To be successful on the Web, you have to run eCommerce as you would run a bricks and mortar store - like a business. You not only must build an attractive storefront on the Web, you then have to keep looking for ways to turn browsers into customers, and then make sure you keep your customers returning by giving them high quality service.

WebSphere® Commerce is about much more than building an attractive eCommerce Web site to display and sell from a catalog of products. It is about running a competitive eCommerce business, running marketing campaigns and promotions to generate sales, and running an efficient back office to fulfill orders and keep your customers coming back for more purchases.

We asked a team of WebSphere Commerce experts who have many years of experience creating and deploying eCommerce solutions for some of the largest, and some much smaller retailers and business to business customers, to get together and write a book about it, and pass on their expertise to clients coming new to the world of WebSphere Commerce .

This IBM® Redbooks® publication shows you how to start planning to use all the capabilities of WebSphere Commerce effectively, to improve your business, and also to do eCommerce efficiently on a global scale.

Part 1. Know your eCommerce solution

Chapter 1. Identify your business context

Chapter 2. What WebSphere Commerce provides

Chapter 3. Complete your eCommerce solution

Part 2. Plan your eCommerce project

Chapter 4. First steps

Chapter 5. Organize your eCommerce resources

Chapter 6. Challenges and pitfalls

Part 3. Plan your eCommerce infrastructure

Chapter 7. Patterns of infrastructure for eCommerce

Chapter 8. Best of breed infrastructure

Chapter 9. Size your infrastructure

Chapter 10. Development, test, and production environments

Part 4. Keep on running

Chapter 11. Running your Web site

Chapter 12. Troubleshoot your eCommerce site

Appendix A. Solution Outline Template

Appendix B. Business Vision Template