eBay Commerce Cookbook

Chapter 3. Enhancing the Payment Experience

The purchase stage in the simplified commerce lifecycle (Figure 3-1) is the final hurdle before a vendor is able to establish the buyer/seller relationship with a potential customer. Several opportunities exist in this stage to enhance the process, for example, by shortening the payment process and changing the process from a series of necessary steps to a positive user experience. If the process is complex, confusing, or just plain troublesome for a user, there is the potential to not only irritate the user but also lose the sale and have the commerce lifecycle end.

Figure 3-1. Simplified commerce lifecycle—stage 3

In this chapter the examples will focus on streamlining the purchase and payment process, while making it an experience that can be both rewarding and positively memorable for the customer. If successful, this step can contribute to the likelihood of a customer returning to the site and becoming a member of the seller’s loyal customer base.

Our first example will show how you can encourage visitors to complete the purchase process on your site through individualized coupons generated in a Magento storefront. This example will include extending the Magento REST API to allow for integration of these coupon codes into marketing services and other business systems. For those businesses where subsequent purchases are key, the ...