Patent Description:
In order to run custom functionality provided by a third party application or app, in current software as a service (SAAS) platforms, for example E-commerce platforms, the third party application uses application interface (API) calls through the use of the application directly or via application extensions. In either case, there can be high latency associated with the use of API calls, and the application runs its code outside of the SAAS platform. If the app's infrastructure cannot accommodate a large enough volume of requests during periods of heavy load (e.g. flash sales, product drops), merchants that rely on the application can experience low availability of their stores during any high volume events of other merchants using the app. As a result, the app's hosting infrastructure needs to be able to handle such large volumes during peak events, however, this may not be practical for a small scale developer.

It is common for a SAAS platform to expose a lot of functionality and resources through APIs to enable apps to work with the SAAS platform in a collaborative manner. However, it is less common to see the reverse, namely integrations of apps into the SAAS platform. This can result in a gap between apps and a service instance that may be visible to users. For example, apps may run in completely separate tabs or have visible constraints, such as being constrained to an iFrame. This can lead to a disjointed user experience as users are required to jump repeatedly between multiple apps and the SAAS platform functionality.

<CIT> is related to systems and methods for converting business logic architecture from a native language (e.g., processor compiled code) into a scripting language (e.g., scripted code) for software as a service (SaaS) delivery methods for enterprise resource planning. The systems and methods may include generating a plurality of business process patterns representing business logic associated with one or more of a plurality of business objects, obtaining a plurality of code portions that correspond to one or more of the plurality of business process patterns, the plurality of code portions being coded in a scripting language and stored in a script repository, defining at least one extension point for each business process pattern. Each extension point may represent an interface, within the business logic, in which to insert one or more of the plurality of code portions into processor-compiled architecture in a software application.

The provided systems and methods attempt to address or at least mitigate one or more of the problems referenced in the background section, by allowing apps to surface in a more native way within the SAAS platform. Extension points allow apps to integrate in SAAS platform workflows through the use of scripts that run on the SAAS platform. This may result in faster workflow execution and less context switching for SAAS clients.

Accordingly, there is provided a method, a software as a service, SAAS, platform, and a computer program as detailed in the claims that follow.

Embodiments of the disclosure will now be described with reference to the attached drawings in which:.

Referring to <FIG>, shown is a SAAS platform <NUM> provided by an embodiment of the application. The SAAS platform is configured to implement service instances <NUM>, a service instance being a set of functionality provided by the SAAS platform to a client of the SAAS platform. In a specific example, the SAAS platform is an E-commerce platform, and the service instances <NUM> are online stores implemented on the E-commerce platform. A detailed example of an embodiment of an E-commerce platform is described below with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

The executable code that implements the service instances <NUM> includes one or more extension points <NUM>. Extension points <NUM> are defined inside the SAAS platform to allow the customization of functionality of the SAAS platform, and more specifically the service instances. Each extension point has a specified format that includes well defined inputs and outputs. A specific example of an extension point relevant to the E-commerce context is a shipping rate calculator extension point which has an associated set of inputs which might for example include product details and shipping address, and has an associated set of outputs that includes a shipping rate. An extension point manager <NUM>, described in further detail below, is responsible for determining how to proceed once an extension point is reached during execution of code for a service instance. Any code that is to be executed for a given extension point must conform with the specified format.

The SAAS platform <NUM> has applications functionality <NUM> associated with applications that may be registered with the SAAS platform. In the illustrated example, this includes an application registration interface <NUM> for registering an application with the SAAS platform. For example, third party application developers may use this interface to register their applications. There is an application register <NUM> which associates each registered application with an application ID. There is an application installation interface <NUM> that is used to select which registered applications are to be installed against a given service instance. In the E-commerce context, the application installation interface <NUM> may be part of a merchant user interface, in which case personnel associated with an online store can use the application installation interface <NUM> to select which applications to install. An application installations register <NUM> maintains an indication of which application(s) are installed on (or registered against) which service instance(s).

The SAAS platform <NUM> has scripts functionality <NUM> associated with scripts to be executed on the SAAS platform. In the illustrated example, this includes a script uploading interface <NUM> for uploading scripts. Each script is uploaded in association with a specific application that is registered in the application registration interface <NUM> and a specific extension point within extension points <NUM>. Typically, the source of the script is the same as the source of the application, for example an application developer or provider. The scripts are stored in script storage <NUM> together with a script ID for each script. In addition, a script mapping <NUM> is maintained. The script mapping <NUM> indicates for each script, the associated application and the associated extension point. There are many ways equivalent information can be maintained. For example, for each extension point, script mapping could indicate which applications have scripts for the extension point, and indicate the script ID of such scripts.

The scripts functionality <NUM> also has a script executor <NUM> which executes the scripts in the script storage <NUM>. The script executor <NUM> is generally a processing capability within the SAAS platform. The script uploading interface <NUM> may also compile uploaded code received through the script uploading interface to produce the script in executable form for execution by the script executor <NUM>.

Also shown, external to the SAAS infrastructure <NUM> is one or more third party hosting infrastructures <NUM> associated with one or more providers of the registered applications.

In operation, service instances <NUM> are used to deliver SAAS services to clients. Typically, each service instance is associated with a respective client, although a client may be associated with or have multiple service instances. In the E-commerce context, a client would typically be a merchant.

Third party application developers develop applications for registration on the SAAS platform <NUM>, and register these through the application registration interface <NUM>. When this takes place the application register <NUM> is updated to indicate the application has been registered, and the application ID of the application. Once an application is registered with the platform, it is available for installation (or registration) against a service instance <NUM>. Through the application installation interface <NUM>, a client can select which registered application(s) to be installed against the client's service instance <NUM>.

In addition, application developers, for example the third party application developers, may develop scripts to provide customized functionality in association with a specific application, and in association with one or more of the available extension points <NUM>. Each script is developed in conformance with the format of the associated extension point. For example, the inputs to the script and outputs produced by the script should match those of the associated extension point.

These scripts are uploaded through the script uploading interface <NUM> which results in their storage in script storage <NUM> together with a script ID for each script. The script mapping <NUM> is updated to include a record for the script indicating the associated extension point(s) and the associated application ID.

During the execution of a service instance <NUM>, for example while a merchant or customer accesses an online store, the application(s) installed against the service instance are known from the application installation register <NUM>. When one of the extension points <NUM> is reached, the extension point manager <NUM> is invoked to determine how to proceed. The extension point manager uses knowledge of which application(s) are installed against the service instance, together with the script mapping <NUM> that refers to the extension point, to identify any script ID(s) associated with the extension point, and associated with an application that is installed against the service instance. When a script ID is identified, the extension point manager <NUM> causes the script having the identified script ID to be executed by the script executor <NUM> to provide the custom functionality of the script. In some implementations, in contrast to conventional approaches where some or all of the code written by an app developer may be executed on third party hosting infrastructure, the execution of an application script by the script executor <NUM> can be done without the need to call the application through an API to access the script functionality and without the need to rely on the third party hosting infrastructure <NUM>. In some embodiments, when no such script is available, default logic provided within the SAAS service instance for the extension point is executed.

In the illustrated embodiment, the extension point manager <NUM> determines where a script is available based on the extension point ID and the service instance ID. Based on the service instance ID, the extension point manager <NUM> can determine what applications are installed for that service instance from the application installations register <NUM>. Then, with knowledge of which applications are installed, the extension point manager <NUM> consults the script mapping <NUM> to determine if there is an entry in the mapping for the specified extension point for one of the applications installed, and if so obtains the script ID for the entry, and instructs script executor <NUM> to execute the identified script. In some embodiment, where there is no such entry, default functionality is executed.

By implementing the custom functionality at an extension point, application specific functionality, provided in the script from the application developer, is executed on the SaaS platform's hosting infrastructure when the extension point is reached. The described approach allows for 3rd party customization using scripts that run on the SAAS platform, and in some cases, benefit from the scalability/volume handling capabilities of the SAAS platform, and avoids the risks associated with insufficient capacity in an app's hosting infrastructure.

In some embodiments, a developer UI is provided. The developer UI provides developers with a current list of the available extension points, and details of the relevant format for each extension point. In addition, the developer UI provides a platform for a developer to develop and upload a script in association with a specific application and a specific extension point. The above-described application registration interface <NUM> may be part of the developer UI, and the above described script uploading interface <NUM> may also be part of the developer UI. In some embodiments, the developer UI also includes functionality to validate scripts before uploading and making them available for execution.

In some embodiments, a performance dashboard is presented through the developer UI indicating the performance of registered apps, in terms of how widely it is being used, uptime/downtime, latency etc. in some embodiments, where the performance of a registered application is poor, as defined by certain metrics, a recommendation is made through the developer UI to create and upload one or more scripts as described above to address the latency/performance issues.

<FIG> is an example user interface <NUM> of a performance dashboard, according to one embodiment. The performance dashboard which may be a service instance running on and hosted by the SAAS platform, highlights a number of statistics and presents controls for developer use. According to this embodiment, the performance dashboard is for developers developing scripts or applications for use with a SAAS platform that is an e-commerce platform, but a similar approach can be used for other types of SAAS platforms. At the instant depicted, the dashboard is showing information and options in respect of a Shipping Calculator application; where the same application provider has multiple apps registered on the SAAS platform, the performance dashboard allows a selection of one of these applications, or a new application.

The dashboard includes an indication <NUM> of how many merchants (i.e. service instances) have installed the application (in this case, the number of merchants who have installed the Shipping Calculator app), latency or average response time <NUM>, memory use <NUM>, and uptime <NUM>. The dashboard further has controls for a developer to create a new script <NUM>, view the usage history of the script <NUM>, edit scripts <NUM>, and open a debugger tool <NUM>.

The statistic indicators <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be generated by a server (e.g. within the SAAS platform) making a query over the network to a database storing the information. According to some embodiments, the statistics may update automatically.

The performance dashboard also includes a set of controls that, when activated (e.g. by a developer user), perform a variety of actions related to scripts.

New script control <NUM> instructs the performance dashboard to send a request to the server to start a new script. This redirects the developer electronic device to a new window to write a new script or upload a script written outside of the SAAS platform.

Use history control <NUM> instructs the performance dashboard to redirect the developer electronic device to a page to view specific application statistics or use cases. This can be used to investigate strange activity or performance of the app.

Edit scripts control <NUM> instructs the performance dashboard to send a request to the server to edit a script that has previously been uploaded to the SAAS platform.

Debugger tool <NUM> instructs the performance dashboard to redirect the developer electronic device to the debugger tool. The debugger tool allows the developer to run the script under supervised and managed conditions in order to track the code operations and monitor changes in computer resources that may indicate malfunctioning code.

More generally, in some embodiments, the developer UI allows an application developer to create scripts, find out if a shop or business has his/her application/script enabled, and in what capacity, edit/delete previously uploaded scripts.

According to some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the performance dashboard can generate and provide notifications <NUM>.

A notification <NUM> may be generated if a monitored statistic exceeds a predefined or relative threshold. Using a cursor <NUM> to hover over the notification <NUM> can cause the display of a tooltip <NUM>. The tooltip <NUM> can describe the notifications <NUM>, and may include links <NUM> to direct the user to more information.

For example, in <FIG>, there are two notifications <NUM> generated in the performance dashboard. One of the notifications indicates that a script is using <NUM>% more memory than normal. This is also indicated in memory use statistic <NUM>. Clicking on the link <NUM> for this notification would redirect the developer to a user interface showing memory use and time, providing a snapshot to better determine why the use met a threshold.

According to some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the notification <NUM> can also include news or updates about the developer system, such as new extension points available for developer use. Clicking on link <NUM> for this notification would direct the developer to more information about this new extension point.

<FIG> is a user interface <NUM> to show extension points for developer use. As previously described, an extension point has associated format including specified inputs and outputs. Shown are two specific examples of extension points, namely "Shipping" and "Shopping". Each extension point has associated inputs <NUM> and outputs <NUM>, with a control <NUM> to direct the developer to more information about the inputs <NUM> and outputs <NUM>.

Interfacing with control <NUM> to show more information about the extension points will redirect the developer to <FIG>, a user interface <NUM> showing more details of the inputs and output of a specified extension point. For each input <NUM>, the user interface <NUM> shows the syntax or name <NUM> of the variable for developer use. For each output <NUM>, user interface <NUM> shows the format (i.e. data type, class, struct, etc.) <NUM> for the output. For example, to access the zip code of an address, the developer would use the syntax 'zipUSA'. To return a value for output Duty, the developer must provide a value in the form of data type 'moneyAmount'. Clicking on syntax <NUM> can direct the developer to more information about the format of each individual input. Similarly, clicking on the format <NUM> for each output can direct the developer about more information about the data types.

In some embodiments, the user interface showing information about extension points is presented in the form of an API reference, e.g.:
https://shopify. dev/docs/storefront /api/reference/mutation/checkoutgiftcardsappend
together with a specific definition of the names and data types of each input (argument/variable), and a specific definition of the data type of each output (return type). Optionally, a description of each field would also be shown or otherwise made available through the interface.

<FIG> is an example user interface <NUM> of a development platform for writing scripts to be used in a SAAS platform, according to one embodiment. According to this embodiment, the developer is presented with a coding window <NUM>, console output <NUM>, file explorer <NUM>, and memory watch <NUM>. The coding window <NUM> includes line numbers <NUM> and controls <NUM>. Controls <NUM> include new code control <NUM>, open code control <NUM>, play code control <NUM>, pause code control <NUM>, stop code control <NUM>, and debug code control <NUM>. File explorer <NUM> includes folders <NUM> and individual files <NUM> inside each folder <NUM>.

In operation, developers may use coding window to write code for their scripts. The scripts may have access to the input variables and generate outputs for any specific extension. According to some embodiments, coding can be done by writing syntax. According to other embodiments, coding may be done by using a visual representation and functional blocks. In some embodiments, for a specific extension point, a template script is prepared which has the necessary format, in terms of the expected inputs and outputs for that extension point.

Memory watch <NUM> is a tool to allow developers to keep track of variables, their addresses in memory, and the values. A developer can identify a variable and the memory watch <NUM> will keep track of the variable on the display.

New code control <NUM> will instruct the development environment to create a new code file from scratch. Open code control <NUM> will prompt the user to upload a new code written outside of the coding environment. Play code control <NUM> will cause the system to run the code in the coding window <NUM>. Using pause control <NUM> and stop control <NUM> after play control <NUM> will cause the development environment to pause or stop the code respectively. The debug code control <NUM> will launch the debug tool. The debug tool allows the developer to run the script under supervised and managed conditions in order to track the code operations and monitor changes in computer resources that may indicate malfunctioning code. A debug tool can include the ability to step through code one or more line at a time to identify problems. The debug tool, in conjunction with memory watch <NUM> allow the developer to best understand how their script operates.

According to some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the development environment can generate notifications <NUM> about the code in coding window <NUM>. Hovering over the notification <NUM> brings up tooltip window <NUM>, which can generate a suggestion about the script, and controls <NUM> and <NUM> to implement a proposed solution.

For example, in <FIG>, the developer environment has determined that line <NUM> is unnecessary in the operation of the script. Therefore, the system recommended removing the line of code in order to increase processing speed. Other examples of problems identifiable in the code could be excessively heavy computations, variable types that are larger than necessary, or large looping structures. The system offers control <NUM> to remove the unnecessary code, and control <NUM> to keep the code in.

Using open code control <NUM> can open an upload new file window <NUM>. Upload new file window <NUM> includes a file path input <NUM>, title input <NUM>, and location input <NUM>. Upload button <NUM> will upload the file located at file path input <NUM> to the location <NUM> and save the file with title as specified. File path input <NUM> may be a location on a local developer computer, on a local developer server, on a remote computer, or a remote server. Uploading using upload control <NUM> will copy the file from the file path location and save it on a memory on a server accessible to the developer environment for access and modification.

Turning to <FIG>, according to some embodiments, the system can save files to specific locations. By selecting location <NUM>, a location window <NUM> can provide the user with a specific folder <NUM> to save a file to.

<FIG> shows an example user interface <NUM> for a file explorer. The file explorer shows the titles of all folders and files <NUM>. A developer can select a specific file or folder <NUM> and use commands to interface with the file. Using add file control <NUM>, the developer can create a new file or upload a new file using a window similar to that shown with reference to <FIG>. Edit control <NUM> will open the file selected in the development environment shown in <FIG>. Finally, delete control <NUM> will delete the file from a memory on the server.

<FIG> shows an example user interface <NUM> for verifying a script. A script may be verified to ensure the code meets the standard for widespread use within the SAAS platform. Verification can be done automatically (by an inspection script) or manually (by another developer), or in combination. The interface <NUM> includes an input for the script <NUM> and extension <NUM>. The developer must select the script to submit for verification, and the extension point for which the script is written if the script is associated with more than one extension points. The developer may then use submit button <NUM> to send the script for verification.

<FIG> shows an example interface <NUM> for uploading a script. This can be viewed as an example of the script uploading interface <NUM> of <FIG>. Once a script has been verified, the script can be uploaded and stored, in association with a specific application and a specific extension point. Once that is done, the script will be available to SAAS clients that have installed the associated application. The user can use the script field <NUM> to select a verified script, write a title in title <NUM>, identify a script category <NUM> and application <NUM>. The developer can then use submit button <NUM> to distribute the script with title <NUM> for the application <NUM> in category <NUM>.

In some embodiments, a client UI is provided. In the e-commerce case, this would be a merchant UI. In some embodiments, the client UI presents or displays application recommendations. The client UI includes a search option for the client to conduct a search for registered applications. The search results indicate for each application whether it is script-enabled, in the sense that at least some of the application's functionality is implemented through scripts running on the SAAS platform. The search results may also provide and display historical performance for each application and/or other information relevant to each application. Other specific examples include historical uptime/downtime, security information (no external calls), regional privacy (no calls outside of a given region, etc.). The information displayed may be based on client preferences.

The client UI allows a user to select an application for installation, to enable an installed app, and to uninstall or disable a previously installed app. The above described application installation interface <NUM> may be part of the client UI. The client UI includes an option for the client to set a criticality of the application.

For a script that can be run on the SAAS platform, or the 3rd party hosting infrastructure, a selection of where to run the script is made taking into account the criticality setting, with scripts for more critical apps running on the SAAS platform where performance can be guaranteed. More generally, the client UI includes functionality for a client to configure conditions on when to run a given script on SAAS platform (for example during high volume times) or on the 3rd party hosting infrastructure (for example during low volume times).

In some embodiments, the client UI also displays application and/or script performance for applications installed for the client, and the scripts used by those applications.

In some embodiments, the SAAS platform, based on the health, performance and/or latency of a first application, determines if there is another application of similar functionality with one or more scripts running on the e-commerce platform which may provide an improvement in health, performance and/or latency. When this is the case, the system may recommend the other application to all clients using the first application. This recommendation may be made through the client UI.

As shown in <FIG>, a user interface <NUM> forming part of a client UI is provided for the client to search through a library of apps. The client may use a search text field <NUM> for keywords, and based on the input, results field <NUM> will populate. The results may be based on a query of a database of apps.

<FIG> is an example interface <NUM> forming part of the client UI for the SAAS platform to present application recommendations <NUM> to a client (such as a merchant). The interface <NUM> includes a description <NUM> for the specific application and a control <NUM> to access more information about the application. The interface <NUM> includes a control <NUM> for installing the application into the client's service instance system within the SAAS platform.

If one or more scripts have been uploaded in association with the application for execution on the SAAS platform as detailed above, the interface <NUM> will provide an indication <NUM> that the application is script-enabled, and can also provide a description <NUM> of what a script-enabled application means. It may be preferred by a client to be able to install a script-enabled application to avoid the potential problems associated with applications that are not script-enabled.

<FIG> is an example user interface <NUM> forming part of the client UI for configuring a script-enabled application, according to one embodiment. The interface includes an indication that the application has already been installed <NUM> and a current application health indication <NUM> in terms of current latency.

In embodiments lying outside the scope of the claims, if there is a script available for an installed application, the script is always used and executed on the SAAS platform. In embodiments lying within the scope of the claims, the script can be executed on the SAAS platform or the <NUM>rd party infrastructure. In the illustrated example, the interface <NUM> includes a threshold field <NUM> for setting a high volume threshold on sales per hour. Other metrics can alternatively be used. Based on this threshold, the client can determine when to offload the script from within the <NUM>rd party platform and onto the SAAS platform using field <NUM> to set a preference for where to execute the script when the threshold is exceeded, and using field <NUM> to set a preference for where to execute the script when the threshold is not exceeded. In another embodiment, not shown, the client UI, can set a percentage of time/executions that the script should be run on the SAAS platform resources.

In some embodiments, a client UI makes available a list of applications that have been registered, and the associated scripts. The client UI may allow a client to query of script runs for the client's service instance, for a specified time period.

<FIG> shows an example of an overall setup process including application registration for example though an application registration interface, script creation for example through a script uploading interface, and application installation against a specific service instance for example through an application installation interface, using the components of <FIG>.

First at <NUM>, an application provider registers an application with the SAAS platform through the application registration interface. Upon success, the application registration interface returns an application registration success indication at <NUM> together with an application ID of the registered application.

Next, at <NUM>, a script creator creates a script in association with a specific extension point using the script uploading interface. The script is also in association with a specific application. In some embodiments, the script creator accesses the script uploading interface using credentials, and specifies an application ID for which a script is being created. The script uploading interface may present to the script creator a list of extension points, and the associated inputs and outputs.

The script uploading interface validates the script and publishes the script to the script storage. If any type-specific compilation is required (for example, generating an executable module from a TypeScript file), that may happen here as well.

At <NUM>, the script uploading interface will deploy this compiled version of the script to script storage <NUM> via script executor. At <NUM>, the script executor returns a URL for the compiled version of the script which the script uploading interface can store in a script URL database.

Next, at <NUM>, the script uploading interface sends this URL to the extension point manager in the SAAS platform, to register the URL in association with the extension point ID and the application ID. This is the URL that can be invoked directly from inside a SAAS service instance at a later point. In some embodiments, the extension point manager also returns a handle (e.g. script ID of the script), so that it can be modified or removed as necessary later. A success indicator may be sent back to the script creator at <NUM>.

It is not always necessarily the case that the execution of the script happens on a separate machine, or via a URL for the specific execution. It can be called/invoked directly within the SAAS service provider by downloading the compiled script locally and then invoking.

In some embodiments, compiled script (in script storage <NUM>) may be stored on a machine or processor that executes service instance code or generally on any machine / processor within the SAAS platform. Depending on where the script is stored, alternatives to invoking the script via URL are possible e.g. the extension point manager could also invoke the script locally within the service instance to get the compiled script to execute for example via e.g. a pointer, ID, etc. Generally, the script could also be run or executed in-process within the service instance, externally via URL, or in a separate container on the SAAS platform.

In some embodiments, the script manager may be configured to send the script to a front end device for execution by the front end device in certain circumstances, for example when the device goes offline. If this is done in advance of a front end device going offline, it is possible for the script to continue to be executed by the front end device even after going offline.

At <NUM>, a client requests a specific already registered application to be installed against their service instance. The application installation interface <NUM> receives this request, records the installation in the application installations register, and returns an application installation success indication at <NUM>.

It is noted that the steps involving the client, including <NUM>, <NUM> can be performed any time after an application has been registered. Scripts may be created and uploaded in association with an application after that application has been registered and installed for one or more service instances.

<FIG> shows an example of script execution, which can take place after the steps of <FIG> are complete, again using the components of <FIG>. To begin, at <NUM>, code to execute some function, for which there is an extension point, is called inside the service instance. The called function is wrapped via an extensions software development kit (SDK), and so the default implementation of that function is not executed yet. The service instance informs the extension manager at <NUM>. At <NUM>, the extension manager attempts to obtain a script URL from the script URL database. Note that for a script URL to be used for the service instance, the associated application must have been installed on the service instance. This determination can be made by the extension manager. If there is a script URL for the extension point, the script URL DB returns the script's invocation URL at <NUM>. In some embodiments, the extension manager may cache this result. Then, instead of calling the default implementation of the function, the URL is accessed at <NUM> to execute the customization block. Where no URL is available, a default implementation of the function may be executed. The result is synchronously returned back to the extension point manager at <NUM> and then to the service instance <NUM>. The service instance remains unaware as to what code was run.

In some embodiments, the whole process is tightly controlled with timeouts, failure handlers and circuit breakers, ensuring all the networking meets specified targets to remain useful in low latency operations.

With reference to <FIG>, an embodiment e-commerce platform <NUM> is depicted for providing merchant products and services to customers. This is a specific example of a SAAS platform for implementing one or more of the embodiments described herein. For example, the functionality of SAAS platform of <FIG> may be implemented in e-commerce platform <NUM> of <FIG>. While the disclosure throughout contemplates using the apparatus, system, and process disclosed to purchase products and services, for simplicity the description herein will refer to products. All references to products throughout this disclosure should also be understood to be references to products and/or services, including physical products, digital content, tickets, subscriptions, services to be provided, and the like.

While the disclosure throughout contemplates that a 'merchant' and a 'customer' may be more than individuals, for simplicity the description herein may generally refer to merchants and customers as such. All references to merchants and customers throughout this disclosure should also be understood to be references to groups of individuals, companies, corporations, computing entities, and the like, and may represent for-profit or not-for-profit exchange of products. Further, while the disclosure throughout refers to 'merchants' and 'customers', and describes their roles as such, the e-commerce platform <NUM> should be understood to more generally support users in an e-commerce environment, and all references to merchants and customers throughout this disclosure should also be understood to be references to users, such as where a user is a merchant-user (e.g., a seller, retailer, wholesaler, or provider of products), a customer-user (e.g., a buyer, purchase agent, or user of products), a prospective user (e.g., a user browsing and not yet committed to a purchase, a user evaluating the e-commerce platform <NUM> for potential use in marketing and selling products, and the like), a service provider user (e.g., a shipping provider <NUM>, a financial provider, and the like), a company or corporate user (e.g., a company representative for purchase, sales, or use of products; an enterprise user; a customer relations or customer management agent, and the like), an information technology user, a computing entity user (e.g., a computing bot for purchase, sales, or use of products), and the like.

The e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide a centralized system for providing merchants with online resources and facilities for managing their business. The facilities described herein may be deployed in part or in whole through a machine that executes computer software, modules, program codes, and/or instructions on one or more processors which may be part of or external to the platform <NUM>. Merchants may utilize the e-commerce platform <NUM> for managing commerce with customers, such as by implementing an e-commerce experience with customers through an online store <NUM>, through channels 110A-B, through point of sale (POS) devices <NUM> in physical locations (e.g., a physical storefront or other location such as through a kiosk, terminal, reader, printer, 3D printer, and the like), by managing their business through the e-commerce platform <NUM>, and by interacting with customers through a communications facility <NUM> of the e-commerce platform <NUM>, or any combination thereof. A merchant may utilize the e-commerce platform <NUM> as a sole commerce presence with customers, or in conjunction with other merchant commerce facilities, such as through a physical store (e.g., 'brick-and-mortar' retail stores), a merchant off-platform website <NUM> (e.g., a commerce Internet website or other internet or web property or asset supported by or on behalf of the merchant separately from the e-commerce platform), and the like. However, even these 'other' merchant commerce facilities may be incorporated into the e-commerce platform, such as where POS devices <NUM> in a physical store of a merchant are linked into the e-commerce platform <NUM>, where a merchant off-platform website <NUM> is tied into the e-commerce platform <NUM>, such as through `buy buttons' that link content from the merchant off platform website <NUM> to the online store <NUM>, and the like.

The online store <NUM> may represent a multitenant facility comprising a plurality of virtual storefronts. In embodiments, merchants may manage one or more storefronts in the online store <NUM>, such as through a merchant device <NUM> (e.g., computer, laptop computer, mobile computing device, and the like), and offer products to customers through a number of different channels 110A-B (e.g., an online store <NUM>; a physical storefront through a POS device <NUM>; electronic marketplace, through an electronic buy button integrated into a website or social media channel such as on a social network, social media page, social media messaging system; and the like). A merchant may sell across channels 110A-B and then manage their sales through the e-commerce platform <NUM>, where channels 110A may be provided internal to the e-commerce platform <NUM> or from outside the e-commerce channel 110B. A merchant may sell in their physical retail store, at pop ups, through wholesale, over the phone, and the like, and then manage their sales through the e-commerce platform <NUM>. A merchant may employ all or any combination of these, such as maintaining a business through a physical storefront utilizing POS devices <NUM>, maintaining a virtual storefront through the online store <NUM>, and utilizing a communication facility <NUM> to leverage customer interactions and analytics <NUM> to improve the probability of sales. Throughout this disclosure the terms online store <NUM> and storefront may be used synonymously to refer to a merchant's online e-commerce offering presence through the e-commerce platform <NUM>, where an online store <NUM> may refer to the multitenant collection of storefronts supported by the e-commerce platform <NUM> (e.g., for a plurality of merchants) or to an individual merchant's storefront (e.g., a merchant's online store).

In embodiments, a customer may interact through a customer device <NUM> (e.g., computer, laptop computer, mobile computing device, and the like), a POS device <NUM> (e.g., retail device, a kiosk, an automated checkout system, and the like), or any other commerce interface device known in the art. The e-commerce platform <NUM> may enable merchants to reach customers through the online store <NUM>, through POS devices <NUM> in physical locations (e.g., a merchant's storefront or elsewhere), to promote commerce with customers through dialog via electronic communication facility <NUM>, and the like, providing a system for reaching customers and facilitating merchant services for the real or virtual pathways available for reaching and interacting with customers.

In embodiments, and as described further herein, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may be implemented through a processing facility including a processor and a memory, the processing facility storing a set of instructions that, when executed, cause the e-commerce platform <NUM> to perform the e-commerce and support functions as described herein. The processing facility may be part of a server, client, network infrastructure, mobile computing platform, cloud computing platform, stationary computing platform, or other computing platform, and provide electronic connectivity and communications between and amongst the electronic components of the e-commerce platform <NUM>, merchant devices <NUM>, payment gateways <NUM>, application developers, channels 110A-B, shipping providers <NUM>, customer devices <NUM>, point of sale devices <NUM>, and the like. The e-commerce platform <NUM> may be implemented as a cloud computing service, a software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), desktop as a Service (DaaS), managed software as a service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), information technology management as a service (ITMaaS), and the like, such as in a software and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and centrally hosted (e.g., accessed by users using a client (for example, a thin client) via a web browser or other application, accessed through by POS devices, and the like). In embodiments, elements of the e-commerce platform <NUM> may be implemented to operate on various platforms and operating systems, such as iOS, Android, on the web, and the like (e.g., the administrator <NUM> being implemented in multiple instances for a given online store for iOS, Android, and for the web, each with similar functionality).

In embodiments, the online store <NUM> may be served to a customer device <NUM> through a webpage provided by a server of the e-commerce platform <NUM>. The server may receive a request for the webpage from a browser or other application installed on the customer device <NUM>, where the browser (or other application) connects to the server through an IP Address, the IP address obtained by translating a domain name. In return, the server sends back the requested webpage. Webpages may be written in or include Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), template language, JavaScript, and the like, or any combination thereof. For instance, HTML is a computer language that describes static information for the webpage, such as the layout, format, and content of the webpage. Website designers and developers may use the template language to build webpages that combine static content, which is the same on multiple pages, and dynamic content, which changes from one page to the next. A template language may make it possible to re-use the static elements that define the layout of a webpage, while dynamically populating the page with data from an online store. The static elements may be written in HTML, and the dynamic elements written in the template language. The template language elements in a file may act as placeholders, such that the code in the file is compiled and sent to the customer device <NUM> and then the template language is replaced by data from the online store <NUM>, such as when a theme is installed. The template and themes may consider tags, objects, and filters. The client device web browser (or other application) then renders the page accordingly.

In embodiments, online stores <NUM> may be served by the e-commerce platform <NUM> to customers, where customers can browse and purchase the various products available (e.g., add them to a cart, purchase immediately through a buy-button, and the like). Online stores <NUM> may be served to customers in a transparent fashion without customers necessarily being aware that it is being provided through the e-commerce platform <NUM> (rather than directly from the merchant). Merchants may use a merchant configurable domain name, a customizable HTML theme, and the like, to customize their online store <NUM>. Merchants may customize the look and feel of their website through a theme system, such as where merchants can select and change the look and feel of their online store <NUM> by changing their theme while having the same underlying product and business data shown within the online store's product hierarchy. Themes may be further customized through a theme editor, a design interface that enables users to customize their website's design with flexibility. Themes may also be customized using theme-specific settings that change aspects, such as specific colors, fonts, and pre-built layout schemes. The online store may implement a content management system for website content. Merchants may author blog POSDADs or static pages and publish them to their online store <NUM>, such as through blogs, articles, and the like, as well as configure navigation menus. Merchants may upload images (e.g., for products), video, content, data, and the like to the e-commerce platform <NUM>, such as for storage by the system (e.g. as data <NUM>). In embodiments, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide functions for resizing images, associating an image with a product, adding and associating text with an image, adding an image for a new product variant, protecting images, and the like.

As described herein, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide merchants with transactional facilities for products through a number of different channels 110A-B, including the online store <NUM>, over the telephone, as well as through physical POS devices <NUM> as described herein. The e-commerce platform <NUM> may include business support services <NUM>, an administrator <NUM>, and the like associated with running an on-line business, such as providing a domain service <NUM> associated with their online store, payment services <NUM> for facilitating transactions with a customer, shipping services <NUM> for providing customer shipping options for purchased products, risk and insurance services <NUM> associated with product protection and liability, merchant billing, and the like. Services <NUM> may be provided via the e-commerce platform <NUM> or in association with external facilities, such as through a payment gateway <NUM> for payment processing, shipping providers <NUM> for expediting the shipment of products, and the like.

In embodiments, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide for integrated shipping services <NUM> (e.g., through an e-commerce platform shipping facility or through a third-party shipping carrier), such as providing merchants with real-time updates, tracking, automatic rate calculation, bulk order preparation, label printing, and the like.

<FIG> depicts a non-limiting embodiment for a home page of an administrator <NUM>, which may show information about daily tasks, a store's recent activity, and the next steps a merchant can take to build their business. In embodiments, a merchant may log in to administrator <NUM> via a merchant device <NUM> such as from a desktop computer or mobile device, and manage aspects of their online store <NUM>, such as viewing the online store's <NUM> recent activity, updating the online store's <NUM> catalog, managing orders, recent visits activity, total orders activity, and the like. In embodiments, the merchant may be able to access the different sections of administrator <NUM> by using the sidebar, such as shown on <FIG>. Sections of the administrator <NUM> may include various interfaces for accessing and managing core aspects of a merchant's business, including orders, products, customers, available reports and discounts. The administrator <NUM> may also include interfaces for managing sales channels for a store including the online store, mobile application(s) made available to customers for accessing the store (Mobile App), POS devices, and/or a buy button. The administrator <NUM> may also include interfaces for managing applications (Apps) installed on the merchant's account; settings applied to a merchant's online store <NUM> and account. A merchant may use a search bar to find products, pages, or other information. Depending on the device <NUM> or software application the merchant is using, they may be enabled for different functionality through the administrator <NUM>. For instance, if a merchant logs in to the administrator <NUM> from a browser, they may be able to manage all aspects of their online store <NUM>. If the merchant logs in from their mobile device (e.g. via a mobile application), they may be able to view all or a subset of the aspects of their online store <NUM>, such as viewing the online store's <NUM> recent activity, updating the online store's <NUM> catalog, managing orders, and the like.

More detailed information about commerce and visitors to a merchant's online store <NUM> may be viewed through acquisition reports or metrics, such as displaying a sales summary for the merchant's overall business, specific sales and engagement data for active sales channels, and the like. Reports may include, acquisition reports, behavior reports, customer reports, finance reports, marketing reports, sales reports, custom reports, and the like. The merchant may be able to view sales data for different channels 110A-B from different periods of time (e.g., days, weeks, months, and the like), such as by using dropdown menus. An overview dashboard may be provided for a merchant that wants a more detailed view of the store's sales and engagement data. An activity feed in the home metrics section may be provided to illustrate an overview of the activity on the merchant's account. For example, by clicking on a `view all recent activity' dashboard button, the merchant may be able to see a longer feed of recent activity on their account. A home page may show notifications about the merchant's online store <NUM>, such as based on account status, growth, recent customer activity, and the like. Notifications may be provided to assist a merchant with navigating through a process, such as capturing a payment, marking an order as fulfilled, archiving an order that is complete, and the like.

The e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide for a communications facility <NUM> and associated merchant interface for providing electronic communications and marketing, such as utilizing an electronic messaging aggregation facility for collecting and analyzing communication interactions between merchants, customers, merchant devices <NUM>, customer devices <NUM>, POS devices <NUM>, and the like, to aggregate and analyze the communications, such as for increasing the potential for providing a sale of a product, and the like. For instance, a customer may have a question related to a product, which may produce a dialog between the customer and the merchant (or automated processor-based agent representing the merchant), where the communications facility <NUM> analyzes the interaction and provides analysis to the merchant on how to improve the probability for a sale.

The e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide a financial facility <NUM> for secure financial transactions with customers, such as through a secure card server environment. The e-commerce platform <NUM> may store credit card information, such as in payment card industry data (PCI) environments (e.g., a card server), to reconcile financials, bill merchants, perform automated clearing house (ACH) transfers between an e-commerce platform <NUM> financial institution account and a merchant's back account (e.g., when using capital), and the like. These systems may have Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance and a high level of diligence required in their development and operation. The financial facility <NUM> may also provide merchants with financial support, such as through the lending of capital (e.g., lending funds, cash advances, and the like) and provision of insurance. In addition, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide for a set of marketing and partner services and control the relationship between the e-commerce platform <NUM> and partners. They also may connect and onboard new merchants with the e-commerce platform <NUM>. These services may enable merchant growth by making it easier for merchants to work across the e-commerce platform <NUM>. Through these services, merchants may be provided help facilities via the e-commerce platform <NUM>.

In embodiments, online store <NUM> may support a great number of independently administered storefronts and process a large volume of transactional data on a daily basis for a variety of products. Transactional data may include customer contact information, billing information, shipping information, information on products purchased, information on services rendered, and any other information associated with business through the e-commerce platform <NUM>. In embodiments, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may store this data in a data facility <NUM>. The transactional data may be processed to produce analytics <NUM>, which in turn may be provided to merchants or third-party commerce entities, such as providing consumer trends, marketing and sales insights, recommendations for improving sales, evaluation of customer behaviors, marketing and sales modeling, trends in fraud, and the like, related to online commerce, and provided through dashboard interfaces, through reports, and the like. The e-commerce platform <NUM> may store information about business and merchant transactions, and the data facility <NUM> may have many ways of enhancing, contributing, refining, and extracting data, where over time the collected data may enable improvements to aspects of the e-commerce platform <NUM>.

Referring again to <FIG>, in embodiments the e-commerce platform <NUM> may be configured with a commerce management engine <NUM> for content management, task automation and data management to enable support and services to the plurality of online stores <NUM> (e.g., related to products, inventory, customers, orders, collaboration, suppliers, reports, financials, risk and fraud, and the like), but be extensible through applications 142A-B that enable greater flexibility and custom processes required for accommodating an evergrowing variety of merchant online stores, POS devices, products, and services, where applications 142A may be provided internal to the e-commerce platform <NUM> or applications 142B from outside the e-commerce platform <NUM>. In embodiments, an application 142A may be provided by the same party providing the platform <NUM> or by a different party. In embodiments, an application 142B may be provided by the same party providing the platform <NUM> or by a different party. The commerce management engine <NUM> may be configured for flexibility and scalability through portioning (e.g., sharding) of functions and data, such as by customer identifier, order identifier, online store identifier, and the like. The commerce management engine <NUM> may accommodate store-specific business logic and in some embodiments, may incorporate the administrator <NUM> and/or the online store <NUM>.

The commerce management engine <NUM> includes base or "core" functions of the e-commerce platform <NUM>, and as such, as described herein, not all functions supporting online stores <NUM> may be appropriate for inclusion. For instance, functions for inclusion into the commerce management engine <NUM> may need to exceed a core functionality threshold through which it may be determined that the function is core to a commerce experience (e.g., common to a majority of online store activity, such as across channels, administrator interfaces, merchant locations, industries, product types, and the like), is re-usable across online stores <NUM> (e.g., functions that can be re-used/modified across core functions), limited to the context of a single online store <NUM> at a time (e.g., implementing an online store `isolation principle', where code should not be able to interact with multiple online stores <NUM> at a time, ensuring that online stores <NUM> cannot access each other's data), provide a transactional workload, and the like. Maintaining control of what functions are implemented may enable the commerce management engine <NUM> to remain responsive, as many required features are either served directly by the commerce management engine <NUM> or enabled through an interface 140A-B, such as by its extension through an application programming interface (API) connection to applications 142A-B and channels 110A-B, where interfaces 140A may be provided to applications 142A and/or channels 110A inside the e-commerce platform <NUM> or through interfaces 140B provided to applications 142B and/or channels 110B outside the e-commerce platform <NUM>. Generally, the platform <NUM> may include interfaces 140A-B (which may be extensions, connectors, APIs, and the like) which facilitate connections to and communications with other platforms, systems, software, data sources, code and the like. Such interfaces 140A-B may be an interface 140A of the commerce management engine <NUM> or an interface 140B of the platform <NUM> more generally. If care is not given to restricting functionality in the commerce management engine <NUM>, responsiveness could be compromised, such as through infrastructure degradation through slow databases or non-critical backend failures, through catastrophic infrastructure failure such as with a data center going offline, through new code being deployed that takes longer to execute than expected, and the like. To prevent or mitigate these situations, the commerce management engine <NUM> may be configured to maintain responsiveness, such as through configuration that utilizes timeouts, queues, back-pressure to prevent degradation, and the like.

Although isolating online store data is important to maintaining data privacy between online stores <NUM> and merchants, there may be reasons for collecting and using cross-store data, such as for example, with an order risk assessment system or a platform payment facility, both of which require information from multiple online stores <NUM> to perform well. In embodiments, rather than violating the isolation principle, it may be preferred to move these components out of the commerce management engine <NUM> and into their own infrastructure within the e-commerce platform <NUM>.

In embodiments, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide for a platform payment facility <NUM>, which is another example of a component that utilizes data from the commerce management engine <NUM> but may be located outside so as to not violate the isolation principle. The platform payment facility <NUM> may allow customers interacting with online stores <NUM> to have their payment information stored safely by the commerce management engine <NUM> such that they only have to enter it once. When a customer visits a different online store <NUM>, even if they've never been there before, the platform payment facility <NUM> may recall their information to enable a more rapid and correct check out. This may provide a cross-platform network effect, where the e-commerce platform <NUM> becomes more useful to its merchants as more merchants join, such as because there are more customers who checkout more often because of the ease of use with respect to customer purchases. To maximize the effect of this network, payment information for a given customer may be retrievable from an online store's checkout, allowing information to be made available globally across online stores <NUM>. It would be difficult and error prone for each online store <NUM> to be able to connect to any other online store <NUM> to retrieve the payment information stored there. As a result, the platform payment facility may be implemented external to the commerce management engine <NUM>.

For those functions that are not included within the commerce management engine <NUM>, applications 142A-B provide a way to add features to the e-commerce platform <NUM>. Applications 142A-B may be able to access and modify data on a merchant's online store <NUM>, perform tasks through the administrator <NUM>, create new flows for a merchant through a user interface (e.g., that is surfaced through extensions / API), and the like. Merchants may be enabled to discover and install applications 142A-B through application search, recommendations, and support <NUM>. In embodiments, core products, core extension points, applications, and the administrator <NUM> may be developed to work together. For instance, application extension points may be built inside the administrator <NUM> so that core features may be extended by way of applications, which may deliver functionality to a merchant through the extension.

In embodiments, applications 142A-B may deliver functionality to a merchant through the interface 140A-B, such as where an application 142A-B is able to surface transaction data to a merchant (e.g., App: "Engine, surface my app data in mobile and web admin using the embedded app SDK"), and/or where the commerce management engine <NUM> is able to ask the application to perform work on demand (Engine: "App, give me a local tax calculation for this checkout").

Applications 142A-B may support online stores <NUM> and channels 110A-B, provide for merchant support, integrate with other services, and the like. Where the commerce management engine <NUM> may provide the foundation of services to the online store <NUM>, the applications 142A-B may provide a way for merchants to satisfy specific and sometimes unique needs. Different merchants will have different needs, and so may benefit from different applications 142A-B. Applications 142A-B may be better discovered through the e-commerce platform <NUM> through development of an application taxonomy (categories) that enable applications to be tagged according to a type of function it performs for a merchant; through application data services that support searching, ranking, and recommendation models; through application discovery interfaces such as an application store, home information cards, an application settings page; and the like.

Applications 142A-B may be connected to the commerce management engine <NUM> through an interface 140A-B, such as utilizing APIs to expose the functionality and data available through and within the commerce management engine <NUM> to the functionality of applications (e.g., through REST, GraphQL, and the like). For instance, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide API interfaces 140A-B to merchant and partner-facing products and services, such as including application extensions, process flow services, developerfacing resources, and the like. With customers more frequently using mobile devices for shopping, applications 142A-B related to mobile use may benefit from more extensive use of APIs to support the related growing commerce traffic. The flexibility offered through use of applications and APIs (e.g., as offered for application development) enable the e-commerce platform <NUM> to better accommodate new and unique needs of merchants (and internal developers through internal APIs) without requiring constant change to the commerce management engine <NUM>, thus providing merchants what they need when they need it. For instance, shipping services <NUM> may be integrated with the commerce management engine <NUM> through a shipping or carrier service API, thus enabling the e-commerce platform <NUM> to provide shipping service functionality without directly impacting code running in the commerce management engine <NUM>.

Many merchant problems may be solved by letting partners improve and extend merchant workflows through application development, such as problems associated with back-office operations (merchant-facing applications 142A-B) and in the online store <NUM> (customer-facing applications 142A-B). As a part of doing business, many merchants will use mobile and web related applications on a daily basis for back-office tasks (e.g., merchandising, inventory, discounts, fulfillment, and the like) and online store tasks (e.g., applications related to their online shop, for flash-sales, new product offerings, and the like), where applications 142A-B, through extension / API 140A-B, help make products easy to view and purchase in a fast growing marketplace. In embodiments, partners, application developers, internal applications facilities, and the like, may be provided with a software development kit (SDK), such as through creating a frame within the administrator <NUM> that sandboxes an application interface. In embodiments, the administrator <NUM> may not have control over nor be aware of what happens within the frame. The SDK may be used in conjunction with a user interface kit to produce interfaces that mimic the look and feel of the e-commerce platform <NUM>, such as acting as an extension of the commerce management engine <NUM>.

Applications 142A-B that utilize APIs may pull data on demand, but often they also need to have data pushed when updates occur. Update events may be implemented in a subscription model, such as for example, customer creation, product changes, or order cancelation. Update events may provide merchants with needed updates with respect to a changed state of the commerce management engine <NUM>, such as for synchronizing a local database, notifying an external integration partner, and the like. Update events may enable this functionality without having to poll the commerce management engine <NUM> all the time to check for updates, such as through an update event subscription. In embodiments, when a change related to an update event subscription occurs, the commerce management engine <NUM> may POSDAD a request, such as to a predefined callback URL. The body of this request may contain a new state of the object and a description of the action or event. Update event subscriptions may be created manually, in the administrator facility <NUM>, or automatically (e.g., via the API 140A-B). In embodiments, update events may be queued and processed asynchronously from a state change that triggered them, which may produce an update event notification that is not distributed in real-time.

In embodiments, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide application search, recommendation and support <NUM>. Application search, recommendation and support <NUM> may include developer products and tools to aid in the development of applications, an application dashboard (e.g., to provide developers with a development interface, to administrators for management of applications, to merchants for customization of applications, and the like), facilities for installing and providing permissions with respect to providing access to an application 142A-B (e.g., for public access, such as where criteria must be met before being installed, or for private use by a merchant), application searching to make it easy for a merchant to search for applications 142A-B that satisfy a need for their online store <NUM>, application recommendations to provide merchants with suggestions on how they can improve the user experience through their online store <NUM>, a description of core application capabilities within the commerce management engine <NUM>, and the like. These support facilities may be utilized by application development performed by any entity, including the merchant developing their own application 142A-B, a third-party developer developing an application 142A-B (e.g., contracted by a merchant, developed on their own to offer to the public, contracted for use in association with the e-commerce platform <NUM>, and the like), or an application 142A or 142B being developed by internal personal resources associated with the e-commerce platform <NUM>. In embodiments, applications 142A-B may be assigned an application identifier (ID), such as for linking to an application (e.g., through an API), searching for an application, making application recommendations, and the like.

The commerce management engine <NUM> may include base functions of the e-commerce platform <NUM> and expose these functions through APIs 140A-B to applications 142A-B. The APIs 140A-B may enable different types of applications built through application development. Applications 142A-B may be capable of satisfying a great variety of needs for merchants but may be grouped roughly into three categories: customer-facing applications, merchant-facing applications, integration applications, and the like. Customer-facing applications 142A-B may include online store <NUM> or channels 110A-B that are places where merchants can list products and have them purchased (e.g., the online store, applications for flash sales (e.g., merchant products or from opportunistic sales opportunities from third-party sources), a mobile store application, a social media channel, an application for providing wholesale purchasing, and the like). Merchant-facing applications 142A-B may include applications that allow the merchant to administer their online store <NUM> (e.g., through applications related to the web or website or to mobile devices), run their business (e.g., through applications related to POS devices), to grow their business (e.g., through applications related to shipping (e.g., drop shipping), use of automated agents, use of process flow development and improvements), and the like. Integration applications may include applications that provide useful integrations that participate in the running of a business, such as shipping providers <NUM> and payment gateways.

In embodiments, an application developer may use an application proxy to fetch data from an outside location and display it on the page of an online store <NUM>. Content on these proxy pages may be dynamic, capable of being updated, and the like. Application proxies may be useful for displaying image galleries, statistics, custom forms, and other kinds of dynamic content. The core-application structure of the e-commerce platform <NUM> may allow for an increasing number of merchant experiences to be built in applications 142A-B so that the commerce management engine <NUM> can remain focused on the more commonly utilized business logic of commerce.

The e-commerce platform <NUM> provides an online shopping experience through a curated system architecture that enables merchants to connect with customers in a flexible and transparent manner. A typical customer experience may be better understood through an embodiment example purchase workflow, where the customer browses the merchant's products on a channel 110A-B, adds what they intend to buy to their cart, proceeds to checkout, and pays for the content of their cart resulting in the creation of an order for the merchant. The merchant may then review and fulfill (or cancel) the order. The product is then delivered to the customer. If the customer is not satisfied, they might return the products to the merchant.

In an example embodiment, a customer may browse a merchant's products on a channel 110A-B. A channel 110A-B is a place where customers can view and buy products. In embodiments, channels 110A-B may be modeled as applications 142A-B (a possible exception being the online store <NUM>, which is integrated within the commence management engine <NUM>). A merchandising component may allow merchants to describe what they want to sell and where they sell it. The association between a product and a channel may be modeled as a product publication and accessed by channel applications, such as via a product listing API. A product may have many options, like size and color, and many variants that expand the available options into specific combinations of all the options, like the variant that is extra-small and green, or the variant that is size large and blue. Products may have at least one variant (e.g., a "default variant" is created for a product without any options). To facilitate browsing and management, products may be grouped into collections, provided product identifiers (e.g., stock keeping unit (SKU)) and the like. Collections of products may be built by either manually categorizing products into one (e.g., a custom collection), by building rulesets for automatic classification (e.g., a smart collection), and the like. Products may be viewed as 2D images, 3D images, rotating view images, through a virtual or augmented reality interface, and the like.

In embodiments, the customer may add what they intend to buy to their cart (in an alternate embodiment, a product may be purchased directly, such as through a buy button as described herein). Customers may add product variants to their shopping cart. The shopping cart model may be channel specific. The online store <NUM> cart may be composed of multiple cart line items, where each cart line item tracks the quantity for a product variant. Merchants may use cart scripts to offer special promotions to customers based on the content of their cart. Since adding a product to a cart does not imply any commitment from the customer or the merchant, and the expected lifespan of a cart may be in the order of minutes (not days), carts may be persisted to an ephemeral data store.

The customer then proceeds to checkout. A checkout component may implement a web checkout as a customer-facing order creation process. A checkout API may be provided as a computer-facing order creation process used by some channel applications to create orders on behalf of customers (e.g., for point of sale). Checkouts may be created from a cart and record a customer's information such as email address, billing, and shipping details. On checkout, the merchant commits to pricing. If the customer inputs their contact information but does not proceed to payment, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may provide an opportunity to re-engage the customer (e.g., in an abandoned checkout feature). For those reasons, checkouts can have much longer lifespans than carts (hours or even days) and are therefore persisted. Checkouts may calculate taxes and shipping costs based on the customer's shipping address. Checkout may delegate the calculation of taxes to a tax component and the calculation of shipping costs to a delivery component. A pricing component may enable merchants to create discount codes (e.g., 'secret' strings that when entered on the checkout apply new prices to the items in the checkout). Discounts may be used by merchants to attract customers and assess the performance of marketing campaigns. Discounts and other custom price systems may be implemented on top of the same platform piece, such as through price rules (e.g., a set of prerequisites that when met imply a set of entitlements). For instance, prerequisites may be items such as "the order subtotal is greater than $<NUM>" or "the shipping cost is under $<NUM>", and entitlements may be items such as "a <NUM>% discount on the whole order" or "$<NUM> off products X, Y, and Z".

Customers then pay for the content of their cart resulting in the creation of an order for the merchant. Channels 110A-B may use the commerce management engine <NUM> to move money, currency or a store of value (such as dollars or a cryptocurrency) to and from customers and merchants. Communication with the various payment providers (e.g., online payment systems, mobile payment systems, digital wallet, credit card gateways, and the like) may be implemented within a payment processing component. The actual interactions with the payment gateways <NUM> may be provided through a card server environment. In embodiments, the payment gateway <NUM> may accept international payment, such as integrating with leading international credit card processors. The card server environment may include a card server application, card sink, hosted fields, and the like. This environment may act as the secure gatekeeper of the sensitive credit card information. In embodiments, most of the process may be orchestrated by a payment processing job. The commerce management engine <NUM> may support many other payment methods, such as through an offsite payment gateway <NUM> (e.g., where the customer is redirected to another website), manually (e.g., cash), online payment methods (e.g., online payment systems, mobile payment systems, digital wallet, credit card gateways, and the like), gift cards, and the like. At the end of the checkout process, an order is created. An order is a contract of sale between the merchant and the customer where the merchant agrees to provide the goods and services listed on the orders (e.g., order line items, shipping line items, and the like) and the customer agrees to provide payment (including taxes). This process may be modeled in a sales component. Channels 110A-B that do not rely on commerce management engine <NUM> checkouts may use an order API to create orders. Once an order is created, an order confirmation notification may be sent to the customer and an order placed notification sent to the merchant via a notification component. Inventory may be reserved when a payment processing job starts to avoid over-selling (e.g., merchants may control this behavior from the inventory policy of each variant). Inventory reservation may have a short time span (minutes) and may need to be very fast and scalable to support flash sales (e.g., a discount or promotion offered for a short time, such as targeting impulse buying). The reservation is released if the payment fails. When the payment succeeds, and an order is created, the reservation is converted into a long-term inventory commitment allocated to a specific location. An inventory component may record where variants are stocked, and tracks quantities for variants that have inventory tracking enabled. It may decouple product variants (a customer facing concept representing the template of a product listing) from inventory items (a merchant facing concept that represent an item whose quantity and location is managed). An inventory level component may keep track of quantities that are available for sale, committed to an order or incoming from an inventory transfer component (e.g., from a vendor).

The merchant may then review and fulfill (or cancel) the order. A review component may implement a business process merchant's use to ensure orders are suitable for fulfillment before actually fulfilling them. Orders may be fraudulent, require verification (e.g., ID checking), have a payment method which requires the merchant to wait to make sure they will receive their funds, and the like. Risks and recommendations may be persisted in an order risk model. Order risks may be generated from a fraud detection tool, submitted by a third-party through an order risk API, and the like. Before proceeding to fulfillment, the merchant may need to capture the payment information (e.g., credit card information) or wait to receive it (e.g., via a bank transfer, check, and the like) and mark the order as paid. The merchant may now prepare the products for delivery. In embodiments, this business process may be implemented by a fulfillment component. The fulfillment component may group the line items of the order into a logical fulfillment unit of work based on an inventory location and fulfillment service. The merchant may review, adjust the unit of work, and trigger the relevant fulfillment services, such as through a manual fulfillment service (e.g., at merchant managed locations) used when the merchant picks and packs the products in a box, purchase a shipping label and input its tracking number, or just mark the item as fulfilled. A custom fulfillment service may send an email (e.g., a location that doesn't provide an API connection). An API fulfillment service may trigger a third party, where the third-party application creates a fulfillment record. A legacy fulfillment service may trigger a custom API call from the commerce management engine <NUM> to a third party (e.g., fulfillment by Amazon). A gift card fulfillment service may provision (e.g., generating a number) and activate a gift card. Merchants may use an order printer application to print packing slips. The fulfillment process may be executed when the items are packed in the box and ready for shipping, shipped, tracked, delivered, verified as received by the customer, and the like.

If the customer is not satisfied, they may be able to return the product(s) to the merchant. The business process merchants may go through to "un-sell" an item may be implemented by a return component. Returns may consist of a variety of different actions, such as a restock, where the product that was sold actually comes back into the business and is sellable again; a refund, where the money that was collected from the customer is partially or fully returned; an accounting adjustment noting how much money was refunded (e.g., including if there was any restocking fees, or goods that weren't returned and remain in the customer's hands); and the like. A return may represent a change to the contract of sale (e.g., the order), and where the e-commerce platform <NUM> may make the merchant aware of compliance issues with respect to legal obligations (e.g., with respect to taxes). In embodiments, the e-commerce platform <NUM> may enable merchants to keep track of changes to the contract of sales over time, such as implemented through a sales model component (e.g., an append-only date-based ledger that records sale-related events that happened to an item).

The e-commerce platform <NUM> may be providing sales channels for multiple merchants, for their respective customers, and for varying types of merchandise. Payment gateways <NUM> are provided by the e-commerce platform or by external parties to process transactions in an e-commerce environment.

Claim 1:
A method executed on a software as a service, SAAS, platform (<NUM>), the method comprising:
executing computer executable code to provide a service instance in respect of which a third party application has been installed, the computer executable code including a plurality of extension points (<NUM>); and
during execution of said computer executable code for the service instance, when a particular extension point of the plurality of extension points (<NUM>) is reached:
determining that a script associated with the third party application is available for the particular extension point, and
responsive to determining that the script associated with the third party application is available for the particular extension point, executing the script,
wherein executing the script comprises selecting between executing the script on the SAAS platform (<NUM>) and executing the script on an external hosting infrastructure (<NUM>),
wherein said selecting is based on criticality of the third party application set on a perservice instance basis, with scripts for more critical apps running on the SAAS platform where performance can be guaranteed,
wherein the criticality of the third party application is set via a client User Interface, UI, (<NUM>).