# ECM in ecommerce environments overview

Source: https://developer.avalara.com/products/ecm/integration-guides/document-management/zzu0752344381952/

Guide: Exemption Certificate Management (ECM)

# ECM in ecommerce environments overview

Learn about ECM for ecommerce, an automated solution for managing exemption certificates in online shopping environments.

ECM for ecommerce is an automated exemption certificate management solution designed specifically for integration with online shopping carts. It helps to achieve compliance and minimize audit exposure from tax-exempt internet sales. This cloud-based platform helps ecommerce companies to integrate directly with online shopping carts or customer account profile, and proactively manage missing, invalid, and expired certificates.

Use a Software Development Kit (SDK) to embed ECM’s document submission form into your ecommerce platform or online store, allowing customers to manage their exemption certificates before or after making the purchase. Returning customers can view their exemption status and any other data that’s helpful from their online account settings. Using the API, customers can download or update copies of their certificates.

The SDK provides you with much of the functionality you need, but you can plan to work with a developer having experience with JavaScript and REST APIs. This process requires prior software development knowledge to customize the workflow.

Note

ECM Pro and ECM Premium support backward compatibility with previous CertCapture APIs, Connectors, and ecommerce modules. Some code examples and API components, such as script sources, may reference ECM.

If you’re new to using ECM outside of the web application, both the AvaTax API or the CertCapture API are used to create an integration. For more information, refer to the following guides:

-   [AvaTax API Developer Guide](https://developer.avalara.com/avatax/dev-guide/)

-   [CertCapture API Getting Started guide](https://developer.avalara.com/api-reference/CertCapture/v2/getting-started/)