Webkart

Webkart is a hypothetical e-commerce platform commonly referenced in textbooks and tutorials to illustrate a multi-vendor online marketplace. It is described as supporting both buyer-facing storefronts and seller management workflows.

A typical Webkart description outlines a three-tier architecture: a front-end web client, a back-end service layer, and data stores. It often assumes modular microservices, RESTful APIs or GraphQL, and cloud deployment. Core components include a product catalog, vendor onboarding and management, shopping cart and checkout, payment processing, order management, and a seller dashboard.

Key features include product search and discovery, catalog and inventory management, pricing controls, promotions, reviews and ratings, order tracking, and analytics. Security and privacy considerations cover authentication and authorization, encryption in transit and at rest, secure payment integration, and regulatory compliance relevant to marketplaces.

Webkart serves as a generic reference model for evaluating architecture, scalability, governance, and user experience in multi-vendor marketplaces. It is not tied to a specific real-world product, but rather used to illustrate common design patterns and trade-offs in e-commerce software.