Hi, I would like to enquire if Shopify has the ability to provide a shop to set up an item’s sales page that enables the customer can choose to buy either a digital or a ‘real’ version of a product. For example, books and graphics, even dressmaking patterns! The only shop design options I have seen tell sellers to list an item twice in their stores, i.e. one listing for digital product and repeat it again for the ‘real’ item that needs to be sent. This is so clunky and, from the feedback I have from my current store (not SI, yet), is that these dual listings are often confusing. I’ve been asked countless times, “Why not have a drop-down menu where I can select if I want to buy a downloadable version, or if I want buy a printed copy that is posted to me, I don’t want to be directed to another page…?”.
All the available webshop providers I have seen so far do not offer this type of webshop design, and I wonder is it simply because it is easier to code for only ‘one type of purchase’ and that is it?
It is an overall webshop design that is much needed for sellers who sell both (BTW, if I have sent this question to the wrong ‘section’- perhaps design here means only themes for your pages etc- then please forward it or move it where is is more likely to get a reply, thank you admins)
If Shopify does this type of shop design then I will switch immediately.
At first it seems like the most logical answer. However, the problem has always arisen that the webshop creators code the page so that when a seller is setting up an item for sale and they ‘select’ the item as a digital product then this automatically renders all sales features, for example postage and packaging options, unavailable for the customer (they simply will not see them at check-out in the end). It is assumed the customer does not need them for a digital product, which makes sense.
Trying to get around it all by listing a digital product as if it is simply another variant of a non-digital product (which like you said, may please a customer regarding site use and navigation), has led to other issues. One of these issues is that the digital product then has to be delivered manually to the customer (which is awkward because a digital product is expected immediately to download) and the website creators often set up a series of requirements for postal or delivery etc, because the set-up of the sale is for a non-digital item, which makes sense too.
I have looked at the webshop designs and set up for eight major webshop providers worldwide, and so far all of them work in a very very similar way and all feedback has advised me that the only way to sell both digital and non-digital versions of a product (like a simple book) is to maintain two separate product listings.
I was hoping Wix would be different.
Some maybe asking why such a convoluted question in the first place, well! For example, customers might see it’s a digital product but they really want a printed version, but they don’t read the whole listing- where it says a printed version is available via a link to the ‘separate printed versions listings’ (one special solution I paid for a year ago and didn’t work)- and they either go away or they email saying, “How can I buy a printed copy?”…“Why don’t you have printed copy as an option”… I think that a lot of fuss could instantly be avoided by having a digital product being able to be treated as if it is just a ‘variation’ the same overall product.
Thank you again and I really hope Wix makes some different options available.
I think for that kind of custom code you’d need a custom built site, maybe on wordpress so you have more freedom on the custom code. I could be wrong entirely, it could be completely possible, it might be worth posting a Job Request to see if any of the shopify experts around know of a way to complete this for you, but off the top of my head, Shopify tends to stick with variants then all order processing is manually done