part 4 > The "Back end": custom database design

Custom database design builds the warehouse for your web site information

Custom database design will ensure that your database accommodates all the details your eCommerce web site requires. At its simplest, a database should store a product name, description and price.

More complex databases can store multiple product criteria. A clothing line, for example, may require sizes, colors or other style options. A furniture line may offer wood finishes, stain or paint colors and optional configurations such as two or three drawer dressers. Perhaps you offer engraving, personalization or other custom options. Your product inventory will determine the information that must be stored in your database, so before you begin your eCommerce project, be sure to outline exactly those pieces that are relevant. Custom database design will build the warehouse for each unique piece of information.

Do you have questions about what a database can do for your eCommerce site? Contact us for project consulting and planning.

The bells and whistles of custom database design

A database can handle upsells and cross-sells. If you sell gourmet cookies with a price break between two and three dozen, you want to prompt those customers with two dozen in their cart to buy the third and take advantage of your offer. Perhaps you sell collectible dolls. Wouldn't it be great to suggest a display case to your customers before checkout? A little imagination sets the stage for effective marketing and good custom database design makes it possible.

Spend time with your web developer detailing your product line and exploring ways to interconnect products. Part of the selling process is education - if your customers don't know that you sell a special leather cleaner for your high-end purses, they can't buy it. With custom database design, you can make the connections for your customers and present them effectively on your web site.

All of those business rules you so carefully established should also be organized through custom database design - sales tax, shipping tables, discount codes - take advantage of the opportunity that custom database design offers to make your eCommerce site shine, down to the very last quirky detail.

Custom database design accommodates your customer service needs

Another important function of custom database design is creating a warehouse for customer orders. Your database can help you stay on top of inventory needs, store shipping and tracking information, determine whether you're fulfilling orders in a timely fashion, monitor customer questions and comments, even generate reports based on customer activity, which can help you reach out to old customers and encourage new ones.

Reporting is a helpful perk that custom database design can offer. If you can imagine it, you can report on it. Want to know how many people made purchases last June? Or who spent over a certain dollar amount? Want to know who's been back to reorder, and how soon? How about the average response time of your customer service staff? Whether you want to report on inventory, customers or staff, custom database design can accommodate your business needs.

Custom database design also develops the core for your web site content management system, a key piece of the ongoing success of your site. Once you know what you want to store and how you want to manage it, custom database design will build the tools to do it.

Want a professional development company to help you design and build your database? Contact us for project planning and implementation.

Next > Maintenance: why you need a web site content management system