Inside Electronic Commerce Modeling Language
- 09-Jul-99 |
By
Mark Merkow, CCP, CISSP
More Articles »
Last month, ECML Version 1.0 was released, providing a set of simple guidelines for Web merchants to enable the uses of commercial electronic wallets at their sites. (Previously there was no set standard for information exchanges involving consumers and merchants concerning credit cards, billing addresses and shipping addresses.) This month, we take a look at the problems encountered prior to the release, and the possible solutions that can be offered by a widespread adoption of ECML.
The Problems
For consumers, shopping online has become a tedious a repetitious inconvenience: The hassle of providing a name, shipping address, billing address, and credit card data on each and every e-commerce site lead to 66% of online shopping carts being abandoned prior to completing a purchase (Forrester research). Another problem was that completing check-out forms is a tedious and error prone process.
The Solution
A universal, open standard to define payment and order information exchange between electronic wallets and merchant Web sites, Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML), was released. ECML, in its initial form, consists of standardized form field names that are used for collecting data from online buyers. By modifying your Web site to accommodate rapid forms fill-in from ECML-complaint e-wallets, you can lower your abandonment rates, improve the quality of data you receive, and streamline the order checkout process from your customer''s point of view. It can also help advance electronic commerce in general.
Who''s Involved in ECML?
ECML is a result of a collaborative effort of industry leaders, including:
- American Express
- IBM
- MasterCard
- Microsoft
- SETCo
- Sun Microsystems
- Transactor Networks
- Trintech
- Visa
The ECML Initiative also defines the role of an "advocate" to aid in endorsing and publicly supporting ECML adoption. Merchants world-wide are being recruited as advocates to help in: providing feedback to ECML Technology Advisors, incorporating ECML in as many appropriate Web sites as possible, and endorsing ECML within their own communities.
What''s Inside ECML?
At the ECML.org Website, you''ll find the Implementation Guide under the Specifications Link. The guide is organized as follows:
- Introduction
- Specification
- Implementation highlights
- Additional resources
The specification consists of a hierarchy of consistent form field names to replace the non-standard names that most merchant sites currently use.
Here''s an example of the changes that ECML will require on your HTML forms.
Before:
<INPUT type="text" name="Credit_Card_Number" size=19>Credit Card Number
After:
<INPUT type="text" name="Ecom_Payment_Card_Number" size=19>Credit Card Number
That''s all there is to it!
The specification also defines a common taxonomy for ship-to information, bill-to information, receipt information, payment card information, and schema version information.
By implementing changes of this nature on your HTML forms and your CGI or ASP scripts, you''ll gain all the initial benefits of ECML while maintaining complete control over all other aspects of your operation. The standard was designed for independence from security mechanisms, payment instrument implementation details, and transport protocols. ECML is not intending to compete with any other related processes or protocols such as SSL, SET, or the XML-based payment mechanisms. Rather, ECML may be used in conjunction with one or more these mechanisms, providing degrees of interoperability not commonly found today.
Implementation notes, also found in the specification, can help to clarify and further the standardization of the contents of form fields, including date formats, credit card issuer names, country names, etc.
ECML For The Future
ECML is built with evolution in mind. As it evolves, it will likely provide support for:
- Corporate purchasing cards
- Other payment systems
- Travel and Entertainment related data (preferences, etc.)
- Affinity, frequent flyer, and customer loyalty programs
- Business-to-business electronic commerce
Future support for Merchant to Consumer data feeds may include:
- Total purchase amounts (including taxes, shipping and handling charges, etc.)
- Receipt information
- Package tracking information
- Merchant-specific attributes
The developers of ECML also expect that an XML-based schema will be developed to help standardize its use where XML has already taken root.
You can help in defining future needs and uses of ECML by contacting the coordinator at ecml.org. Once ECML is deemed sufficiently mature, its supporters intend to turn it over to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) or the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) where it can be maintained and promoted throughout the world.
Over the last year or so, we''ve used up lots of ink on the topic of electronic wallets. As ECML advances in form, function, and adoption, many of the concerns that were raised by earlier industry efforts may finally be put to rest for all time.
