We are all familiar with E commerce sites as well as the experience of purchasing. But do you know about all the stuff that is going on when you successfully place an order and complete payment? While there are many e-commerce processes out in the field, this article will cover one of the more common processes that will happen from the point an order is placed all the way to the end of the delivery.
Order Management
The order management system is a backend software where it manages and fulfills all the online orders. Not only does this system help businesses to process and fulfill the orders, it also provides detailed status on individual orders, returns and any ordering mistakes. When a customer from the e commerce web confirms an order, the web browser will communicate with the order management system. The system will then communicate with the database to check for instock.
Inventory Management
The purpose of inventory management is for businesses to know how much goods they have in store and whether there is a need to store, order or restock.
In the case where there are no stocks in the warehouse, the database system will send orders to purchase stocks from the suppliers or manufacturer. In the case where there are stocks in the warehouse, the order management then communicates with the merchant system.
Merchant System
Merchant systems are financial services that enable businesses to accept online payment. Merchant systems can be a payment gateway that facilitate online payment or it can be a merchant account where payments will first land before being directed to the business account.
Before the payment processes, the bank computer will check and ensure that the customer’s given bank account has sufficient funds for the transaction. Once the transaction is through, the web server is notified and it displays the page where the order is processing and notifies the customer on the transaction success.
Ecommerce Shipping
During this time, the order manager sends order listings to the warehouse where the products or items will be packed. At this stage, packed orders will then be passed over to either the inhouse delivery service or a third party logistic partner for delivery.
Delivery logistics then updates the order management system so that the web server can update and notify customers on the delivery status.
Return Management
The return process refers to goods that are returned back to the warehouse or to a returned goods facility for any product faults, order mistakes or exchange. This part of the ecommerce process is cost and time consuming. But having the right return or exchange policy is a lot more convenient for the consumers because they do not have to travel and go down to the physical store to request for refund or exchange. This can help to build relationships with existing customers and instill reliability to new customers.
