Conducting eCommerce

NOTE: eCommerce requires a special license from Ektron. If you do not see the Commerce folder under Settings tab, it may be because your license does not support eCommerce. For licensing information, contact [email protected].

Ektron eCommerce gives you an entire tool set for building the online marketplace you want. Ektron lets you manage both your Web site and online marketplace from the same interface.

eCommerce feature overview

eCommerce Feature Overview

Ektron’s eCommerce solution is a flexible and feature-rich platform that offers the functionality that shoppers expect in an online marketplace.

eCommerce reuses many standard Ektron components, so you can leverage existing “know-how” to quickly build the store and use server controls to create the Web pages that customers (site visitors) use to purchase goods and services on the site.
Administrators manage products, review inventory, and use Ektron’s powerful taxonomy to enhance product SEO.
Developers use the flexible and scalable API to import an existing store, configure a customized integration with any payment gateway and integrate with financial software.
You can sell memberships and/or access to premium content.
State and local governments can process online vehicle registration and tax payments, and event sites can sell tickets.

Core Features

Shared data—As a .NET application, eCommerce uses the same database as Ektron to maximize efficiencies and takes advantage of SQL cluster capabilities to be scalable. There is no need for “glue code” to tie a third-party eCommerce application to your Web site. Ektron eCommerce integrates with any IT infrastructure using Ektron’s existing customizability. Open architecture and a new ektron.cms.commerce API makes any commerce configuration possible, letting you tie it to your back-end systems.
Import existing product data into eCommerce using Ektron’s API.
Flexiblility—eCommerce supports single items, complex products (for example, movies on DVD, Blu-ray^®, or other formats), bundles, and kits.
Enhance your SEO—You can enhance product SEO in the Smart Form by setting attributes, adding metadata, and including photos and other media.
- eCommerce uses key Ektron technologies, including Smart Forms, taxonomy and search. Smart Forms standardize how product information is entered; information, attributes, and descriptive text are entered in one place and goes into the database as structured XML data (making it easy to re-purpose this content wherever and whenever you need it).
- Adding images of products automatically generates thumbnail images and gives you complete control over sizes and number of images, as well as a click-through image gallery. You also can define images for a product type via the taxonomy.
Classify products in multiple ways—Taxonomies help customers find what they are looking for. Control over your product catalog extends to cross-sell and upsell features.
Web 2.0 controls—include memberships, ratings, forums and commenting that let you quickly implement an eCommerce site with the community-based information customers want to help them to make buying decisions. Your customers can post opinions and ratings on products. The product search uses taxonomy, and can be filtered by price, ratings, reviews, and more.
eCommerce customer memberships—Customers can create and save shopping baskets for future purchases, or create wish lists and registries. Your site administrators can see which baskets are open.
- When an order is reviewed and submitted (and payment is authorized), it can go through a simple or complex routing through your processing setup or plug-in to your existing CRM or ERP to process the order.
- When the order is processed, the CRM/ERP notifies Ektron that it is complete. Online inventory is kept up-to-date; you can set properties so that when items on hand drop below a certain level, it triggers a sequence to notify your inventory control.
- You can display the checkout process on a single page or distribute them across multiple pages. Customers can save one or more shipping addresses, or check “same as billing” when they check out.
- You can accept credit cards, checks, and PayPal accounts. Ektron also supports payment gateways (such as Payflow and Authorize.Net) to authorize and capture transactions. You can create your own payment gateway (that allows terms or other payment options, for example).
- Connect with external providers to use real-time rates for shipping, or you can use your own rates by setting up an internal shipping provider. You can customize rates and set up rates by package size, product weight, and even product price ranges.

Coupons, Taxes and Pricing

eCommerce supports an array of pricing schemes: individual pricing, separate pricing within complex products, tiered pricing to support volume discounts, and more.
Online coupon capability is also included, letting you set the type (dollar amount, percentage) and at what level those coupons are applied (product level, basket level and type of item).
For global business opportunities, international currencies are available. You can use conversion rates to determine prices or set flat costs for each product. This goes hand-in-hand with the tax options available.
Set tax classes, including country, state, and local (by postal code), and taxes for specific classes of goods.

Sample eCommerce site

Sample eCommerce Site

Ektron OnTrek is a sample eCommerce site. Within that site, you can try out a customer shopping experience by going to http://[siteroot]/OnTrek/. Login to OnTrek and go to Products > Software. A product catalog screen appears. For information about Ektron OnTrek, see the OnTrek in Ektron Reference.

Click the Add to Cart link below a product. You can proceed through a sample checkout process.

The following eCommerce server controls are used to facilitate this process.

Access to eCommerce

Only members of the Administrators group or those assigned the Commerce Admin role can access the eCommerce screens within the Ektron Workarea. See Also: Defining Roles.

Related Webinars

Ektron provides the following webinars to further your understanding of the eCommerce solution.

Introduction to the Ektron eCommerce Workflow Engine
Utilizing the Ektron eCommerce APIs
Create your own Payment Gateway

Additional eCommerce topics

Additional eCommerce Topics

This section also contains the following topics.