URGENT - how to restrict digital products at checkout 🙁

[Biancai27]

Hello! I mostly sell physical products which I ship in Europe and I only sell one digital product. At the checkout, people can either pay their order by card or cash on delivery.

How can I change / restrict the checkout in order to make sure that the digital product can only be bought by card, not cash? I am very worried about this aspect, because at the moment, anyone can buy my digital product with cash and maybe even receive it for free in their e-mail.

I want this process to be automatized and I want people to only be able to pay by card if they add the digital product to their checkout, even if other physical products are in the cart. As long as the customer has the digital product as well, they'd have to pay their entire order by card.

I have to mention that the Shopify plan I have is the Advanced one and for the digital product I have the app ,,Digital Downloads" installed. What app should I get in order to restrict people? Could I do that without an app?

Thank you!

[BiDeal-Discount · Accepted solution]

Hi @Biancai27 

To restrict payment methods so that your digital product can only be purchased by card (and not Cash on Delivery), while allowing COD for physical products, Shopify’s native checkout does not support this conditional logic directly unless you are on Shopify Plus with access to Shopify Scripts.

Since you have the Advanced plan (not Plus), the best practical solution is to use a third-party app designed for conditional payment method control. Here’s how you can achieve this:

Recommended Solution: Use a Payment Method Control App

1. PayRules: Hide Payment Methods (Highly Recommended)

This app lets you hide specific payment methods (like COD) based on cart conditions such as product SKUs or collections.

You can create a rule that hides Cash on Delivery whenever the cart contains your digital product(s), forcing customers to pay by card for those orders.

It works seamlessly with your existing checkout and the Digital Downloads app.

You can assign your digital product(s) to a collection or list their SKUs in the app to apply the rule.

Pricing: Starts with a free tier for basic use, with paid plans for advanced features.

How to Set It Up:

Install PayRules: Hide Payment Methods from the Shopify App Store.

Create a new rule to hide COD when the cart contains your digital product(s) (by SKU or collection).

Activate the rule.

Test checkout with and without the digital product to confirm COD is hidden only when digital products are present.

Why You Need an App (and Why Shopify Alone Can’t Do This)

Shopify’s checkout payment methods are global and cannot be conditionally hidden based on cart contents on Advanced plans (only Shopify Plus allows Shopify Scripts for this).

Apps like PayRules fill this gap by customizing payment options dynamically without requiring Shopify Plus.

Alternatives like creating separate order forms for COD orders are more complex and less seamless.

Alternative (More Complex) Approach

Use a separate order form app (e.g., Releasit COD Form & Upsells) to collect COD orders only for physical products.

Customers buying digital products must go through the normal Shopify checkout with card payment only.

This requires educating customers and managing two order flows, which can be less user-friendly.

Final Recommendation

Install and configure the PayRules: Hide Payment Methods app to automatically hide Cash on Delivery whenever your digital product is in the cart. This will ensure your digital products are only purchasable via card payments, protecting you from unpaid digital deliveries while keeping COD available for physical products.