What is a Purchase Flow?
A purchase flow is a process of several steps that a buyer needs to go through in order to purchase goods or services. The ordering flow for B2B and B2C clients can differ significantly. The nature of your business also matters. In an online store, an eCommerce flow might look like this:
- Adding products to the shopping cart. The purchasing business process flow always starts with the selection of a product. The selected product is added to the shopping cart and stored in the system until a certain moment. If the user wants to check out later, the item will be stored in the cart. However, if the client has not made the order within a certain time, the cart will be automatically cleared.
- Adding an address. The client specifies the address where the goods should be delivered at this stage. They also specify the billing address that will be added along with the shipping method for the order.
- Choice of payment method. The system automatically calculates the order amount. The client can choose the appropriate payment service and specify payment details. For example, one can pay with a bank card or through PayPal.
- Transaction confirmation. The payment is transmitted to the payment processor, which verifies the transaction by contacting the issuing bank. After successful verification and confirmation, the funds are debited from the account, and the client receives a notification about the payment.
- The order has been created. As a rule, the order is generated in the system immediately after the payment is made. At the last stage, an order number is assigned.
