CSC/ECE 517 Summer 2008/wiki3 7 ws
Shopper Pattern
Preface
E-commerce has been increasingly popular these past few years and people who want a good deal are certainly taking full advantage of online shopping. Regardless of where online shoppers go, there is one consistent factor – the shopping cart. Shoppers shop online by adding items to the shopping cart and at the end can compare prices, remove items and make adjustments. There are certainly some variations of the shopping cart but the main functionalities are there as a “standard”. This “standard” leads to shopper pattern.
Shopper Pattern Defined
Shopper pattern is the inner workings of online shopping – it helps in collecting items from providers (brand names, different products etc.) and presents them to the user. It takes in users' inputs (desire to purchase by adding to cart) and at the end display the contents the user desires. It helps in facilitating the final purchase and then communicates with the providers about the purchase. This pattern is basically a middleman – shoppers and providers have no knowledge of each other – shopper buys the product and the shopper pattern takes care of communicating to the provider. Of course in the E-commerce world there are fierce competitions – many competitors’ shopping carts might have more/better functionalities than others (mini shopping carts (Barnes & Noble), dynamic item availability (Amazon)) but they all branch from the basic shopper pattern.
Actors in the Pattern
The shopper pattern has three main actors: the consumer, the provider, and the cart.
Consumer
The consumer requests an item or multiple items to be placed in the cart.
Provider
The provider is the entity or person that holds the items that consumers wish to attain. The provider may not necessarily have what the consumer requests of it.
Cart
The cart is the middleman between the consumer and provider. Its job is to maintain the requests as agreed upon between the consumer and provider.
Item
This is the object that the consumer desires, the provider possesses, and the cart tracks. The requirement for an item is that it has to be an asset that can be conveyed from the provider to the consumer.
Actions Performed in the Shopper Pattern
There are multiple actions performed by the Consumer, Cart, and Provider perform the following actions:
Consumer
View Cart
The consumer wishes to view his/her collection of items amassed in the cart. This is a very important action because the provider can also influence what is in the cart, namely the quantity of items due to availability.
Add to Cart
The consumer requests that a certain quantity of an item be added to the cart. The cart queries the provider as to whether the resources are available to furnish this request. If so, the quantity of items is added to the cart. If the full quantity cannot be added to the cart, the maximum quantity allowable is added (this includes when none are available).
Update Cart
The consumer changes a quantity of items in the cart. The cart does a query to the provider exactly like when an item is added to the cart.
Remove from Cart
The consumer requests that all of a certain type of item be removed from the cart. The provider is notified of this action, but does not provide input.
Cart
Check Availability
The shopper pattern checks the availability of items desired by the consumer by calling the provider.
Provider
Update Inventory
The provider can update the current inventory so the consumer can be informed of limited availability when updating the cart.
When to use a Shopper Pattern
- When a consumer could possibly want more than one different item from a provider.
- When a consumer could possibly want multiple of the same item from a provider.
- When a consumer may wish to take a break in shopping then return to shopping.
- When a consumer may wish to conduct payment at a later time.
Other Examples of Shopper Pattern
The shopper pattern does not have to be used for an e-commerce shopping cart. There shopper pattern can be generalized as a collection of objects being provided by a provider and being requested by a consumer. Some other examples of possible shopper pattern are:
- A library - A library patron (consumer) requesting books or other materials (items) from the library (provider). The patron can make a list of materials needed to be picked up or checked out. In this example no money exchanges hands, payment in this case is just a promise to return the materials.