This document describes a scenario in which an online garden supply retailer uses Web services to integrate its inventory system with the inventory systems of other retailers. Also using Web services, the main Internet storefront can check supplier inventories on behalf of itself or other retailers.
The marketers at Plants by WebSphere confirm with market data that people are likely to purchase plants and gardening supplies in tandem with purchases of other goods, such as gardening books. To increase the visibility of Plants by WebSphere, the company arranges with various other merchant sites to include Plants by WebSphere inventory as part of their own.
At one site, Web services and other technologies are used to insert data about Plants by WebSphere items into Web pages that match the look and feel of the rest of the site. When a customer orders a Plants by WebSphere item at a site other than Plants by WebSphere, the second site relies on the Plants by WebSphere inventory Web service to make sure that the item is in stock, and to query suppliers as needed.
The second site does not have to implement its own Web services to perform the same function as those developed by Plants by WebSphere. The second site might want to implement sophisticated function by creating its own Web service.
How out of stock items are handled
In this way, other retailers are made aware of the inventory Web service available from Plants by WebSphere. In this scenario, Plants by WebSphere probably will enable the Web service to check its own inventory as well as that of suppliers.
The application powering the Web site checks the Plants by WebSphere inventory database. It discovers that the item is not in stock.
The application invokes a Web services for J2EE or JAX-RPC SOAP client that communicates with a SOAP server at the supplier site to ascertain whether the supplier has the item in stock. The supplier data is sent to the reseller.
Web services technologies used in this scenario
This scenario uses the following Web services technologies.Related concepts
Overview: Online garden retailer Web services scenarios
Web services scenario: Static inquiry on supplier
Web services scenario: Dynamic inquiry on supplier
Related tasks
Implementing Web services applications
Securing Web services for version 5.x applications based on WS-Security
Related information
Samples page on IBM
site