Ecommerce, short for electronic commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods and services through the Internet. This includes a wide variety of activities, such as online shopping, online auctions, and the purchase of digital products and services.
An ecommerce platform is a software application that enables businesses to manage and sell products and services online. These platforms typically provide a range of features, such as product catalog management, shopping cart functionality, and payment gateway integration. Some popular ecommerce platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento.
A content management system (CMS) is a software application that enables users to create, manage, and publish digital content, such as text, images, and videos. A CMS is typically used to build and maintain websites, and can be integrated with an ecommerce platform to provide features such as product descriptions and customer reviews. Some popular CMSs include WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.
A catalog management system is a type of software that allows businesses to manage their product catalogs, such as adding and updating products, setting prices, and managing inventory. This functionality is often built into ecommerce platforms, but can also be provided as a separate system that can be integrated with an ecommerce platform.
A shopping cart is a key component of an ecommerce platform that allows customers to browse and select products to purchase. It acts like a virtual shopping cart, allowing customers to add and remove items as they shop. Once the customer is ready to purchase, the shopping cart will typically provide a summary of the items and total cost, as well as allow the customer to proceed to checkout.
A payment gateway is a service that enables businesses to securely process and authorize online transactions. It acts as an intermediary between the business and the customer’s bank, and is responsible for securely transmitting the transaction details, such as the total cost and customer’s payment information. Payment gateways are typically integrated with ecommerce platforms, allowing customers to make payments directly from the website. Popular payment gateways include PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net
In summary, ecommerce platform, content management system, catalog management system and payment gateway are different functional parts that work together to run an ecommerce website or application, allowing the seller to manage products, prices, inventory, and customer interactions and payment seamlessly.
