdiscountsare appliedfordifferentcustomer
accounts.In orderto retrieve the information,twotypesof dataexchange are takenintoaccount.
1.2.3.1 Integrated E-commerce
In integratedE-commerce,apart of the software solutionisinstalledinside the back-endsystem.
Thismeansthat the connectionbetweenthe businesslogicanddatabase of a back-endsystemis
configured automatically.Informationthatisavailable inthe back-endsystemisbeing re-used and
displayedinthe front/backendof the E-commerce system.AnintegratedE-commerce software
productthus doesn’trequire toinvestinrecreatingaseparate database orbusinesslogic.Instead,it
re-usesthose of the back-endsystem.IntegratedE-commerce software ismostlyusedinaB2B and
B2C scenario.A typical exampleof anintegratedE-commerce software is SanaCommerce.
1.2.3.2 Interfaced E-commerce
In interfacedE-commerce,the softwaresolutionisinstalledontopof the back-endsystem.This
meansthat the connectionbetweenthe businesslogicanddatabase of a back-endsystemis
setup manually.Informationthatisavailable inthe back-endsystemisbeing duplicated intothe E-
commerce software.AninterfacedE-commerce software productthushastheir
own database and businesslogic thatare beingsynchronizedconstantlythroughaconnectiontoa
certainback-endsystem.InterfacedE-commerce ismostlyusedinaB2C scenario.Anexample of
interfacingE-commerce software is Magento.

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1.3 E Commerce Process Flow
Registered
?
Login
View Search item
Shop
User Registration
Add item to Cart
Display Cart content
Change Cart
Quantities
Change item
Quantities
Checkout
Shipping Details
Billing Details
Payment Details
Order Review
Approved
Order confirmation
Logout
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes

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1.3.1 EntryPoint SubProcessFlow

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1.3.2 HomePage components
A. BrandingImage and topnavigation
B. QuickNavigations
C. Searchbar withinteractive Suggestions
D. Interactive Slidestopromote targetedsectionor product
E. Sidebarareato holdblocksof banner,badgesanddynamicsblockslike ,recentlyviewedand
mini cart
F. Featuredcategoryimage linkedtocategorypages
G. FeaturedProducts(configurablebyoptions)
H. Footerarea,navigationlinks,copyrightpolicy,newslettersign-upetc.

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1.3.3 ProductListing/SearchResultsPage
A. Filterednavigationoncategoryandsearchresultspages.Usescontextspecificproduct
categoriesandattributestohelpshopperfindrelevantproducts
B. Mini-cart,interactswithuseractionsanddisplays,quantity,total amountandmini viewsof
productsin cart, usercan remove itemsfromcart or click
C. Productnavigation,withbreadcrumbs,pagination,sortingoptions,subscribe toRSSfeed.
D. Productsrenderedinmainareaand paginatedimagesandtitlesclickabletodetailspages.
E. Actionstopurchase,add to cart updatesmini cart,if configurable withoptionsuseristaken
to details page.

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1.3.4 ProductDetailsPage
A. Recentlyviewedproductslistedinsidebar
B. Productdetails,main image,name,availability,short,description,linktoemail afriend
C. Productoptions(requiredforconfigurableproducts),basedonproductattributes
D. More views:alternate imagesof product,clickchangesmainimage,zoomingfeature toview
detail
E. Addto cart / quantityinput.Buttonclickupdatesmini cartanduseris notifiedattopof
page;or (as setin back-office) usercanbe directedtothe shoppingcartpage to begin
checkout
F. Recommended(productspecificmerchandising)
G. Long descriptionandproductspecs andreviews

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1.3.5 ProductDetailsPagewith Bundleproducts
A. Recentlyviewedproductslistedinsidebar
B. Productdetails,mainimage,name,availability,short,description,linktoemail afriend
C. Bundle productsoffers/combooffers
D. More views:alternate imagesof product,clickchangesmainimage,zoomingfeature toview
detail
E. Addto cart / quantityinput.Buttonclickupdatesmini cartanduseris notifiedattopof
page;or (as setin back-office) usercanbe directedtothe shoppingcartpage to begin
checkout
F. Recommended(productspecificmerchandising)
G. Long descriptionandproductspecs

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1.3.5 Cart Page
A. Shoppingcarttable,editable quantity,displaysanyproductoptionsselectedbyshopper;
line itemsinclude producticonname andunitprice.
B. Update shoppingcart, whenuserchangesquantity,the pricingcanbe updatedwiththis
button
C. Cross-sell offersonthe cartpage are basedonproductsthat the shopperhas addedtothe
cart
D. Discountcode formfor redemptionof couponcodes
E. Shippingestimateformtohelpshoppertogeta quote ontotal purchase cost
F. Proceedtocheckoutbeginsthe one-page checkoutprocess,asa bestpractice the buttonis
above and belowthe ‘fold’(alwaysvisiblewhenscrolling)

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1.3.6 CheckoutPage
A. CheckoutMethod step.Create anaccount, loginorcheckoutas guest
B. Stepsincheckoutfloware reportedonscreento indicate progressandconfirmshopper
billing,shippingaddressandmethodaswell payment method
C. Optionsforfirsttime customerstopurchase as anonymousshopper(guest) orchoose to
save informationin‘MyAccount’to registerasa shopper
D. Continue initiatesthe secondstepinthe flow
E. Loginretrievesstoredshopperdetailstofacilitate completingof checkoutformsandauto-
populates the fields forease of use

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1.3.8 BillingdetailsPage
A. Billinginformationisthe nextstepinthe flow
B. Stepsincheckoutfloware reportedonscreento indicate progressandconfirmshopper
billing,shippingaddressandmethodaswell payment method
C. Shopperchooseswhetherornot to use the same addressas billingtoshipthe purchase to
or create a newaddressentryforshipmentinthe thirdstep Whenshopperelectstoshipto
the same addressas billingthe next(3rd) stepisskippedasbilling addressisstoredforthe
shippingaddresstoo
D. Continue initiatesthe thirdorfourthstepinthe flow

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1.3.7 ShippingdetailsPage
A. ShippingMethodisthe stepinthe flow
B. Stepsincheckoutfloware reportedonscreento indicate progressandconfirmshopper
billing, shippingaddressandmethodaswell payment method
C. Optionto‘gift’the purchase and notifythe recipientbyemail suingthe ‘giftmessage’
D. Continue initiatesthe nextstepinthe flow

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1.3.9 Payment detailsPage
A. PaymentMethodisthe nextstepinthe flow
B. Stepsincheckoutfloware reportedonscreento indicate progressandconfirmshopper
billing, shippingaddressandmethodaswell payment method
C. In thisexample the methodchosenisCreditCard Paymentinformationiscollectedand
processedwith paymentgatewayselectedinthe back-office.
D. Continue initiatesthe final ‘review’stepinthe flow

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1.3.10 OrderReviewPage
A. OrderReviewisthe final stepinthe flow
B. Stepsincheckoutfloware reportedonscreento indicate progressandconfirmshopper
billing,shippingaddressandmethodaswell payment method
C. Purchase summaryof itemsandtotal cost for shopperconfirmation
D. Optiontoeditthe itemsinthe cart, add,etc.
E. Place orderactioncompletesthe purchase.The shopperwillbe notifiedwitha successpage
inresponse tothe order postingorif there was any error on the transaction

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1.3.11 OrderConfirmation/ThankyouPage
A. OrderCompleted,Linktoorderdetailsandbuttonto continue shopping
B. Mini-cartisnow emptyfollowingcompetedorder
C. My Ordersblockshowsrecentpurchasestoallow quickre-orderof products