placeOrder

PlaceOrder is the operation that submits a shopping cart to an e-commerce or order management system to create a formal order. It is usually performed at the end of a checkout flow, either through a user interface or via an API endpoint. A typical request includes a customer identifier (or a flag for guest checkout), shipping information and method, a payment method or token, and the cart items with quantities.

Process: The system validates the cart, checks stock availability, and calculates totals with discounts, taxes, and shipping. It then authorizes or captures payment. If payment succeeds, an order record is created with a unique order ID, inventory is reserved, and the order moves to a created or confirmed state. A confirmation is sent to the customer and fulfillment is scheduled. Additional checks, such as fraud screening, may occur before final approval.

Data and lifecycle: An order stores customer data, shipping and billing addresses, line items, prices, tax, shipping charges, discounts, payment status, and fulfillment status. Common states include created, confirmed, paid, fulfilled, shipped, completed, canceled, and refunded. Idempotency keys are often used to prevent duplicate orders on retries.

Errors and security: Possible errors include out-of-stock items, payment failures, and validation errors. Security considerations include authentication and authorization, along with PCI-DSS compliance for payment data, typically achieved via tokenization and encryption.

Variants: PlaceOrder may be invoked by anonymous users (guest checkout) or authenticated customers, and can be triggered by frontend apps or automated systems. See also: checkout, cart, payment gateway, order management, inventory management.