Websites Design and Ecommerce Websites

We're taking Ecommerce to the next level and giving the customer a better on-line shopping experience.

Most modern Ecommerce websites are based on applications. They have a user interface, administration settings, store data in a database and follow a work-flow of processes. We're going to touch on some of these areas. An Ecommerce website can be thought of as a play with actors performing its scenes.

The main factors in an Ecommerce website are:

• The Customer - buys products
• The Website Owner - ships bought products & gets paid
• The Ecommerce Application - interface between all the factors
• The Payment Gateway - handles payment transactions
• The Merchant/Business Bank Account - Website owner's business bank account

The main buying process of an Ecommerce website happens as follows:

• Customer browses product catalogue
• Customer adds product to basket
• Customer buys product and enters check-out process
• Ecommerce Application contacts a Payment Gateway
• Payment Gateway provides secure customer shipping and payment details entry form
• Customer securely enters shipping and payment information
• Payment Gateway contacts Website Owners' Merchant Bank Account
• Merchant Bank Account processes payment transaction and returns control to Payment Gateway
• Payment Gateway returns Customer to Ecommerce Application
• Ecommerce Application notifies Website Owner of purchase
• Website Owner ships product to Customer

Of course there's a lot more detail going on in each step, but hopefully you gets the general idea that setting up an Ecommerce application is more complicated.