eCommerce Providers:
Give Your Merchants a Way to Keep Selling
AFTER the Visitor Has Left Their Site

Introduction for e-Commerce & Shopping Cart Providers  

The following articles explain how to provide your merchants — and their visitors — with the ability to create custom publications via Catalog-on-Demand services.

  1. Brief Code Sample — This purpose of this article is to demonstrate how to format and send data to Catalog-on-Demand for publishing.  The article illustrates the simplicity of the Catalog-on-Demand API.  It shows how a user can launch a publication by simply typing a properly encoded url into a web browser.
  2. Simple Integration — This article explains an approach that minimizes developer coding by implementing only a few application menu options.  Primary administration of Catalog-On-Demand settings is handled through our www.catalog-on-demand.com site.  No significant GUI development is required.  GUI development is limited to: (a) a few http links to Catalog-On-Demand interfaces; and (b) an action to trigger retrieval/preparation of your app data and posting to a simple http api.
  3. Site Visitor Publishing Integration — This article explains how you can enable site visitors with the ability to create their own custom brochures or custom flyers. It is up to you to envision the many ways to enable visitor publishing. Possibilities include wishlists, registry lists, category lists, solution lists, recommended product lists, "my custom flyer lists", search results, and more.
  4. Full Integration — This article specifies an extensive admin menu within the shopping cart application so that all Catalog-On-Demand configuration can be done within the shopping cart admin interface.  Full integration also does not require significant GUI development. Only a few more menu items are required.
  5. OEM Integration — This article documents how Catalog-On-Demand can be integrated into an application as an OEM service.  Under this model the merchant's entire Catalog-on-Demand relationship is with the eCommerce provider.  All Catalog-On-Demand services are, therefore, authorized, provided, and billed through the provider.  The provider controls which LayoutPak designs to expose through their application.  The provider's fees are then based on the number of registered merchants.  Merchants served under the OEM model are not authorized with full Catalog-On-Demand service features (i.e. Ad Sets, Job Parameter Sets, LayoutPak Design elements, Color Schemes, private data). Therefore, the per-user cost for such merchants is lower than individual subscription fees that are obtained directly through Catalog-On-Demand.
  6. Developer API Reference — These articles (see menu to the left) provide separate reference articles for the DataFile structure and each api call specified for use for integration.

Integrating Catalog-On-Demand services into your eCommerce/Cart system basically involves

  1. Exposing Catalog-On-Demand Administrator Features -  This functionality includes site owner registration with Catalog-On-Demand, configuration of publication options, creation of ad sets, review of previous publication history, launching marketing reports, etc.).
  2. Providing a Product/Item Selection Interface (site visitor publications) -This can best be accommodated through your existing Wishlist or Shopping Cart.
  3. Creating a DataFile Format Text String Containing Selected Product/Item Data- This text string is basically a tab-delimited text file with selections in rows (crlf delimited) and containing product names, descriptions, image url, attributes, prices, manufacturer, and categorization.
  4. Enabling a Create Publication Button/Link - On selection of this action, the DataFileText string containing the user's product selection will be posted to Catalog-On-Demand as a publication job request

It should be noted that all calls to Catalog-On-Demand involve simple http api calls. 

Responses to calls which require user interaction (e.g. configuration of publication options, selection of marketing report options, etc.) will be ObjectPublisher Web Service html interfaces providing full access to the specified feature. 

Responses to calls which require no user interaction will be xml containing a Success/Failure message as well as information specific to the call request.

Please note also that our api has been designed to minimize your development costs.  Specifically full Catalog-On-Demand services can be integrated into your application with only a handful of http api calls.  In most cases these api calls provide your users with an out-of-the-box rich user interface.  In these cases your integration will simply involve providing a menu option or button/link and then targeting the response to a frame within your Cart/Application.
 
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