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Case Study
Online Retail Management System with SAP
Integration
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Client required a complete retail management system that integrates well with their existing
SAP solution. Client projected the web application to list a plethora of products for online sales.
It is a portal that enables customers to view the product images and place online orders using
the cart system.
The system is neatly divided into various parts:
Administrators: Looking at the enormous nature of the web application the system required a
super admin that provides privileges to rest of the admin’s in the system. Each admin is
assigned a section in the application.
Supervisors and Agents: These are the two prime roles. Each supervisor role handles and
keeps a tab upon a specific no. of agents. Agents can manage customers and their details
through application-provided interface.
Warehouse: Physical products will be stored in the warehouse. A warehouse manager will
update the warehouse interface in the application as per the inventory status.
Call Center: Customers can place orders through a phone call. Call center module enables
managers to define roles for employees and help them add customer details while placing order
for them.
Client expected the following functionalities to be added to the system:
• Ability to add multiple images of a single product
• Integration of a payment gateway
• Order management features
• Customer record handling
• Internal communication system-Email console
• Inventory management system
• Integration with existing SAP system
• Translation to other languages
• User-friendly design
• Tweaks to database for high performance
• Call handling features
Client Requirement
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Technologies Used
Operating System &
Server Management
Win OS, Multi-Server Architecture with Staging & Production
Environment through Version Controlling releases, Server
Optimization, Security & SSL Implementation, Scheduler for Back-ups,
Alert Monitoring System Integration, Server Performance Tuning at
regular intervals, Software Firewall Configuration & Maintenance
Development Tools &
Environments
.Net Framework 4.0, MS Visual Studio, HTML5, CSS3, AJAX, WCF,
IIS 7.0, SVN etc.
Database MSSQL R2 Database Server, DB Clustering, DB Optimization, Master
Slave Replication, Query Optimization, Scheduler for Backups
Project Challenges
Team faced the following challenges:
• Developing an active shopping portal capable of handling millions of user requests at
the same time without slowing the site down.
• Incorporating web usability principles in the website design to ensure easy navigation
for all types of users.
• Creating and calling WCF web services through JQuery and JavaScript for faster page
load without repeated page refresh.
• SAP integration into web application to sort and fetch the existing records whenever
required.
• Large database was normalized to avoid unnecessary load and fetch only the required
data.
• Use of ASP.Net 4.0 capability to get Unique Identification Number for each user.
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Manpower
Project Leader 1
Developers 4
Designers 2
Quality Assurance Testers 2
DBA 1
Planning
Keeping in mind the structure of the website and the challenges involved a four-tier
development approach was adopted consisting of:
• The Database layer containing MSSQL Server Database, Tables, Stored Procedures and
so on.
• The Interface layer and Database Abstraction layer for converting data between
incompatible type systems in databases and accessing data from the database
respectively.
• The Business Logic layer consisting of all the business logic procedures for modules like
User Profiles, Invitations, Forums, Blogs etc.
• The User Interface layer which forms the Graphical User Interface of the website.
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Architecture
Development Highlights
The web application was equipped with a robust architecture to offer centralized access to
multiple roles under one system. Customizable viewing options were designed to enhance user
experience and allow personalization. Considering the enormous structure of application the
development and deployment part was divided into four phases. Best techniques and
hierarchical development approach was adopted to build a fully-functional system according to
the latest standards.
For effective performance WCF web services were used. SAP integration was performed to
connect with the existing data source and fetch the data and make it compatible with the
developed web application. Web usability guidelines were strictly followed during development
and the interface was made easily navigable through judicious use of AJAX, CSS3 and HTML5
controls. The site was developed and fully functional within a span of 6 months.
