Online Shopping e-commerce implementation logic with coupons

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Online shopping is gaining boom. More web companies/stores (webpanies) are opening up. Big companies/market place have coupons system and online payment system. Small, medium and large businesses are also coming online to sell products. They need a shopping cart mechanism along with payment system. Many CMS are available for integration with website along with payment gateway implementation. They are good and secure.

What if a developer or a business owner wants to get some basic idea on how a shopping cart should work, some key points, some features etc. then following may help a bit. It may not cover everything but would give some idea.

Web Portal

  1. Web portal should have items, be it physical products or services
  2. Search option to search items
  3. Search can be based on item name, item description, item attributes, item category, brand name
  4. Search results or any page listing multiple products should have product image, name, price, discounted price
  5. A page for new items. upcoming items
  6. link item to item details page

Item Page

  1. Item name, description, attributes
  2. Price should be mentioned for each product on product page
  3. Discounted price (if applicable) should be present
  4. Quantity available (or quantity left) could be present (but not mandatory)
  5. Shipping charges should be listed (free or extra or based on condition)
  6. Similar Items (based on item tags)
  7. Related Items (based on category or other method)
  8. People who viewed this also viewed these products
  9. Number of items sold
  10. Number of people on this page
  11. Multiple images of product from various angles
  12. Option to add to cart
  13. Option to add multiple quantity
  14. Any offer or coupon code available
  15. Reviews, Ratings
  16. Ratings based on multiple factors. Overall rating, on various features, quality, price justification, after sales service etc.

Items Variants

  1. Show colours and sizes of product available
  2. Price of different variants
  3. Option to add variant to cart

Cart

  1. Able to add items to cart
  2. Cart cost and items in cart on top
  3. Apply coupon option
  4. Retrieve last used address
  5. Option to choose from multiple address
  6. Shop all items in cart along with name, description, link to item detail page, price, discounted price, shipping cost, misc charges
  7. Multiple quantity of an item
  8. Add multiple variants of an item
  9. Order as gift, gift wrap option
  10. Specific Delivery date option

Offers

  1. Able to apply offer as coupon/deal to cart
  2. Offers based on cart item
  3. Offers based on overall cart like items in cart, cart value
  4. Manually applied coupons, automatic applied coupons like Free shipping on cart value greater than 500

Payment

  1. Integration with payment gateway
  2. https secure
  3. Multiple payment types including Cash on delivery. Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Net Banking, Wallets, COD

Order Confirmation

  1. Clear order confirmation messages, email, sms with details of product, cost
  2. Order number
  3. Link to track order
  4. Cancel Order
  5. Contact for order

After Sale Support

  1. Customer case Contact Number
  2. Email Id, Contact Us page, Ticket raising page
  3. Request Complain No., Tracking link
  4. Return & refunds

Type of Offers, Coupons, Discounts, Deals

There could be multiple types of offers that can be given to a user. Offers can be in many forms and can be given in many types.

  1. User Type
    1. New User
    2. Old User (loyal)
    3. All
  2. Device
    1. All devices
    2. Apps
    3. Website
  3. Mode
    1. Automatic
    2. Manual
  4. Level
    1. Cart
    2. Item
    3. Order
  5. Criteria
    1. Value
    2. Quantity
  6. Type
    1. Discount
      1. Flat Discount
      2. Next Discount
    2. Off
      1. Flat Off
      2. Next Off
    3. Quantity
      1. Buy X Get Y

I am implementing a self coded shopping cart with coupons but no integration with payment gateway. Users can add items to cart, apply coupons and place order. Product items on this website include Pack Items, Dynamic Packs. Creating pack quantity on the go. User can increase quantity of items in a pack to create a new pack. User can order multiple packs with multiple units of items in them.  Following are some features of this cart.

  1. Product List
    1. Add item to cart from product list page. Remove item if item has been added
    2. Instant Cart box update on top right with cart details like Total Cost and Number of items
  2. Cart page
    1. Display all active items in cart
    2. Item details like -Item Code, Item name, Item image, Qty., Packs, Price, Discounted Price, Misc. Cost
    3. Edit Pack Qty., Edit Qty., Remove Item
    4. Display total cost of cart, discounted cost of cart, items in cart, packs in cart, Shipping Free or Extra
    5. Apply Coupon Option
    6. Remove Coupon Option
    7. Auto apply coupon on cart load
    8. Auto apply Automatic Coupons
    9. Empty Cart
  3. Coupons (only some of them have been implemented)
    1. Automatic Coupons (applied automatically based on cart criteria)
      1. Logic
        1. Grouping of same type of coupons so that multiple coupons are not applied
        2. Priority/sequence of executing coupons
      2. Coupons
        1. Free Shipping
          1. FREESHIP3000 – Is applied on a non-discounted cart if value of cart is more than 3000
          2. FREESHIP5000 – Is applied on discounted, non-discounted cart if value of cart (other than misc charges) is more than 5000
        2. Festival Shipping
          1. Diwali100 – 100 off on cart value during a time period. Can be based on minimum cart value or general.
    2. Manual Coupons (user applies a coupon code, coupon is validated based on date time, device, level, user)
      1. Factors
        1. Date Time – Valid between Start and End Date
        2. Device – Valid for a Device
        3. User – Valid for New or Old or All users
        4. Level – Applicable on Cart Items or Cart
        5. Type – %, Flat, Quantity, BoGo
        6. Conditions – Criteria for minimum requirement to be fulfilled
      2. Coupons
        1. Flat
          1. Flat200on2000 – Flat 200 Off on Cart value of 2000 and above
          2. Flat50on2Plus – Flat 50 off on each Item in cart from 2nd Item Onwards
          3. FlatX – Flat X off on each item if cart value is greater than Y
          4. FlatXAfter – This one is tricky. Flat X off on each item when after discount cart value is greater than Y (May have to recursively apply coupon)
        2. %age
          1. x% off on each item
          2. x% off on cart value if cart value is greater than Y
          3. x% on next item
        3. Buy X Get Y
          1. Get free items. Buy 2 Get 3 or Buy 1 get 1

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