E-commerce Domain Knowledge Skill

Purpose

Equip AI assistants with comprehensive e-commerce domain knowledge to analyze requirements, ask relevant questions, and create appropriate solutions for online retail platforms.

E-commerce Business Models

B2C (Business-to-Consumer)

Examples: Amazon, Shopify stores, Nike.com Characteristics:

• High volume, lower transaction value
• Focus on user experience and conversion
• Marketing and promotions heavy
• Customer reviews and ratings important
• Fast checkout essential

B2B (Business-to-Business)

Examples: Alibaba, ThomasNet, Grainger Characteristics:

• Lower volume, higher transaction value
• Complex pricing (volume discounts, contracts)
• Quote and RFQ processes
• Account-based purchasing
• Approval workflows
• Net payment terms (Net 30, Net 60)

C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer)

Examples: eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace Characteristics:

• Platform facilitates transactions between individuals
• Seller verification and ratings critical
• Escrow or payment protection
• Dispute resolution processes
• Commission-based revenue

Marketplace

Examples: Amazon Marketplace, Shopee, Lazada Characteristics:

• Multiple sellers on one platform
• Seller onboarding and management
• Commission and fee structures
• Inventory from multiple sources
• Seller performance metrics
• Platform vs. seller fulfillment

Core E-commerce Modules

1. Product Catalog Management

Key Concepts:

• Products: Individual items for sale
• Variants: Different versions (size, color, material)
• SKU: Stock Keeping Unit (unique identifier)
• Categories: Hierarchical organization
• Attributes: Product properties (brand, material, dimensions)
• Digital Assets: Images, videos, 360° views, PDFs

Common Requirements:

• Support for simple and configurable products
• Variant management (size, color combinations)
• Bulk product import/export
• Product relationships (upsells, cross-sells, related products)
• Inventory tracking per variant
• Product search and filtering
• SEO-friendly URLs and metadata

Example Requirement:

FR-CAT-001: Configurable Product Variants

System shall support configurable products with multiple variants:
- Product: T-Shirt
- Variant Attributes: Size (S, M, L, XL), Color (Red, Blue, Green)
- Each variant has unique SKU, price, inventory count
- Customer selects variant before adding to cart
- Out-of-stock variants are disabled but visible

2. Shopping Cart

Key Concepts:

• Session Cart: Temporary cart for guest users
• Persistent Cart: Saved cart for logged-in users
• Cart Abandonment: User leaves without purchasing
• Cart Recovery: Email reminders for abandoned carts

Common Requirements:

• Add/remove/update items
• Real-time inventory validation
• Cart expiration and cleanup
• Save cart for later
• Cart sharing (B2B)
• Mini cart preview
• Cart abandonment tracking

Business Rules:

• Reserve inventory when item added to cart (time-limited)
• Remove out-of-stock items automatically
• Apply quantity limits per product
• Minimum order value requirements
• Maximum cart size limits

3. Checkout & Payment

Checkout Flow Types:

• Single-Page: All steps on one page (modern, higher conversion)
• Multi-Step: Separate pages for shipping, payment, review
• Express Checkout: One-click with saved payment (Amazon, Apple Pay)

Key Features:

• Guest checkout
• Address validation and autocomplete
• Multiple shipping addresses (gift orders)
• Shipping method selection with real-time pricing
• Payment method selection
• Order review before submission
• Order confirmation

Payment Methods:

• Credit/Debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)
• Digital wallets (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay)
• Buy Now Pay Later (Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm)
• Bank transfer
• Cash on Delivery (COD)
• Cryptocurrency (emerging)

Payment Gateway Integration:

• Stripe: Popular, developer-friendly, global
• PayPal: Trusted, high adoption, buyer protection
• Square: Good for omnichannel (online + POS)
• Adyen: Enterprise, multi-currency, global
• Local Gateways: VNPay (Vietnam), Razorpay (India)

Security Requirements:

• PCI DSS compliance (never store card numbers)
• 3D Secure authentication (SCA in Europe)
• Fraud detection and prevention
• SSL/TLS encryption
• Tokenization for saved cards

4. Order Management

Order Lifecycle:

Pending → Processing → Shipped → Delivered → Completed
         ↓
      Cancelled (before shipping)
                           ↓
                        Returned (after delivery)

Key Features:

• Order creation and confirmation
• Order status tracking
• Order history for customers
• Order search and filtering
• Order details (items, shipping, payment)
• Invoice generation
• Packing slips
• Shipping labels
• Order cancellation (before shipping)
• Order modification (limited)

Admin Features:

• Order dashboard
• Bulk order processing
• Order export (CSV, Excel)
• Refund processing
• Order notes and communication

5. Inventory Management

Inventory Tracking Methods:

• Real-time: Inventory updated immediately on order
• Batch: Inventory updated periodically
• Reserved: Inventory reserved when added to cart

Key Concepts:

• Stock Level: Current quantity available
• Low Stock Threshold: Alert when inventory low
• Backorder: Allow orders when out of stock
• Pre-order: Accept orders before product available
• Multi-warehouse: Inventory across multiple locations

Common Requirements:

• Real-time inventory updates
• Low stock alerts
• Backorder management
• Inventory reservations
• Multi-warehouse support
• Inventory sync with ERP/WMS
• Inventory reports and forecasting

6. Shipping & Fulfillment

Shipping Options:

• Standard shipping (5-7 days)
• Express shipping (2-3 days)
• Overnight shipping (1 day)
• In-store pickup (BOPIS - Buy Online Pickup In Store)
• Curbside pickup
• Same-day delivery (urban areas)

Shipping Calculation Methods:

• Flat Rate: Fixed price per order
• Weight-Based: Price based on total weight
• Price-Based: Free shipping over threshold
• Real-time Carrier Rates: API integration with carriers
• Zone-Based: Price by destination zone

Carrier Integrations:

• USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL (US/Global)
• Local carriers (Giao Hàng Nhanh, J&T Vietnam)
• Shipping aggregators (ShipStation, EasyShip)

Tracking:

• Tracking number generation
• Real-time tracking updates
• Customer tracking page
• Email/SMS notifications
• Delivery confirmation

7. Promotions & Discounts

Promotion Types:

• Percentage Off: 20% off entire order
• Fixed Amount: $10 off orders over $50
• Buy X Get Y: Buy 2 get 1 free
• Free Shipping: Free shipping over $100
• Bundle Deals: Product bundles at discount
• Flash Sales: Time-limited offers
• Loyalty Rewards: Points-based discounts

Promo Code Features:

• Single-use vs. multi-use codes
• Usage limits per customer
• Expiration dates
• Minimum order value
• Specific products/categories
• Stackable vs. non-stackable

Business Rules:

• Discount application order (product → cart → shipping)
• Exclusions (sale items, specific brands)
• Limit one promo code per order
• Employee discounts
• Automatic discounts vs. code-required

8. Customer Management

Customer Data:

• Account information (name, email, phone)
• Shipping addresses (multiple)
• Billing addresses
• Order history
• Wishlist
• Saved payment methods
• Preferences and settings

Customer Segmentation:

• New vs. returning customers
• VIP/high-value customers
• Inactive customers (re-engagement)
• Geographic segments
• Purchase behavior segments

Loyalty Programs:

• Points accumulation
• Tier-based benefits (Silver, Gold, Platinum)
• Rewards redemption
• Referral programs
• Birthday rewards

9. Search & Navigation

Search Features:

• Keyword search
• Autocomplete suggestions
• Search results ranking (relevance, popularity, price)
• Filters (price, brand, category, rating, availability)
• Faceted search (multi-select filters)
• Search analytics (popular searches, no-results searches)

Navigation:

• Category hierarchy (mega menu)
• Breadcrumbs
• Related products
• Recently viewed
• Trending products

Search Technologies:

• Elasticsearch (powerful, scalable)
• Algolia (fast, typo-tolerant, hosted)
• Solr (open-source, enterprise)

10. Reviews & Ratings

Features:

• Star ratings (1-5 stars)
• Written reviews
• Review photos/videos
• Verified purchase badge
• Helpful votes
• Review moderation
• Response from seller
• Review incentives

Business Value:

• Increase conversion (social proof)
• Improve SEO (user-generated content)
• Product feedback for improvement
• Build trust and credibility

Customer Journey

Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention

1. Awareness:

• SEO and content marketing
• Social media advertising
• Email marketing
• Affiliate marketing

2. Consideration:

• Product browsing
• Search and filtering
• Product comparison
• Reviews and ratings
• Wishlist

3. Purchase:

• Add to cart
• Checkout
• Payment
• Order confirmation

4. Retention:

• Order tracking
• Delivery
• Post-purchase email
• Review request
• Loyalty program
• Re-engagement campaigns

Key Metrics (KPIs)

Conversion Metrics

• Conversion Rate: (Orders / Visitors) × 100
• Cart Abandonment Rate: (Carts Created - Orders) / Carts Created × 100
• Average Order Value (AOV): Total Revenue / Number of Orders
• Revenue Per Visitor (RPV): Total Revenue / Total Visitors

Customer Metrics

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Marketing Spend / New Customers
• Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): Average Order Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifespan
• Repeat Purchase Rate: Repeat Customers / Total Customers × 100
• Customer Retention Rate: ((CE - CN) / CS) × 100

Product Metrics

• Best Sellers: Top products by revenue or units
• Product Views: Page views per product
• Add-to-Cart Rate: Add to Cart / Product Views × 100
• Return Rate: Returns / Orders × 100

Operational Metrics

• Order Fulfillment Time: Time from order to shipment
• Inventory Turnover: Cost of Goods Sold / Average Inventory
• Stock-out Rate: Out of Stock Events / Total Products × 100

Common Requirements Patterns

Mobile Commerce (M-commerce)

• Responsive design (mobile-first)
• Touch-optimized UI
• Mobile payment methods (Apple Pay, Google Pay)
• Progressive Web App (PWA)
• Native mobile app
• Push notifications
• Offline browsing

Internationalization

• Multi-currency support
• Multi-language support
• Country-specific payment methods
• International shipping
• Tax calculation by country
• Localized content

Omnichannel

• Unified inventory across channels
• Buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS)
• Return online purchases in store
• Consistent pricing across channels
• Cross-channel customer data

Integration Points

Common Integrations

• Payment Gateway: Stripe, PayPal, Adyen
• Shipping: ShipStation, EasyShip, carrier APIs
• ERP: SAP, Oracle, NetSuite (inventory, orders)
• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot (customer data)
• Email Marketing: Mailchimp, Klaviyo
• Analytics: Google Analytics, Mixpanel
• Reviews: Yotpo, Trustpilot
• Live Chat: Zendesk, Intercom
• Accounting: QuickBooks, Xero

Questions to Ask Stakeholders

Business Model

• What type of e-commerce? (B2C, B2B, Marketplace)
• Who are your target customers?
• What's your average order value?
• What's your current conversion rate?

Products

• How many products/SKUs?
• Simple or configurable products?
• Digital or physical products?
• How often do products change?

Checkout

• Guest checkout allowed?
• What payment methods?
• What shipping options?
• International shipping?

Integration

• Existing systems to integrate?
• ERP or inventory system?
• CRM system?
• Email marketing platform?

Scale

• Expected traffic?
• Peak season considerations?
• Number of orders per day?
• Growth projections?

References

• Shopify E-commerce Blog
• BigCommerce Resources
• Baymard Institute (UX research)
• E-commerce Platforms documentation