Name: APPDEV & ET

Section: BSCS 3B Date: Nov. 23, 2021

DETERMINING FUNCTIONAL AND NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF

EBAY

1. Introduction
1.1. Document Purpose
This document serves as guide through a process of identifying important information and
background about the one of the most popular online shopping websites: eBay. This document
serves as analysis of the functional and non-functional requirements of the said shopping
website and to answer specific questions that are needed.
1.2. Product Scope
The shopping website eBay is a global online auction and trading company launched by
American entrepreneur Pierre Omidyar in 1995. eBay was one of the first companies to create
and market an Internet Web site to match buyers and sellers of goods and services. The
company, which caters to individual sellers and small businesses, is a market leader in e-
commerce worldwide. eBay is headquartered in San Jose, California. eBay is a publicly visible
market which has attracted interest from economists, who have used it to analyze aspects of
buying and selling behavior, auction formats, etc., comparing them with previous theoretical and
empirical findings.
Since its founding, eBay has channeled a portion of its profits back into local community
causes around the world through its charity fund, the eBay Foundation. It relies on its users to
self-regulate the trading community through a feedback system that allows buyers to rate sellers
on transactions. A key factor in eBay’s growth was its implementation of procedures to promote
safe, transparent trading, accessible nearly anywhere to anyone.
Computer information systems researchers have also shown interest in eBay. Michael
Goul, Chairman of the Computer Information Systems department of the W. P. Carey School of
Business at Arizona State University, published an academic case based on eBay's big data
management and use in which he discusses how eBay is a data-driven company that processes
50 petabytes of data a day. eBay uses a system that allows different departments in the
company to check out data from their data mart into sandboxes for analysis. According to Goul,
eBay has already experienced significant business successes through its data analytics. eBay
employs 5,000 data analysts to enable data-driven decision making
2. Specific Requirements
3.1. Functional Requirements
The customer who wants to buy a product on the website will be able to register
because unregistered user cannot access the shopping cart.
Customers or buyers should log in to the system by entering valid user name and
password for the shopping.
The customer can search the item s/he wants by typing the keyword on the search box.
 The customer can make an order or cancel an order of the product on the shopping cart.
The system deals with the mode of payment.
The system transacts with the buyer with the payment method in which the transfer of
money in buying products with the following steps: registration, placing an order, and
payment.
The system maintains the details of the product and their attributes.
The system reports the ordered product by sending copy of the bill to the customer’s
email address, and another one for the system’s data base.
The system updates the quantity and status of the products available (stock report).
The system reports the list of products that the customer buys (order report).
The system reports the list of products that are delivered to the customer (delivery
report).
Customers or buyers can log out after ordering or surfing for a certain product.

3.2. Non-functional Requirements

3.2.1. Operational Requirements
The technical foundation of eBay was built using Perl, a general cross-platform language.
Today, eBay is a complex system that uses a large variety of programming languages and
frameworks. Some examples would be PHP, .NET, and Java, according to eBay API and SDK
Documentation, and another one is the Node.js. With the success of the Node.js backend stack,
eBay’s platform team is now developing a full-pledged front-end stack running on Node.js. eBay
marketplace is powered by OpenStack cloud developed by itself. eBay uses AI to provide
structure in a non-structured world made up of millions of buyers and sellers across 190
markets, interacting with 1.2 billion listings.
3.2.2. Performance Requirements
eBay added a new feature called Terapeak Product Research to help sellers determine how
to best price item listings, optimize their shipping policy, and view sell-through rate and trends.
The real-time pipeline processes real-time data from transaction events. 6.8 million transaction
records and 10-15+ million closed unsold listings records per day. eBay is as safe to use as any
e-commerce website, as most people who sell items on eBay do so honestly. It also protects the
use of your credit card through its online transaction services, and has money back guarantees.
3.2.3. Security Requirements
The system’s data is protected through technical and organizational security measures to
minimize risks associated with data loss, misuse, unauthorized access and unauthorized
disclosure, and alteration. To this end, eBay uses firewalls and data encryption, for example, as
well as physical access restrictions for their data centers and authorization controls for data
access.