API is probably the most hyped term in the high tech industry nowadays. Nearly each and every developer strives to broaden the software’s functionality by using the Application Programming Interface. But sometimes programming becomes a huge challenge since developers always work on the product development side not even wondering about its place on the digital market.
So, to solve that problem programmers need to focus on how their products will be used. This is a major key step in creating software that consumers will actually need. Furthermore, the popularity of their products will be massively increasing if developers take a user-centric approach.
For a good API architecture, this focus on better usability is also central. Moreover, traditional product programmers focus on the user needs while API developers are in pursuit of meeting the developer’s requirements. Moving the central point of product architecture from technical aspects to the manner in which API will be consumed by users can extremely improve its usage.
How user-centric approach works at API2Cart
Primarily, API2Cart is oriented on developers of e-Commerce solutions like Accounting Systems, Mobile Commerce, Inventory Management, Repricing System, etc. Moreover, its Dev Team uses many strategies and solutions in order to make API more convenient, clear and transparent in usage. API2Cart’s main rule of thumb is to create an API interface for e-Commerce integration from the perspective of target users.
One of the key benefits of API that API2Cart provides is a possibility to increase the speed of an API call (request). Depending on the business processes and tasks programmers are able to retrieve the only data they need. For instance, retrieving entire product information considered no longer useful when it’s needed only product id and product name. Let's take an in-depth look at the parameters’ values by reviewing some main e-Commerce systems.
So as it was already mentioned, the decisions of API design should be based on the business requirements behind this API. Let’s discover some of the most common e-Commerce software use cases that API2Cart Team faced and helped to resolve:
Mobile Commerce. There are plenty of m-Commerce solutions that allow e-merchants to create a mobile version of a storefront and sync it with their webshop. In this case, using an API technology allows to update order information, syncs product details like prices and stock quantity and is a perfect solution for developers. However, in most cases, store owners won't need to update or sync product descriptions and images, etc. API2Cart gives a possibility to increase the speed of data exchange as you will be able to pick the only fields you need. For example product name, price, id and other specific info. Moreover, it significantly decreases the load on the client’s store. In comparison with other API systems, such an approach is much more efficient and cheaper.
Inventory Management. This kind of solution provides e-merchants with a possibility to analyze data that are connected with the product’s stock quantity and other related data. However, developers face up the problem of getting the necessary data using API. With API2Cart programmers are able to choose, for example, only product id and its stock quantity avoiding retrieving all unnecessary data. As a result, the process becomes well optimized and inexpensive.
Reprising systems. In order to handle severe e-Commerce competition, e-merchants have to be well informed about average market product prices. That’s why Reprising systems are designed. However, a lot of information is hidden behind these systems. API2Cart assists developers in retrieving only necessary price fields like special, standard other prices.
However, customers' needs and wishes might be various. So, developers’ e-Commerce solutions have to be relevant to their requirements. In this case, API2Cart provides a possibility to get all the information that is connected with a product, order or customer. Just set `force_all` parameter’s value in the browser line to retrieve all the data.
The possibility of getting the only information you need has proven to be a very effective and cost-saving feature that not every API system can boast of. API2Cart provides developers with such a beneficial advantage in order to optimize cost expenditures and speed up the process of data interaction. Contact our Support Manager in order to find out more about how to improve and optimize your soft.
