The storefront model is what many people think of when they hear the word e-business. The storefront combines the transaction processing, security, online payment and information storage to enable merchants to sell their products on the Web. This is a basic form of e-commerce where the buyer and the seller interact directly.
To conduct storefront e-commerce, merchants need to organize an online catalog of products; take orders through their Web sites, accept payments in a secure environment , send merchandise to customers and manage customer data (such as customer profile). They must also market their sites to potential customers.
Some of the most successful e-businesses are using the storefront model. Many of the leading storefront model companies are B2C (business-to-consumer) companies. For example, more.com is a health and beauty e-commerce site that uses a shopping cart to allow customers to shop, buy and arrange shipment.Two important technologies associated with Storefront Model are:
1. Shopping Cart Technology
One of the most commonly used e-commerce enablers is the shopping cart. This order processing technology allows customers to accumulate items they wish to buy as they continue to hop. Supporting the shopping cart is a product catalog, which is hosted on the merchant server in the form of a database. The merchant server is the data storage and management system employed by the merchant. A database is a part of the merchant server designed to store and and report a large amount of information.
2. Online Shopping Malls
Online shopping malls present consumers with a wide selection of products and services. They are often considered to be more convenient than searching and shopping at independent online storefronts for several reasons. Consumers can search and hop for a variety of products, and rather than making several separate purchases, they can use the mall's mall's shopping cart technology to purchase items from many stores in a single transaction. Often these sites act as shopping portals, directing traffic to the leading shopping retailers for a specific product. http://www.mall.com/ is the example of an online shopping mall.