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A Typical e-Commerce Flow
The Quick Store tutorial and eStore instructional media, such as DrumNotes and
Starting Points follow this very typical e-commerce flow. However, you can create
any flow you want. As e-commerce matures, there will be better flows discovered
and planned. Bear in mind that eStore is as flexible as you make it.
The site visitor enters the site and browses or searches for product items.
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The shopper sees a desired product and adds the item to the shopping cart.
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When finished browsing and shopping, the customer decides to proceed to the
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check-out pages. The check-out pages are on a secure server that uses Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
On one of the check-out pages, the shopper is given the opportunity to change
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the shopping cart contents and then confirms the order.
Returning shoppers enter their user ID and password to retrieve their account
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information: billing and shipping address, credit card numbers, email address,
etc. First-time customers are taken to a page where account information is
captured in an orders database.
The order is processed using an online or offline payment mechanism. The
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order detail is entered into the database. At this point, the product items can be
deducted from inventory.
The customer is taken to a thank-you page which includes the order details and
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delivery information.
Up and Running Fast with eStore
The easiest way to build an e-commerce site following this e-commerce flow and
one that is advisable if you are starting a new site from scratch, is to base the site
on the QuickStoreComplete Starting Point (pre-built site file). You can read how
to do this in the User's Guide section of this book under Customizing the Quick
Store Starting Point. When you follow the Quick Store tutorial from beginning to
end, it guides you through the mechanics of the site and the set up of secure
transactions and other functions tailored to your unique development. No matter
if you are building a site from scratch or adding e-commerce capability to an
existing site and integrating it with an existing database schema, we recommend
going through Chapter 2 Adding and Updating the Shopping Cart where you
learn how to customize the Data-Map.
Secure Transactions
Security is very important to e-business. There are several ways you can ensure a
secure application.
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