Shopping Cart Use Case
If a user visits a web store for the first time on their work computer (Session 1 in the following example), they're given an NLShopperID cookie that identifies the specific browser and computer being used and references the shopping cart.
If domain bridging isn't encrypted, the user is issued a ShopperID cookie instead of an NLShopperID cookie.
After the user goes to the checkout page, the HTTP shopping domain requests a secure domain bridging URL. The domain bridging URL uses encrypted parameters to transfer information about the user’s browser, computer, and their cart to the HTTPS checkout domain. The user, browser, and cart connection between the two NetSuite server environments is preserved to create a single unified experience.
If domain bridging isn't encrypted, the HTTP shopping domain passes the ShopperID to the HTTPS checkout domain through the CkID cookie. This cookie links the user's browser and computer to their cart.
If a user logs in from another computer or browser, they get a new NLShopperID cookie. The old cart and the new one are merged and linked to the new cookie and the user's EntityID.
If domain bridging isn't encrypted and a user later logs in to your website from another computer or a different browser, a different CkID is passed. The pre-existing cart and the new cart are merged and associated with the new CkID cookie and the user’s EntityID.
Example: Session 1 (Work Computer)
A new user who has never visited your site goes to your web store. They're not recognized and are assigned an EntityID of 0 and the default Shopper role. At the same time, a shopping cart is created (CartID: 10000) and linked to the NLShopperID cookie. However, because the user hasn't created an account, the shopping cart's EntityID is 0.
If domain bridging is not encrypted, a CkID cookie is created along with the shopping cart and is associated with the newly created CartID.
Next, the user goes to the secure domain, intending to log in or register. The NLShopperID and CartID cookies are passed from the shopping environment using an encrypted parameter in the domain bridging link, and the checkout domain starts off with the same attributes as the shopping server. Since the session's role is Shopper, the user sees a login or register page.
If domain bridging is not encrypted, the CkID cookie is passed from the shopping environment along with the CartID.
After the user creates an account on the secure checkout domain, the shopping cart on the checkout domain is linked to the newly created EntityID: 1234, directly connecting the cart to the customer.
Example: Session 2 (Home Computer)
The same user leaves work and goes home. At home, they decide to return to your web store on their home computer. When they return to your web store, they're not recognized and are treated as a new user with an EntityID of 0 and the default Shopper role.
Next, the user goes to the secure HTTPS checkout domain, intending to log in. The NLShopperID cookie is passed from the shopping environment using an encrypted parameter in the domain bridging link, and the checkout domain starts off with the same attributes as the shopping server. Because the session's role is Shopper, the user is presented with a login or register page.
If domain bridging is not encrypted, the CkID cookie is passed from the shopping environment, and the checkout domain starts off with the same attributes as the shopping server.
The user signs back into their account with the new credentials they created earlier at work. After the user logs in, the system recognizes an existing cart with the same EntityID and updates NLShopperID to point to the existing CartID. If the user added items at home and their cart already had items from work, the system merges everything into the original cart and updates their session information.
If domain bridging is not encrypted, the system recognizes an existing cart with the same entity ID and updates CkID to refer to the existing CartID.
A single cart can have more than one NLShopperID (or CkID, if domain bridging isn't encrypted) linked to it. That's how NetSuite syncs carts between work, home, and mobile devices.