Overview
E-commerce enables you to sell one-time purchase products alongside subscriptions. Products represent items in your catalog, while SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) represent specific variants with their own pricing and inventory. Orders track customer purchases and fulfillment status.
How It Works
- Create products - Define items in your catalog with name, description, and settings
- Add SKUs - Create variants with specific attributes, pricing, and inventory
- Customers purchase - Orders are created when customers buy SKUs
- Fulfill orders - Ship physical products or deliver digital goods
Example: A publisher sells branded merchandise. They create a "Company T-Shirt" product with six SKUs (S/M/L in Red and Blue). Each SKU has its own price and inventory count. When a customer orders, the system creates an order and decrements inventory.
Key Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Product | A catalog item (e.g., "T-Shirt", "Book", "Mug") |
| SKU | A specific variant with price and inventory (e.g., "Large Red T-Shirt") |
| Order | A customer's purchase of one or more SKUs |
| Inventory | Stock tracking - finite (counted) or infinite (always available) |
API Resources
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| E-commerce Products | Manage catalog products |
| SKUs | Manage product variants with pricing and inventory |
| Orders | Manage customer purchases and fulfillment |