The most important first step in understanding Foxy is an exploration of what "ecommerce" entails for your project, where Foxy fits, and where it doesn't. This is especially important because of what Foxy is not, and how Foxy is different from other systems.
The Pieces of Ecommerce
...and where Foxy fits
Your Website
The blue section is your website. This distinction is pretty key, since nearly every other ecommerce system out there actually isyour website (CMS), and manages your products.
In Foxy, your website and your products are entirely up to you. This gives you unparalleled flexibility, but it is a significantly departure from the norm.
Your Marketing
These systems are typically 3rd party systems like email marketing (MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact), analytics (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, KISS Metrics), CRM systems (SalesForce, Highrise), Twitter tools (HootSuite), and etc. They can be integrated into your website and your Foxy implementations as needed, typically with javascript or an API-based approach. (Many integrations are available on our wiki.)
Though other ecommerce systems might bundle this functionality in, Foxy isn't a "jack of all trades" system. Rather, it's built to integrate with other "best of breed" systems, so we encourage you to choose the best tool for your specific requirements.
Foxy
Foxy provides you with a flexible, powerful, customizable, secure ecommerce platform.
Notice the connection to "your payments," which allows easy connection to over 60 different payment methods, from Authorize.net to PayPal and Amazon FPS and Dwolla and many, many others. Foxy is a PCI Level 1 Service Provider, which allows you to greatly reduce your compliance burden without sacrificing flexibility.
Your Payments
Though this section typically is considered "credit cards" (which are handled in the "Payment Gateway" box, there are a variety of other ways to pay that avoid the credit card processing network (and the associated fees). What's important here though is that Foxy handles all the integrations with these payment systems. This provides flexibility, security, and reduced cost and liability with implementing these payment methods yourself.
Your Business Tools
The most common item that'd fit in this section would be a Quickbooks integration or order management. There are a variety of integrations ready for you to enable, and more are constantly being added by our partners and community members.