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Overcome E-commerce Application Challenges
Learn how Commerce Server 2002 offers a framework that reduces Web development time, costs, and risks.
by Rockford Lhotka and Todd Van Nurden

September 2002 Issue

For this solution: Commerce Server 2002, .NET Framework, Visual Studio .NET

The Web provides extensive business opportunities, both internally and externally, but addressing these Web-based opportunities creates technical challenges. When you plan an e-commerce application, you need to consider security, user profiling and customization, scalability, and performance issues. You also need to know who's visiting your site and need to filter the site's content to meet that visitor's needs. The great part about Web-based development today is your team doesn't have to re-create the wheel. You can take your choice of existing toolkits and development products to build a solid e-commerce application infrastructure.

In this article, we'll discuss how to address some common Web-based development challenges with Commerce Server 2002 and .NET. Now, before you turn the page, or throw down the magazine, because your organization doesn't have an e-commerce site, bear with us for a few more sentences. In our opinion, the name Commerce Server doesn't adequately describe what the product offers. Commerce Server 2002 isn't merely an Internet storefront technology; it provides a host of tools and technologies that can simplify building and managing many types of complex Web systems. You can use Commerce Server technologies as a whole to create an e-commerce application, or in pieces to create other types of Web applications. Some companies leverage Commerce Server to develop event calendars, job listings, and news-and-reviews sites, while others use it for its authentication abilities or its analytics alone. You should think of Commerce Server as a toolkit rather than a storefront. Now that it's coupled with .NET, Commerce Server 2002 provides a framework you can use to build Web-based applications, rather than creating everything from scratch. Next we'll address some of the common challenges in Web applications, and explain how Commerce Server offers a solution.

Client authentication, profiling, and content selection are essential elements for most modern Web applications, but they also represent some of the most common Web development challenges. Authentication can mean many things, but for our purposes authentication means the act of identifying users accessing your system. During the early days of Web development, most sites were developed with a custom-coded authentication solution. More recently, authentication facilities have been available as part of the operating system or as a third-party solution. However, just knowing someone's user name is generally not enough: Enter profiling.

Profiling is the process of collecting information about your users. Using Commerce Server 2002's cataloging features, profiling can be as simple as requiring the user to select a username and password, or as advanced as collecting a home address, an e-mail, a gender, and recording buying and browsing habits. Profiling can also be tied to Web analytics that track the user through the site based on his or her ID. This can then feed additional hidden profile attributes. Profiling is another area that has been traditionally custom built to address specific business needs. However, as with authentication, this feature is increasingly available as part of the operating system or as a shrink-wrapped solution.