E-Commerce concept was coined in the last two decades due to the amazing advancements in the technology. E-commerce has become a routine part of our lives and now it is hard to visualize our life without the support of eCommerce at every stage. Various eCommerce websites or online stores facilitate service providers and consumers to continue transactions over the web. Fast evolving technological changes and progress necessitates online stores to be well equipped with all modern features that please online consumers.
eCommerce Concept - At Its Basic Level
In simple terms, eCommerce is nothing but electronic commerce applied for buying and selling services and goods over the internet. eCommerce systems also have integrated payment systems that allow clients to pay using suitable modes like net banking, cards, or payment wallets.
Thus, an eCommerce website or an online store is a type of website that allows online users to buy products or services using online payment options.
Classification of eCommerce websites
eCommerce websites are classified based on the type of eCommerce model the website serves:
- Business-to-Consumer (B2C): Sending a push notification on the smart devices. Electronic or digital exchanges of commodities and services between businesses and customers or the end-users.
- Business-to-Business (B2B): Electronic or digital exchanges of commodities and services between two businesses.
- Consumer-to-Business (C2B): Digital exchanges of goods and services by people contribution to businesses by offering goods and services to businesses.
- Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): Online exchanges of merchandise and services between different consumers mainly through the third party.
- Consumer-to-Administration (C2A): An eCommerce model where a consumer offers goods and services to people and civic organizations.
- Business-to-Administration (B2A): An eCommerce model to exchange products and services between different organizations and public administrations.
Here, it is possible to select and fix a geographical area from a map and place up a digital barrier around it. This ‘fenced-off’ location can search, detect and interact with smart devices that breach its territory. A Geofence allows businesses to send text messages, emails, push notifications when smartphone users enter in specific areas. These actions trigger when device users enter Geo-fence area or exit this area or even remain connected in that area. This innovative feature is provided by both Android and iOS platforms. Its mechanism works by considering latitude and longitude parameters for the geographical area to be marked-off.
Steps involved in an eCommerce website transaction
Will it be interesting to know the internal mechanics of eCommerce websites? Go through these steps and you will get it.
Steps are:
- A customer selects one of the products available on the website and adds it to the cart. Relevant data is stored in the database.
- The order processor checks through the database if the said product of that exact color and specifications is present in stock..
- If the product is not in stock, the next order can be placed for more items from a manufacturer. If the product is available, the stock database assures the specified product is available.
- The payment is accepted.
- When the payment transaction is fulfilled, the webserver is notified, and the customer receives a message that the transaction is complete.
- The order processor takes further steps to dispatch the purchased products’ order from the warehouse to the customer. And finally, the customer is notified by an email or SMS.
Technologies Associated with E-Commerce Website Development
Let us now understand the technical part about e-Commerce website development technologies.
Web Server
A web server is one of the basic requirements for hosting an e-commerce website. It provides the right place to store a website that employs HTML, PHP, JavaScript, databases, ASP, and media files for forming the complete and fully functional website.
Server Software
When an online surfer visits any website on a web browser, the server understands the client is asking for some information. Then server processes that request and provides the correct files to the client. Finally, the web browser shows these files to the surfer or user. Server software is available for different purposes including database server, application server, file server, and cloud server. The most popular web server includes Windows IIS and Apache server.
Web Tools
A web authoring tool is highly useful to create the front end of an e-commerce web application. It can include basic HTML text editor E.g. Notepad++ and complex content management systems that are well built with debugging tools. HTML files are styled with CSS using Dreamweaver tool.
One more prominent web authoring tool is Visual Studio .net that can be applied to make the websites with integrated databases. Various graphic design packages also help designers to design the skin for a user interface.
Database System
A database is an integral and crucial component of an e-commerce website which is designed to store the details of products and services that are offered by the website such as pricing, offers, product description, images, and sales. For an e-commerce website, consumer details are also stored like order details, payment details, complaint details, contact information, etc.
It is obligatory to programme the website to hook up securely to the database so that all details are stored correctly, and business executes swiftly.
Networking
TCP (transfer control protocol) and IP (internet protocol) define and regulate the connection mechanism between computers through the internet and information sharing among them. Commonly used TCP/IP protocols include HTTPS, HTTP, and FTP. FTP (file transfer protocol) is applied to download files from a browser.
One special note for security: In HTTPS protocol S stands for security and it is responsible for the secure communication between a server and a browser as it is the top-most priority for sharing account information or personal details. Apart from this, SSL and TLS are mainly utilized for e-commerce projects due to their security and trust.
Browser Compatibility
A web browser is a software application that is aimed to receive, locate and display content fetched from the web servers. Commonly used web browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari. Web development companies test e-commerce project for its browser support and compatibility issues.
Ports
Ports provide a mechanism for one device to connect with the other device through a different and unique IP address. A device can be defined with more than one port.
Port 25 (SMTP) is generally reserved for email. An email will not be sent if that port is blocked. Other common ports include 80(HTTP), 21 (FTP), 22 (SSH) 443 (HTTPS). Firewalls can block a port to constrict the security.
Domain Names
Domain names are associated with a company, business, or brand. Successful e-commerce brands and businesses have identifiable domain names. For smaller businesses, the domain name can be selected based on the business name.
Let’s have a quick recap of all interesting technologies that can help you in producing a great eCommerce website.
- Front End: HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Ajax, JQuery
- Server Side Scripting: ASP, PHP
- CMS: WordPress, Magento, + Woo commerce, PrestaShop, OpenCart., Shopify
- Database: MSSQL, MySQL, Oracle
To Sum Up
Dreamworth Solutions is a brand name in website design and development solutions who have a legacy of more than 10 years of experience in providing solutions and other IT services. Our experienced and skilled IT personnel distinguish us from other contemporaries and help us to achieve the desired height in a decade.
We always plan and devise solutions by considering our huge client base and prospective clients. Client satisfaction and gratitude is our top-most priority. This thought process motivated us to devise an exclusive e-commerce website development package to serve all types of clients right from start-up owners to CEOs of big companies.
Let’s have a look at our efforts in delivering an appreciable and worthwhile e-commerce web application for you.
Standard and Must Features
Product : -
- Unlimited products entry and description support to manage your product portfolio.
- Variable products choices and support to search them by applying different filters.
- Affiliate products We also support the affiliate marketing model.
- Feature to include bulk product entries.
- Unlimited images support to visually engage your customers.
- Service for physical and digital products We serve both business holders who contribute physical and digital products like online resources, eBooks, etc.
Shipping, Payment, and Tax : -
- Integration of multiple payment gateways We offer customers flexibility and convenience with various payment options like direct bank transfer, wallets, credit cards, cheques, and even cash on delivery.
- Shipping options Support for various shipping options.
- Taxation GST compatible tax handling system.
Website Customization and Product Navigation : -
- Great themes and template collection
- Website customization by maintaining your brand’s personality and considering each design aspect from the homepage layout to the CTA buttons.
- Features to set product attributes, tags, and categories.
- Product sorting and filtering based on multiple filters.
- Support for widgets
Marketing and Sales : -
- Coupons and free gifts to delight your customers.
- Integration with external channels for the optimized selling process.
- SEO initiatives for eCommerce Website
- Reports View sales, refunds, taxes, and coupons over time. See your top products and categories.
- Powerful dashboard to provide you major insights in one glance.
- Visibility to multiple reports like sales, orders and top products, etc.
- Product reviews and rating features for consumers.
- Blogging services to offer engaging content to readers.
- Google Analytics integration
We also provide custom and premium features to fulfil our client requirements. Our premium features include-
Premium Features
These features become available in the Premium Plan.
- Points and Rewards: Execution of the loyalty programme to retain and engage customers with your brand.
- Affiliate Management service.
- Free Gifts Premium: Free gifts to surprise your loyal customers.
- Powerful dashboard to provide you major insights in one glance.
- Honour reviewers Reward specific reviewers with discount coupons.
- Promotional, SEO, advertising and digital marketing efforts.
- Support for analytics services (Please refer to our associated resources for this service).
Being a great SEO and digital marketing brand, we also offer apt SEO and promotional services to our clients. Check our website for our other core competencies that can help you stand out in the competition. If you have any e-commerce website development requirement, contact our business team and spark your online brand with Dreamworth Solution's help at a competitive cost.
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