Client Requirements Magento Multi Store Ecommerce Management system is an online virtual mall using is Saas based model based Ecommerce Platform where merchants and retailers can sign up and easily create their ecommerce or mcommerce stores with their respective domain names. This unique centralized ecommerce management system also enables store owners to manage multiple stores from one admin panel. The backend allows webmasters to add or modify catalog items from a single interface for multiple stores. This virtual mall allows various web stores like http://dev1.wookart.com/ (All Kind of Products) http://dev3.wookart.com/ (Handicrafts) http://dev4.wookart.com/ (Electronics) where customers can purchase products online and this multi-store solution provides the flexibility that is required to mange products, catalogs, orders, payments etc. Configuration changes can be made for every website individually. To increase scalability, the following features can be integrated: Cash on Delivery Javas Logistics SMS Gateway Integration EBS Payment Gateway Integration Loyalty Integration Merchants have the ability to choose their store name, URL and also select the theme for their online stores. Other notable features include addition of new products, managing users, inventory, store, viewing different reports, generating different discounted coupons and even promotional activities for various products. Super Admins are allowed to create accounts for various merchants as per requests received.
Featured Services Multi-Store Ecommerce Store Management: Manage more than one store from a single admin panel. Catalog Browsing: It has a very simple catalog browsing facility where products can be grouped, bundled with unlimited attributes for categories, customer accounts, checkout, shipping payment, merchant registration etc. Order Management: Create, view modify orders from admin panel with the ability to create multiple invoices, shipment and credit memos per order to enable split fulfillment Print invoices, packing slips and shipping labels Site Management: : Features for batch import and export of catalog and customer information, Content Management System, Tax rates per location, product type or customer group. Challenges The Team Faced the following Challenges: Role based admin panel. Catalog management features and access should be based on the plan that a merchant selects while registration. Java to be used for implementation of Logistics. EBS Payment Gateway integration Import products and generate HTML based specification Promotional and Transactional SMs integration Store based report generation Loyalty integration Product category management w.r.t various online estores for faster product search for an enhanced user experience.
Technologies Used Operating System Development Environment Linux Cent OS, Multi-Server Architecture with Staging & Production environment through Version controlling releases Load Balancer, Apache optimization, security and SSL implementation, scheduler for backups, alert monitoring system integration, server performance tuning at regular intervals, software firewall configuration and maintenance, email server configuration etc. PHP, Magento 1.7 CE, Jquery, Prototype.js, SVN, Solar Search Engine, Third Payment Gateway Integration, Integration With Pos System Or Customer Orders etc. Database MySQL, DB Clustering, DB Optimization, High Availability, Master Slave Replication, Query optimization, Slow Query Optimization, scheduler for backups, Alert Monitoring System integration, Percona Server Integration etc. Manpower Project Leader 1 Developers 4 Designers 1 Quality Assurance Testers 1
Planning Taking into account the enormous nature of the project, a three tier development approach was selected: Data Access Layer: contains libraries responsible for accessing data from database. Business logic Layer: contains business logic procedures for modules like user profiles, registrations and groups. User Interface layer: forms the GUI that is the front end that a user will see. Architecture The three tier architecture consists of of Presentation layer (PL), Business Access layer (BAL) and Data Access layer (DAL). BAL: Business Access layer contains business logic as well as validations. DAL: Data Access layer contains methods that enable business layer to connect the data and perform required action like (insert, delete, update). PL: Presentation layer contains.phtml where data is presented to the user and inputs are taken from users. Deployment Architecture Linux Cent OS development. 6.0 was used for deployment and MVC architecture was included for Using MVC has the following advantages: Full Control over rendered HTML. Ease of integration with Java script frameworks. Follows the design of stateless web nature. SEO friendly RestFull URLS. Provides RAD development.
Development Highlights A complete Saas solution that enables small outlets and large stores to have an ecommerce site of their own. The system was capable of handling all the data and provided ease of access to everyone. The site control was given to an administrator who sets up products, customers, catalog, promotional offers, admin users and other user roles, and also assigns page level access to each user interacting with the store.