API stands for Application Programming Interface.
In digital ecosystems of software products, websites and mobile application have the ability to interconnect and share data. Data is gold as they say in a technology business. Data, when interpreted with relevant context, becomes information. For data to have value it needs to be qualitative, relevant and time lined. APIs provide appropriate technology to share the data between different systems, they add immense value to businesses and creates a totally new digital ecosystem.
APIs are the building block that facilitates companies to leverage each other’s data and services. They help to bridge systems, ensure seamless data transfer between them and provide a structured approach to leverage this data and create an entirely new business model around the same. Further to that, this interface facilitates programmers to develop applications that communicate with an existing application or service to automate the flow of data and manual data entry.
API implementation has been done across every business domain and the following are few examples of the same:
1. eCommerce:
Several eCommerce startups make revenue using affiliate business model, whereby they are fetching the product data from other eCommerce like Amazon, eBay and so on. Using the power of API the web platform showcases all the product data from the sites and let users purchase products from it. A similar concept is also being utilized in price comparison sites for products, insurances or mortgages where data from different platforms are fetched to a system and then implemented accordingly.
2. Social Networking:
We are living in a world which is being transformed by social media. All the leading social networks like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Linkedin, and others provide APIs. Many businesses like Hootsuite have been using these APIs and providing enterprise marketing products which can make things easier for digital marketers to execute, measure and improvise their marketing activities using one platform.
3. Booking Platform:
Leading hotel and flight booking platforms like Booking.com, Expedia and others are providing their APIs which can be integrated any custom website or mobile application thereby providing a custom booking platform, along with USP based on the business strategy.
4. Logistics:
Leading logistic companies like DHL, UPS, BlueDart, and others are providing APIs which can be integrated into the website to show a real-time tracking system of the corresponding product.
5. Payment Processing:
There are several third-party merchants like Paypal, Stripe, Authorize.net, and others who provide API which can be integrated into any website or mobile application and empower it to receive the payment. A comprehensive list of payment APIs can be found here.
Above mentioned are just a few of the many business domains in which APIs integration plays a critical role.
At CMARIX, we have experience of 150+ API integration across diverse business domains. Let your business leverage the power of other systems and business ecosystem using effective API implementation.
