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:

code

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:

code

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