You have probably heard of the term eCommerce and as its popularity keeps growing, you will continue to hear about it, but in case you are not that familiar with it, here is everything you need to know about the buying process in ecommerce.
eCommerce comes from electronic commerce, which describes any exchange of products or services done online.
What is an ecommerce store?
It is a website that sells products online and accepts payments online as well.
What are the steps in the buying process in eCommerce?
Order submission
Let’s say you want to buy a new purse from a retail web store. When you visit the site, your browser will communicate with the server that manages the vendor’s website.
Order management
The web server sends your order to the company’s order management solution, which is a system that tracks your order all along the buying, from submission through shipment. In order to know if the item you want is in stock, the order management system will send a query to the company’s stock database.
Stock management
If your wanted item is in stock, the stock database system will send your order to the merchant system for processing. On the other hand, if the item is not available, that database can order a new supply, assess when those items will be available and suggest an estimated restocking date.
Payment processing
After confirmation of stock availability, the stock database transmits your order to the merchant system. This system is run by a credit card processing firm or bank and may communicate with your bank computer to verify that funds are available for the purchase. Once the funding is confirmed, the merchant system will authorize your transaction.
Order confirmation
After the vendor’s internal systems confirm the purchase, you’ll receive an order confirmation notice via the company’s web server. In most cases, companies also send an email and/or text confirmation about your order, along with updates about order processing or shipping.
Order packaging
The order management system sends details about your order to the retailer’s warehouse. This information lets the warehouse team be ready to package your item and prepare it for shipment.
Order dispatch
The warehouse ships your order. It is common that vendors rely on a third-party delivery company that delivers the item to you.
How is the checkout flow?
During a standard checkout process, the customer will go to the shopping cart > billing info > shipping info > shipping method > preview order > payment > confirmation. Thus, the seven essential steps your website will need are:
- Initiate checkout
- Login orSign up (optional)
- Billing Information
- Shipping Information
- Shipping Method
- Preview Order
- Payment Confirmation
Now that you know more about the buying process in ecommerce and the checkout process, you can focus on improving your ecommerce store making sure the flow goes as smoothly and fast as possible, including the vital steps. Should you want to know about ecommerce outsourcing, you can read the article.
If you are looking for the right team to help you pull up a store online, we are here to help you. We are experts in Shopify development or WooCommerce development. Contact us today.
