Guest checkout with product download

-- url of the page with the problem -- : believer.com/book-store
-- HikaShop version -- : 5.0.4
-- Joomla version -- : 4.4.4
-- PHP version -- : 8.2.18

Hello,
My question is, how does one go about making an easy checkout where if the only products selected are downloads and the customer type is Guest then only their email is required, but if a shippable product is selected, then an address is required? It seems no matter what I try, unless the address is part of the Checkout Workflow, there is an error stating that the shipping information is incomplete. If the address is in Workflow, then it is required for all registrations. The current Workflow is: Cart, Login, Address, Shipping, Terms and Conditions, Payment, Final Instructions Text and End. Is there a clear example of what I need that is working or a way to add a conditional branch in the Workflow?

Thank you for your time,
marc

Hello Nicolas,
Thank you for the quick reply. The settings you recommended are as we have HikaShop set and it does not ask for a shipping address on our downloads. We do not charge for the downloads, and we do not charge sales tax, so we would like not to require the billing address of Guests who want the free download products only. If we edit the address fields via the menu Display>Custom fields and set their "type" to "shipping address," will the system still ask for address information if they chose a shippable product with a cost? If so, and their shipping and billing addresses are different, will that still work, or how do we make it work?

Thank you again for your time,
marc

Hi,
Thanks again for answering so quickly. Just to be clear, if I set all the Custom Fields listed under "Address" to "Type" to "Shipping address" in the "Restrictions" Box and the Guest has one address for Billing and a different address for Shipping and the Guest adds a product to be shipped HikaShop will still allow both addresses to be added when it displays the shipping address because of the Different Address Checkbox? And if this is true, then is it optional to turn off the "ask address during registration" setting in the Hikashop configuration because what if they are Registered but never input that information?

Hello,
Unfortunately, we are back to my original problem. Here is the scenario: The Guest user is directed by our promotional media to come to our website for a free product download. Being a Guest and being it is their first encounter with us, this Guest is not prone to want to offer up what they may consider as sensitive data (their billing address). They just want the free gift they were promised.

If they later decide they want to buy a product that has to be shipped, HikaShop, of course, then needs their address, but they, like many of us who live in rural areas, have a shipping address that is different from their billing address, and now HikaShop has no way to collect the product price and deliver the product. This is a real problem in that there is no conditional branching in the WorkFlow, and/or there is no way to set up a second WorkFlow for the Guest who only wants the free gift. Registered users will want to enter their data once billing and shipping or indicate the addresses are the same for both.

I spent years using and offering our products through Zencart, which handles all of these options easily and is offered free from its author, but it does not combine single seamless registration with Joomla (it is not a Joomla Extension). We now face the same situation in effect with HikaShop because the Guest is one WorkFlow and the Registered User is another or at least a conditional branch. If we were to point our advertising media to a free product page, we would lose touch with our customers unless we write code to collect their data outside of HikaShop, and once again, the user experience would suffer.

How can we accomplish this basic task using your product? Most successful stores use free gifts to attract new patrons who we hope will become loyal, long-term customers.

Please advise,
marc

Hello again,
You said, "If you don't want to ask for a billing address, you can edit the address fields via the menu Display>Custom fields and set their "type" to "shipping address." That way, HikaShop will only request the shipping address and not the billing address." Then you said, "If you set the address fields' type to "shipping address", then users won't be able to enter a billing address. They will only be asked to provide a shipping address during the checkout if that's necessary."

I said, "Registered users will want to enter their data once billing and shipping or indicate the addresses are the same for both."

Please provide a WorkFlow and appropriate settings so this will work for both Guest and Registered users if they have one address or both Billing and Shipping. I just don't understand how to set this up based on your statement: "If you set the address fields' type to "shipping address," then users won't be able to enter a billing address."

Thank you for your time,
marc

Hello,
So there is really no way to satisfy both conditions? This would be a needed feature.

What if I turned off the required fields for the Billing Address and added a text message to the WorkFlow explaining that the Billing Address is optional for Guests? Would that work, or would the system error with a blank Billing Address?