Gift certificate purchase to consumption process.

I am new to Hikashop, new to everything . I successfully made gift certificates - packs, coupon generator, attach serial, attach to product. I think I understand how the system works. I love the QRCODE, its cool.

I have the following questions:

The process is not how I had envisioned a gift certificate to work. I wanted buyers to have the option of buying a gift certificate if they want to buy a gift certificate. Right now, every buyer who buys will have the attached serial ( QRCODE + the long cart URL), hence, every buyer has the option to give the purchase to someone else. Can I let users have the option to purchase a gift certificate from start? A user who wants to purchase gift certificate must finish the process of registration before they see the attached serial.

The URL I used in "Attach Serial" is super long. Too long to display within coupon_01.png. I know how to extend the graphic but would prefer a way to break the URL into 2-3 lines. I am unsure if the window displaying coupon_01.png will auto extend if I make the png longer? Alternatively, is there a shorter URL. I'm referring to the shopping cart's URL. I got the URL from the product page "HTML LInk"

Can the serial be used a second time by a different person? The buyer can potentially send that information to many people and everyone could get the product for free.

I was not able to tell by looking at the Order that was generated with the consumption of the gift certificate. The serial number isn't published on the order form when the receiver of the gift certificate uses the code. Did I miss seeing the code?

Thanks
ivy

Thanks Jerome for answering questions on a weekend. No need to answer me on the weekend. Is there step by step tutorial file on how to use the Hikaserial plugin "Product-Add Consumer"? I assume it's the plug in that you mentioned "addproduct". I activated the plugin but don't know how to use it.

Here's a screen shot of my problem of the long URL.

This is what happens



Here's a screen shot of my webpage. I made 2 carts for each product, one normal cart without gift certificate and another for the gift certificate. I'm simple minded. This method seems to work for me although it is not efficient. Too many shopping carts.



My users are not tech savvy, they may or may not know how to use a QRCODE. They will likely need to consume the coupon some other way, manually. Am I right to assume that the code that is generated (10 characters) can be manually entered through the URL to consume the gift if users do not use the QRCODE? I have not tested this because that URL is too long and not click-able.

Hi Jerome,

I want the coupon to contain the code and URL of the cart check-out. I want a QRCODE for users who know how to use a QRCODE.

I am unable to shorten the long URL, Joomla is configured properly for search engine friendly URLs. I am unwilling to explore ways to shorten URLs further because I use a plugin known as Joomdle. The URLs are already as short as they can get. I tried using Bit-ly to shorten the URL but the coupon would be publish when I use Bit-ly.

The problem now is, when the gift receiver consumes the Coupon via scanning the QRCODE or input the code in the checkout process, the $ amount is not set to $0. The gift receiver goes step by step and eventually has to pay for the course. When I tried it the first time last night, the amount was set to $0 when the QRCODE was scanned and the new user was registered into Joomla. Now, the cost is not reduced to $0. The gift receiver is lead step by step till the end of the check out process where he has to pay.

I don't know how to use "add product" plugin and would rather not use it unless you have step by step documentation on how to use it.

I hope you can help me, I took pictures of my settings. I did not show the AttachSerial plugin because the settings is the same as before. I was not able to shorten the URL. So, that's also a problem.

Thanks. Ivy

Hello Jerome,

I am still unable to make the gift certificates work properly although it's working better than before. Thanks for the suggestion to direct gift receivers to a separate page with instructions on how to consume the gift. A lot of extra work but many of my users will not be able to scan QRcodes.

Now, the problem is:

1. A new serial is generated each time a gift receiver consumes a serial.
2. The gift receiver gets a coupon with new code attached to his confirmation email.
3. The new serial status indicates "used" but someone else can still consume it.
4. The old serial status is set to "used" after the gift receiver consumes it but someone else is still able to reuse the code.

I think this is because I don't know how to set the template coupon, some of settings is wrong. Here's my attached screen shot of the template coupon.

Then, I would like to know if I can make "HIKASHOP_CHECK_OUT_PLG.SERIAL.COUPON" much shorter to just "Coupon"



Thanks again.

Hi Jerome,

Thanks the help. I've solved every problem except one.....

1. When a gift receiver consumes a serial, he receives a confirmation email with a new coupon and new serial number. This new coupon code can be used.

In the coupon or discount template, I set:

quota = 1
quota per user = 0
percentage = 100
number of times used = 0

Not sure if the coupon template setting is the problem. The gift receiver should not receive a new coupon with a new serial when he consumes a gift certificate. I use the classical method of consuming the gift via the check out process.

Everything else is working nicely.

Thanks again.
Ivy

Hi Jerome, Good day to you

I did some self study. Based on the Hikaserial documentation, a serial is generated each time an order's status is changed to confirmed.

In my set up. the gift receiver enters the serial code in the checkout process for that specific cart, then he/she clicks through the check-out steps with 0 payment. In the end, a confirmation email is triggered. I believe it's this confirmation email that results in the generation of another new serial. Take note that the "Coupon" is Hikaserial Coupon (I renamed it), and not the usual Hikashop Coupon. Not sure if this is correct.


I use the plugin ProductAddConsumer but I am not sure what "Block Product" means, so I left it unchanged. I also did not do anything to connect this ProdcutAddConsumer to the check-out process. Basically, I just left it like this after creating it. Must I manually assign it to the check-out process or product?


If this does not help. I can give you access to my website's admin backend to take a look at the settings. Not sure how else this can be done. Alternatively, I can also take more screen shots.

Thanks
Ivy

Jerome wrote: Hi,

You giving a product which give a serial which give a product which give a serial which.... etc

Regards,

I had a good laugh when I read that. It is now working.......thanks Jerome!