CE Phoenix Cart Forum

Ok so I expect it to work like 'View Only' until the date of availability and only listed if I have stock on hand.

But it can be bought before the date without any warning to the shop keeper.
(Breaking release date here is very bad in my industry, even the appearance of.)
Also it still appears in the 'Upcoming Products' even if there is no stock in the inventory.

OK so some people might like it this way...(crazy people) but that should be a Pre-Order module somebody could make, if you fix it.

Or maybe I'm mad and its in just my set-up.

Its a suggestion, open for comment.

Well, you know the answer. That "somebody" has to be you.

Either by
1. making it yourself and keeping it for yourself [good for you, not so good for Phoenix]
2. making it yourself and add it to the addons area free [good for you, good for Phoenix]
3. getting a developer to make it per your needs [good for you, good for Phoenix if the dev ups it to the addon area, free or paid for]

Whilst core code works like that, by the addition of one addon you can prevent checkout if stock is set to zero. Button is made inactive whilst the product still shows. The combination of core code and the addon would effectively get you what you want. As with most addons they don't need any core changes so installation is a breeze.

Its what we do in our store. Not only for new items but also for out of stock items awaiting delivery from the suppliers. There is also a module that will allow you to show products on order with expected date of delivery when stock level is above zero so lots of affordable options out there already.

If you aren't already, look into paying for the pro version. So many valuable addons all included in the cost, and updates to. They will add so much more to your store.

If none of that allows you to have the store as you want, there are certified developers that will discuss your ideas and create code specifically for you.

Thank-you Burt, I see some of your wonderful ideas/add-ons might be being included in future Phoenix coming. Being in the main distribution means that the OOTB experience for new Phoenix users will be more pleasant without the need to install options and it will be a more fully formed solution and updated with releases meaning fewer breaking updates.

Thank-you Steve, unfortunately I don't list out of stock items as this in my opinion is a click-bait negative for the consumer experience. (my opinion from my experience)

Thank-you for confirming that this is a 'feature' of a clean install too, and not my install.

The reason why I bring these things up is to improve Phoenix, I believe this part should be 'improved'.
Because clicking on Grapefruit should not respond with 'D'oh. Product not found!'

Thankyou, I love Phoenix/Pro member.
(If you use Phoenix you should subscribe)

MyGamesShop wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 6:08 am it can be bought before the date without any warning to the shop keeper.

14Steve14 wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 3:00 pm by the addition of one addon you can prevent checkout if stock is set to zero

The facility to prevent checkout is already there.
https://phoenixcart.org/phoenixcartwiki ... itle=Stock
Allow Checkout: - set to false will disable checkout if stock quantity is less than quantity in shopping cart.

MyGamesShop wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 1:12 am Thank-you Steve, unfortunately I don't list out of stock items as this in my opinion is a click-bait negative for the consumer experience. (my opinion from my experience)

So on your website the ideal experience for a customer is them finding a product in a search listing, liking what they see because you have all your SEO sorted, they click the link and find a blank page as the product is not showing with a message saying that the product is out of stock, or what ever you change it to. They close the site and go elsewhere. Not a good customer experience with an out of stock product and no chance of a sale.

What you could be doing is showing the product so they can read the details but not buy. Have an addon installed that shows when the product will be back in stock so they can see when they can some back and buy. They could add the product to their wishlist so its easy to come back and find, or you could soft redirect to another similar product which they could also buy. They could also click on the notification link on the product and you could email them when the product is back in stock. A far better customer experience with the same out of stock product and a possible sale.

Giving them something is better than giving them nothing. I am not having a go or telling you how to run your business but there are ways to try to keep the potential customer on the website which may lead to a possible sale rather than just turning them away, but you have to do what you feel is best for your business. If I am not mistaken all of those options are available from pro code.

Thank-you HeatherBell, yes I do that, so out of stock items don't appear on my site, what I am pointing out is that items with a future available date still appear on the title page even tho there is 'no stock' and quantity '0'. So if you did go-to the title page and click on it it then says 'D'oh. Product not found!', which is not a good user experience.

Thank-you Steve, I think you might have read me wrong or maybe I was not being clear. As your comments seem to re-enforce what I was saying.."Giving them something is better than giving them nothing", as it stands it gives them nothing not even [[a product description with an available date with no buy button (Ideal)]]

Worse is it allows the sale of the item (if the stock quantity is keyd 1+) and the taking of money before the available date which could in some cases be months in the future in some cases. Gives no warning to the pickers and packers who might send pre-release date.
Maybe for example, I don't get the expected stock level I keyed in originally or its damaged, leading to a bad customer experience and refunds months after the purchase. Leading to people going elsewhere in the future, bad google reviews etc..

Kindly remember I'm a storekeeper not a developer and I want the best experience for my customers.

As Phoenix is (in this issue), to me, seems incorrect. I point it out here so that people/developers can keep it in mind as they go along with development or roll-out.

And yes I will probably want a pre-release add-on in the future. I think it would make a nice add-on for a developer to do.

Sincerely all, Mark

MyGamesShop wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 7:53 am Worse is it allows the sale of the item (if the stock quantity is keyd 1+) and the taking of money before the available date

No it does not, Allow Checkout: - set to false will disable checkout if stock quantity is less than quantity in shopping cart.

MyGamesShop wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 7:53 amSo if you did go-to the title page and click on it it then says 'D'oh. Product not found!'

No it does not, just checked in a clean installation.

heatherbell wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 11:01 am No it does not, Allow Checkout: - set to false will disable checkout if stock quantity is less than quantity in shopping cart.

In that case, the stock is set to at least the value in the shopping cart. That's the keyd 1+

What Mark wants is to be able to say "This is upcoming -- you can see the details but not buy it." The block on buying should work even if there's stock, so that it can change from not available to available without adjusting the stock.

It's just another of those industry specific behaviors. For most store owners, you would simply maintain stock at 0 and put in the correct number when you had the stock. But for this particular use case, you may have the not-released product in inventory but not be allowed to sell it until the date. The date isn't the date when you expect the stock to arrive, it's the date when you are allowed to sell.

Phoenix is unlikely to change to this behavior by default, as it seems uncommon (although perhaps there are other media sellers who could use it @lecarlb?). I'm pretty sure that one of the certified developers could implement this behavior without core changes. If not, we could talk about how to make that possible.

I would think that the Buy button should change to Preorder in that case. Then someone could buy it but the store owner wouldn't ship until release date (or perhaps the shipping period earlier).

Maybe like this:
app.php/addons/paid_addon/show_hide_pro ... d_to_cart/