20 years as an eCommerce developer/architect. This is really good for a first take. It covers quite a lot of what we document in most of our initial pre-projec

20 years as an eCommerce developer/architect. This is really good for a first take. It covers quite a lot of what we document in most of our initial pre-project planning sessions. A couple considerations not covered here that we would dig into are: .05) Integrations! A Point of Sale and a Website an Enterprise Record System, a Product Information Management tool, A content management and authoring tool, A digital image and media management tool, Warehouse management and Order management software, and Business Intelligence Data Lake, Customer Data Platform, Email Marketing Platform, Ratings and Reviews Service, Search, and a rainbow of minor 3rd party web based services don't really help much unless they all talk to each other. Nowadays, you also need a way to mix the data from all these services together to provide unified data management and a unified user experience. To achieve this we usually build a dedicated orchestration layer to handle the services that merge data from all these sources. 1) Products. Bundles, Groups, Configurables, Packs that can or cannot be split, special pricing (distinct from discounts), add-ons, virtual products, inventory, stocking from warehouse, resale through market places or other omnichannel availability, attributes that affect pricing or shipping or purchase availability, etc. 2) Order Management. Order modification and workflows for different types of returns and exchanges. How long/can orders be modified between placement and delivery. How are chargebacks and price differences handled? What's the workflow? How is manufacturing/warehouse/shipping notified? 3) Sales channels. Specifically BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In Store) inter-store transfers for sales, or inventory stocking), delivery types (freight, refrigerated, courier, plus the usual UPS/USPS/FedEx options). Return and delivery tracking services and customer assistance programs. 4) Reporting. Financial, marketing, service and technical performance, Data Warehousing and Cross functional Business Intelligence, taxes, refunds, breakage, etc. 5) Customer service integrations, customer management, customer support, ticketing and tracking through customer data platforms like Salesforce. 6) Loyalty and reward programs including virtual and physical ledgers of points and campaigns to earn points. Loyalty as payment type. Ratings and reviews. Social media engagement. Gift cards. 7) Transactional communications systems such as email, text, and social media integrations, mailing lists, newsletters, and push notifications. 8) Multi-language and international sales considerations. There is a LOT to consider here. From tax to payment types, to product availability and shipping. 9) There is a mention of payment types, but payments get so much more complex than what is covered here. Who is your merchant bank? What payment gateway to use? International payments get even more complex. When to auth and capture. Services to tokenize and preserve payment info for future purchases or changing order amounts. 10) Fraud detection for payments. Mitigating carding attacks and other fraud attempts through monitoring and 3rd party integration. 11) Recurring payments/subscriptions.