--- title: Commerce architecture --- > Agent instructions: > **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown. > > - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version. > - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt). > **License:** Advanced license required. > > Features described on this page require the Xperience by Kentico **Advanced** license tier. Xperience's commerce platform consists of five core areas that work together to support the full commerce lifecycle: ## Product catalog Products are modeled as Xperience [content types](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/development/content-types.md), giving you full control over your catalog structure. There is no fixed SKU table – you define the content types, fields, and taxonomies that match your product domain. The following storage strategies are available: - **Content hub** – Store products as [reusable content items](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/business-users/content-hub.md), ideal for multi-channel scenarios or when products are not directly tied to website pages. - **Website channel** – Store products as [pages](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/business-users/website-content.md) in a website channel, suitable when products need their own URLs and SEO metadata. See [Product catalog](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/model-product-catalog.md) for modeling guidance and [Example - product catalog](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/model-product-catalog/example-product-catalog.md) for a complete implementation. ## Price calculation The `IPriceCalculationService` processes pricing through a configurable pipeline of sequential steps. Three [calculation modes](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/price-calculation.md#calculation-modes) optimize for different scenarios: - **Catalog** – Product listings and detail pages (unit prices and catalog discounts only) - **ShoppingCart** – Cart display (adds order discounts, taxes, and totals) - **Checkout** – Final calculation (adds shipping costs) Each step in the pipeline can be [replaced, extended, or reordered](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/price-calculation/customization.md) to implement custom pricing logic. See [Price calculation](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/price-calculation.md) for the conceptual overview and [Set up price calculation](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/price-calculation/implementation.md) for implementation details. ## Shopping cart and checkout Shopping carts are persisted in the database as `ShoppingCartInfo` objects. The cart content (`ShoppingCartData`) is a free-form string column – you define and serialize your own cart data model. The checkout process is fully developer-implemented. Xperience provides session management services (`ICurrentShoppingCartRetriever`, `ICurrentShoppingCartCreator`, `ICurrentShoppingCartDiscardHandler`) that handle cart identity for anonymous and authenticated users, but the checkout UI, validation, and payment integration are your responsibility. See [Checkout process](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/checkout-process.md) for implementation guidance. ## Order management `IOrderCreationService` orchestrates the complete order creation workflow: 1. Creates or retrieves customer records based on the `BuyerIdentifier` provided in the order data (linked to [members](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/business-users/members.md) by member ID, by customer ID, or matched by email for anonymous guests) 2. Runs price calculation for final totals 3. Persists order, order items, and address snapshots in a database transaction 4. Sends [notifications](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/configure-order-statuses.md#configure-notifications-for-order-statuses) via [email channels](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-marketing-setup/email-channel-management.md) and the notifications system See [Create orders](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/checkout-process/order-creation.md) for the API reference and [Customize order creation](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/checkout-process/customize-order-creation.md) for mapper interfaces. ## Promotions The promotion engine supports two discount types: - [Catalog discounts](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/promotions/catalog-discounts.md) – Apply to individual products (e.g., 10% off all items in a category) - [Order discounts](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/promotions/order-discounts.md) – Apply to the entire order (e.g., $20 off orders above $100) When multiple promotions compete, the system automatically selects the **best discount** for the customer. Promotions support automatic application, [coupon code](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/promotions/coupon-codes.md) redemption, and [customer eligibility](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/promotions.md#customer-eligibility) targeting. Custom promotion rules are implemented by developers and configured by business users in the **Promotions** application. See [Promotions](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/promotions.md) for the complete promotions framework. ## Data model The commerce data model centers around orders and customers, with connections to the membership and content systems: ![Commerce data model relationships](https://docs.kentico.com/docsassets/documentation/commerce-architecture/commerce-data-model.drawio.svg "Commerce data model relationships") ## Scope and limitations The commerce module is designed for **content-driven stores** where product information is managed alongside other website content. Be aware of the following design decisions: - **No built-in payment gateway** – You integrate directly with your payment provider's API. - **No default multi-currency support** – Currency handling must be implemented as part of your custom solution. - **No built-in stock management** – Stock tracking is implemented as a [custom module](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/model-product-catalog/model-product-stock.md). > **Info:** These limitations are by design – the framework provides extensible foundations rather than opinionated defaults. These additional capabilities can be implemented through the customization points described above. ## Integration with the Xperience platform The commerce module connects to several core Xperience features: - [Content modeling](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/development/content-types.md) – Products are content types with reusable field schemas and taxonomies. - [Membership](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/business-users/members.md) – Customers can be linked to member accounts. Cart identity is managed for both anonymous and authenticated users. - [Email channels](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-marketing-setup/email-channel-management.md) – Order status notifications are sent through email channels using configurable email templates. - [Notifications](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/configuration/notifications.md) – Internal order notifications are delivered to admin users through the notifications system. ## Core extensibility mechanisms The framework exposes three primary patterns for customization: - **Open generic registration** – Core services like `IPriceCalculationService` and `IOrderCreationService` use generic type parameters, allowing you to substitute custom request, result, and data types while preserving the framework's orchestration logic. - **Pipeline step replacement** – The [price calculation pipeline](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/price-calculation.md) consists of 9 sequential steps. Any step can be replaced, and the entire pipeline can be reordered or extended to accommodate custom pricing logic. - **Mapper interfaces** – The [order creation service](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/checkout-process/order-creation.md) uses mapper interfaces (e.g., `ICustomerInfoMapper`, `IOrderInfoMapper`) that allow you to inject custom data during order creation without replacing the entire service. See [Customize order creation](https://docs.kentico.com/documentation/developers-and-admins/digital-commerce-setup/checkout-process/customize-order-creation.md).