What assets to 'buy' free products?

(Charlotte Westney) #1

Hi everyone,

 

I posted this is the general discussion forum, but didn't get any replies, so I'm hoping someone might have some ideas here!

 

I'm after some advice on how to set up a purchasing system for assets that are free, so no payment gateway will be needed.

 

The products are actually permits, and there are a limited number available, for specific dates throughout the year.

Users can order 2, 3 or 4 at a time.

We need to take certain details from the users (name, email, telephone, registration details)

We need to be able to email the users with a copy of all the details they entered, a week before the date of the permit, so they can print it out and use this as their permit.

The site needs to show how many permits are still available, and then show when they have all been taken and not allow any more users to try to order one.

 

 

So, what assets do I need to use?

 

If I use an eCommerce form, can that work without a payment gateway?

 

How do I set my permits up as products, with a quantity that will decrease when users buy them? The 'quantity tracking' on a checkout page looks like it does this, or is there another way?

 

If I use a cart, checkout and default delivery method, could the default delivery method be used to capture the additional details I need from my users in a way that can be stored, accessed again, and output in an email? I'm a bit worried that this set-up might present the user with a lot of different input and confirmation screens and so make the process overly complicated.

 

I'm happy to play with lots of interesting ecommerce assets, but any ideas or advice on what kind of set-up might work would be really appreciated!

 

Many thanks

Charlie.

(Bart Banda) #2

Essentially, an eCommerce form without a Payment gateway is more or less just a custom form. The added functionality it gives you is the product management, which you could do with a custom form as well. 

 

Seeing as you have fixed number products a user can buy, 1- 4, eCommerce form is probably your best option and following something like this guide in http://manuals.matrix.squizsuite.net/e-commerce/examples/example-using-an-ecommerce-form-page. 

 

However if you do need to track quantities like you say, product, shopping cart and checkout page is more suited and following this example: http://manuals.matrix.squizsuite.net/e-commerce/examples/example-using-a-cart-and-checkout-page

 

Your permits can  be products assets where the quantity can be tracked as a metadata value. 

 

And yes, you can track additional data using the default delivery method as it allows you to create custom form fields that you enter as part of the checkout process. 

 

You can also use default delivery method assets to not require a payment gateway which will allow you to bypass the payment step in the checkout process. 

 

Have a look at these couple of real life examples of Matrix shopping carts with checkouts (ignore the payment step):

http://www.masterbuilders.asn.au/eshop/australian-standards

https://www.australianartbooks.com.au/merchandise 

 

Hope that helps.

(Charlotte Westney) #3

Many thanks Bart!

 

Sounds like I'm off to set up product / cart / checkout pages with default delivery. Sure I'll be back with some more questions as I get into it, but I'm a bit more confident that those are the right assets I need to build with now.

 

Cheers,

Charlie.