Regardless if you are buying over the web or in a land-based store, everything that you’re doing is a good example of a transaction or the exchange of money for services and/or goods. In brick-and-mortar stores, you will be taking your purchase to the counter, hand cash and leave the shop with your paper bag. Now, that is a good example of what transaction is about.
Identifying Differences
Well basically, this works the same when buying online.
The only difference here is that, you never see or handle the goods or money until it arrives to your doorsteps after some time.
For some consumers, this makes online shopping a bit problematic. At the same time, it creates two more problems for retailers. Aside from the fact that having some medium of processing online transactions, it also means that they need a way on confirming that there are stock of the goods ordered and there’s a mean to dispatch and deliver these orders to the right address.
The Lifeblood of any eCommerce Store
Simply speaking, eCommerce is the integration of 3 systems and these are:
- Web Server – this should be able to have the ability of managing online storefronts and process transactions which makes the right links to the customer’s payment details, check out and bank computers.
- Database System – for this one, it would play a vital role in checking items offered by the store whether they have stock or not. This is something that should be updated in real time as people flock in online stores and may make purchase simultaneously.
- Dispatch System – in relation to this, it needs to be linked to the warehouse in which the goods could be located in moment’s notice and be delivered to the buyer at the shortest possible time.
Only these 3 systems are required for a fully operational e-commerce store and the same principle used in many shops like smurfers.net (https://smurfers.net/) and major online shops like Amazon. As a matter of fact, most of the successful small scale stores online run without dispatch system or database. They simply have their page publicized and taking orders and managing stock control and then, dispatching orders following the traditional method.