Before starting to develop your site with WebSphere Commerce, you need to determine the business model supported by WebSphere Commerce that best represents the purpose of your site. Usually sites created with WebSphere Commerce will be implemented based on of one of these business models.
A business model provides a sample commerce solution which includes an organization structure, default user roles and access control policies, one or more starter stores, administration tools, and business processes that demonstrate best practices. A business model can be customized to support business requirements and scenarios.
WebSphere Commerce provides the architectural infrastructure to put online businesses that fit into one of the following business models:
- Direct sales:
- Consumer direct
B2B direct(
Extended Sites solutions and contracts are specific to WebSphere Commerce Business Edition)
Hosting
Value chain:
To support the stores needed for the business models, WebSphere Commerce uses the store architecture to create the following types of stores:
Note: These particular stores are recommended for implementing the business models supported by WebSphere Commerce. You can also create your own types of stores using the store architecture.