[FX.php List] Shopping Carts - Keep in SessionVars or Add Records right away?

[Jonathan Schwartz]

At 6:57 PM +1000 7/29/09, Head Honcho wrote:
>Hi ggt,
>
>On 29/07/2009, at 6:49 PM, Gjermund Gusland Thorsen wrote:
>
>>What are your criterias for deleting the carts not owned by anybody?
>>
>
>Fairly basic:
>
>More than 7 days old with no authorisation code (given by the gateway).
>
>Regards
>
>Michael Ward


I'm going to chime in again.

In my experience, this should be a *business 
rule*, determined by the client based on how they 
want to work with unfinished orders.  If the 
client *doesn't* care to access/review unfinished 
orders, then "Zero" time is required to keep the 
unfinished orders.  If the client *does* value 
unfinished orders, then it should be their call 
how far back they want to go.

Another consideration...keeping the unfinished 
orders for technical troubleshooting and review. 
How long does it take for problem reports to 
filter back from the Customer to the Client and 
then to the Developer?

FYI, my latest online projects employ a temporary 
"holding tank" table that contains all orders, 
finished and unfinished.  Upon finishing, the 
records get copied into the "real" orders table, 
leaving a virgin copy of the original order in 
the temporary table.  This has been invaluable in 
troubleshooting Customer/Client  trouble reports, 
as you can show the details of the order at the 
moment it was taken, versus dealing with the 
"permanent" order that might have changed 27 
times since being created.

In one project,we have a routine that compares 
temporary orders and permanent orders, 
identifying unfinished orders, and emails 
customers with a "Wha Happened?" survey...plus a 
coupon code and invitation to try again. 
Currently, the temp file has 1 year's worth of 
orders.  Without this information, how would the 
client ever determine, say, that a large 
percentage of unfinished orders are due to 
perception that shipping costs were too high? 
(just an example).

In summary, the decision to keep/not keep 
unfinished order data should be determined by 
business rules. Failing that, tech rules apply.

Stepping back, let it be said that our roles as 
fx.php developers stretches far beyond delivering 
what the client ask for...into the arena of 
web-marketing e-commerce consultants. At least it 
has for me.

My 2¢.

Jonathan


-- 
Jonathan Schwartz
Exit 445 Group
jonathan at exit445.com
http://www.exit445.com
415-370-5011