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Application Notes For End Users

Frequently Asked Questions About The ECommerce System

• I add an item to the shopping basket then access the previous web page so that I can add another item. When I add another item, it forgets the first one. What is going on?

  This simple answer is to follow the hyperlink provided in the web page.

  The detailed explanation follows. The ECommerce system can be configured to propagate this session information in a number of ways. Some of these methods have maximum compatibility, some of these methods require minimal change and implementation cost. Of problematic methods, two require typical features of web clients, but these features may not necessarily be present or enabled. The two features are cookies and JavaScript, which may be disabled with good reason.

  Cookies are widely abused by advertisers and therefore we were reluctant to implement this method due to misplaced concern. At most, cookies are only returned to the web server from which they originate. Unfortunately, images and other multi-media can be included from other web servers, therefore it is trivial for prolific advertisers to track people around multiple web sites. This information is not shared with the web sites which include the advert although additional information may be shared with the advertiser, inadvertantly or otherwise. For example, many web browsers specify the web page into which an image will be included. This appears harmless, although the web address of any web page with an advert can be passed to an advertiser. Web searches typically have the search terms in the address, allowing searches to be bookmarked. These search terms can be read by the advertiser, allowing relevant adverts to be presented immediately and an accurate profile to be refined.

  A cooky is merely a ticket to uniquely identify a person over a sequence of web pages. (Contrary to popular belief, a connection is not sustained to a web server between accessing web pages. So, for example, you can disconnect from the InterNet while reading a long web page.) Cookies are anonymous and do not give other parties access to your computer. A cooky acts as a key for information held on a web server. Your interests and personal information are only revealed through your action. If in doubt, do not supply (accurate) information.

  A session code passed in cookies is only returned if all software used directly (and indirectly) understands and has been configured to re-send cookies. Popular web browsers understand cookies and are usually configured by default to re-send them. This action may be rendered useless by a "cache" or "proxy" within your organisation. There are sound reasons for such a configuration.

  In the case of ... The ECommerce system retrospectively creates a session when you first add an item to the shopping basket.

  All of the hyperlinks shown on the shopping basket web page are encoded to continue this session. When none of these hyperlinks is selected and the previous web page is accessed, the session is ignored. When you select another item, another session is created, which does not contain your previously selected items. To counter this action, please select one of the hyperlinks provided.

  Although we realise that this design may appear awkward, other designs suffer from more drastic limitations. For example, the popular solution of cookies (see below) suffers from numerous and growing software incompatibilies. Other solutions hinder or prevent search engine listing, decrease web site access speed or invade privacy unnecessarily. Some of these solutions also have high software requirements or security concerns.

• How do I increase or decrease the quantity of a given item? How do I remove one item from my shopping basket?

  To increase the quantity of a given item, simply purchase more. It will be added to the current total. To decrease the quantity of a given item, choose a negative quantity of the same item. The item will automatically be removed if the quantity is zero or negative.

  We realise that this action is not entirely intuitive. We intend to improve matters in future versions of the software. If you have any suggestions, please contact the authors, mtecs@xirium.com.

• I want to continue shopping later. What action do I take to make this possible?

  Most web browsers have a facility to "bookmark" web pages. This process records the address of the current web page. For this ECommerce system, enough information is recorded allowing you to continue your shopping session in the future. Due to the way in which this system attempts to preserve your privacy, it is complicated to explain the stage at which the web page addresses encode your shopping session.

  If you have only added one type of item to the shopping basket, it is easier to start afresh next time. If you have added more than one type of item to the shopping basket, then the the address of the web page shown definately encodes your shopping session and merits bookmarking. The web page addresses encoding your shopping session are only used after you have placed an item in the shopping basket. If you bookmark the shopping basket page when it shows one item then your session may not be recorded. Bookmarking any subsequent web page (within the web site) will record your session.

  The web page addresses are encoded with your shopping session, but a session is only created retrospectively after you add the first item to your shopping basket. The process is akin to "just browsing" in a shop and then retrospectively collecting a basket if you see something you want to buy. A computer needs to uniquely identify people with baskets, so that purchases are kept discreet and separate. It is not necessary to track people without baskets, so this does not occur.

  Please note that web pages bookmarked after you add items to your shopping basket may be associated with your current shopping session. This may create spurious errors if you use the bookmark in the future, although such action can be easily rectified. More importantly, if you give such an address to a friend, they may be able to see your purchase and modify it. Conversely, you can continue shopping on any computer, which is awkward at best with many other systems.

• Every time I reload the shopping basket web page, the last item I ordered increases. The same action occurs when I access my shopping basket from my bookmarks. What is happening?

  The address of the shopping basket web page typically encodes your session and an action, such as to increase the quantity of an item. Each time you access the address with the action, the action is performed. If you want to bookmark your session, bookmark one of the catalogue web pages rather than shopping basket web page.

• How long can I defer my shopping?

  Your shopping basket is typically kept for more than one week, although it can be held indefinately. Your shopping basket is stored in a compact form on the web server and therefore consumes very little storage. (Most shopping baskets typically take less space than this paragraph.) It would not be unreasonable to have millions of pending shopping baskets held on the web server.

• Why doesn't your ECommerce system use cookies like other web sites?

  Many of our corporate clients use proxies that ignore cookies. There are many sound reasons for doing this. For example, it speeds web access and increases security.

  Additionally, the average specification of web clients is decreasing with the advent of game consoles and mobile phones with InterNet access. Many of these simplified devices do not have cooky capability at all and therefore any ECommerce system using cookies does not work on such devices. This is unacceptable. Fortunately, this ECommerce system works on all reasonably expected web clients.

Typical Use

In a typical implementation, there exists a "catalogue" web site of products, a "shopping basket" and a "till" which has various payment methods. The catalogue is typically arranged as a heirarchy, allowing browsing of broad categories, which contain more specific categories and products.

In the simplest case, the catalogue is a single web page of products, but the principle is the same. One or more web pages describe products and all of the products can be located via one web page, the root web page of the catalogue. Each product has a form which hyperlinks to the shopping basket web page. When the form is completed and selected, the quantity of products is added to the shopping basket. In the simplest case, the form is merely a submission gadget and the default quantity is one item.

The shopping basket has two hyperlinks to the root web page of the catalogue. One continues the shopping session, the other allows you to start afresh. So, the root web page of the catalogue has products and / or hyperlinks to other catalogue web pages. Each type of product described in the catalogue has a form which hyperlinks to the shopping basket. In turn, the shopping basket has hyperlinks to the catalogue.

The user is able to navigate the catalogue and select the first item of choice. The completion of the form and selection of the submission gadget allows the browser software to hyperlink to the shopping basket web page. This displays the item, preferences and quantity as confirmation. The user selects the hyperlink to continue the session and is again able to navigate the catalogue to select another item. The user repeats the process for each item required. The process can be abandoned at any stage or the process can be restarted using the hyperlink provided on the shopping basket web page.

The user is able to modify the order interactively until the order is satisfactory. The correct order is confirmed by viewing the shopping basket web page. The user then accesses the appropriate hyperlink on the shopping basket web page to select payment. This may lead to a third party payment system, or a page allowing the completion of delivery details before printing. By printing the order and sending it via traditional channels, such as post or fax, the issue of secure payment via a public network is sidestepped.