Business Scenarios for the Profiles System
For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.
To develop Commerce Server applications effectively, you must understand the high-level business scenarios in which the Profiles System of Commerce Server 2007 can be useful. Some common scenarios for developing with the Profiles System are as follows:
Authenticate users.
Capture user logon information.
Capture user preference information.
Store general business information.
Provide a targeted and personalized site experience.
Provide a targeted and personalized marketing experience.
Authenticate Users
The Commerce Server Membership provider works with the Profiles System to authenticate users and to retrieve their personalized information. Additionally, it makes sure that the authentication mechanism works securely across all servers in a Web farm.
Capture User Logon Information
The Profiles System captures and stores user authentication credentials, such as the following attributes:
User name
Password
Challenge question and answer
Password reminder
Capture User Preference Information
The Profiles System stores user-related information, such as the following:
First name
Last name
Multiple address information for shipping or billing
Credit card or other payment credentials
Organization information
The Profiles System may also store implicit user information, such as the amount spent on purchases (that you can use for loyalty programs), and other demographic information as provided by the Data Warehouse Analytics System. For more information about the Data Warehouse Analytics System, see Developing with the Data Warehouse Analytics System.
The Profiles System may also store explicit user information such as opt-in mailing lists, interest topics, personal attributes (such as shoe or clothing size and preferred colors), shipping methods, and payment methods.
Store General Business Information
The Profiles System stores general business information that is needed by Commerce Server 2007. For example, the Profiles System stores site currency exchange rates, and site status information such as open, closed for maintenance, and general messages.
The Profiles System also stores site lookup tables, such as site terms, types of clothing sizes or colors offered, and shipping types such as overnight, 2nd day, and ground service.
The Profiles System can store business to business purchasing information such as account level, purchasing manager, buyer, payment manager, and so on.
Provide a Targeted and Personalized Site Experience
The Profiles System can target a user to provide a personalized shopping experience that shows personalized site content, product catalog sets and pricing, and remembers user preferences.
Provide a Targeted and Personalized Marketing Experience
The Profiles System can target a user to provide a personalized marketing experience that shows targeted advertisements, discounts, promotional codes, and can send personalized direct e-mail messages.