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JA3. Databases in E-Commerce

statement

Database systems are in use everywhere in our society.

  • Discuss how they are used in E-Commerce
  • Demonstrate with some sites you have accessed lately and for what purpose.

Your entry must be in your own words, with references, and 3-5 paragraphs long.

Answer

A few tens of years ago, the most important determinant of a company’s success was its ability to track every single piece of paper it generates; to track its inventory and customers. With the orders taking ages to arrive, it was vital to order at the right time. Nowadays, these papers have moved into a digital database that governs every single aspect of the company’s operations. An online presence is a must for any business, and the database is the backbone of the online presence. Databases help E-commerce businesses in all aspects of the product lifecycle, from the before-sale to the after-sale.

The Before-Sale phase includes advertising, marketing, and informing the potential buyer about the product. The database is used to store information about the products and services that can be accessed by customers. The database must provide browsing and searching capabilities. The database also stores historical data about the customer and their preferences which can be used to target them with personalized ads.

During the sale, the database must be able to store and retrieve the product’s price, along with any price negotiations (eg. discounts), and store that permanently with the order. The database saves the order data which may include the user’s data along with the cart’s content and the payment method. The database also stores the shipping information and the delivery status.

After the sale, the database must save and update the order status so that both customer and the teller can track the delivery status in real-time. Along with recording data for auditing purposes, the database also stores the customer’s feedback and reviews.

One example of an E-Commerce site that I recently accessed is Amazon.com. Amazon uses a database to store information about its products, including images, descriptions, and prices. When I was browsing the site, I was able to search for specific products, sort them by price or rating, and view detailed product information. This information was retrieved from Amazon’s database and presented to me in real-time, allowing me to make informed purchasing decisions.