This basic flowchart shows the typical E Commerce transaction path. E commerce provides a means of selling tangible goods on the Internet.  The transaction is captured through the shopping cart which in the first image shows the simplistic flow of the purchase.  A shopping cart can be an entire web site and encompass far more then check out processes.

It's part of what presents a challenge in designing a e commerce platform.  The decision to place applications on-line or a combination of cloud and dirt, that is part of the e commerce services hosted on-line and the back end administration and logistics that are managed locally plays a key role in functionality. The interaction of transaction services that allow uploads and downloads and import/export into each conceptual module.   Import/export is accomplished by using a 'flat file', or simply a delimited text file. The important part being the data has been mapped to the correct location.

Many times the key considerations of work flow is determined by the application deployed.  This is why it's extremely important to plan out a commerce system beyond the shopping cart.

Inventory tracking and management are critical in making the right decisions for one's business operation. Returns in progress, in-house inventory and status of drop shipment locations for products all need to be integrated into into the platform for real time functionality.

There is not one single solution that fits every company's needs in e Commerce.  The importance of developing a work-flow plan based on real life processes instead of idealized visions of higher management are always a challenge but must be overcome for success.