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