iono Documentation - Shopping Cart Ordering

The order process has been designed to make it easy for your customers to purchase your products. This system is based around a shopping cart and allows the customer to select which product licenses and extras they wish and order multiples of them. It is enabled by default.

  1. The order process is started by loading the order.php page directly or by clicking the proceed to the ordering system link on the index. There is also a New Order link when you are logged into your account.
  2. The next step is selecting a product group. A list of existing product groups is displayed.
  3. After a product group has been selected, the customer is prompted to select a product. A list of products belonging to the chosen product group is displayed along with a brief description. One of these products must be selected before proceeding to the next step.
  4. The next page is divided into two sections:
    • The first section consists of a list of licenses available to the selected product along with a brief description and the price. Any recurring costs for the license are also shown including the time period that the costs recur (e.g monthly, quarterly, annually etc).
    • The second section consists of a list of extras available to the selected product along with a brief description and the price. Any recurring costs for the extra are also shown including the time period that the costs recur (e.g monthly, quarterly, annually etc).
  5. After selecting a license or extra, the customer is asked how many of the selected item they would like to add to their shopping cart.
  6. The user's shopping cart is displayed after an item is added to the cart.
    • This page shows each different license/extra that the user has added to the cart along with its description, price and the quantity ordered.
      • The quantity is displayed in an editable field so that the customer can easily update how many of the item they would like to purchase.
    • A delete button is also displayed under the Manage heading. This can be used to easily remove an item from the shopping cart regardless of the current quantity.
  7. At this point the customer is able to decide whether they want to continue shopping for other licenses/extras (which will take them back to the product group selection screen), or proceed to the checkout where they can view their order before it is finalised.
  8. At the checkout, the customer can do a number of things:
    1. They are given the chance to use any discount vouchers they may have on the current order. This can be done by clicking the Apply Discount Voucher link from the options menu.
      • On this page, the customer is asked to enter the code for their discount voucher. If the discount voucher is valid for use on the order, the value of the voucher will be discounted from the order total.
    2. Upon return to the checkout, the user can now see the updated order total including any discount that has been applied to the order.
    3. Should the customer wish to edit their shopping cart again once they are at the checkout, they can do so by clicking the Edit Cart link from the options menu. This will display the overview of the user's shopping cart where they are able to delete items, update the quantity of an item or completely empty their shopping cart using the Empty Cart button.
      • Note: If a discount voucher has been used on an item that is later removed from the shopping cart, the discount voucher will be reset to its value prior to use on the order.
    4. The final step is to confirm the order at the checkout. The customer's order is summarised in a table showing the chosen product licenses and any extras and any terms and conditions set by the administrator are displayed in a scroll box. If the customer already has an account they can login using their existing username and password, otherwise they can create a new account.
      • If you have tax configured in the admin panel, the customer will be asked to select their country from the drop-down menu, and if appropriate, their US State from a second drop-down menu so that tax can be correctly calculated on the order.
  9. Once the order has been placed, the customer will be asked to make payment (if the order has a non-zero value). The order is pending until the payment has been made. If the total for the order is zero, then the order will be completed automatically unless you have set all orders to be verified for the selected product or user from the Settings.
  10. If you have set up the gateway callback correctly, the order will be marked as completed once payment has been made unless you have set the specific product or customer to have all orders manually validated.