Try before you buy
Learn how to launch a try before you buy campaign on products using deposits and payment authorization with Downpay on your Shopify online store.
Offer try before you buy on products
Overview
Create the deferred payment purchase option in Downpay
Create Shopify Flow authorization workflow
Adjust language on your store for your trial program
Launch your campaign by enabling the Downpay block on your theme
Try before you buy order management
Fulfillment
Payment collection and returns
FAQs
Try before you buy is a selling strategy that allows customers to try products for a limited time before being charged for them. This selling strategy is valuable when customers need to determine the right size for clothing or shoes, choosing colour for makeup, or testing a product out like a mattress to determine if it's the right fit. Try before you buy is a great way to increase conversion on products that usually are more difficult to sell online.
Try before you buy can be set up easily by offering a 0$ deposit on the trial products and only authorizing payment on the payment method at checkout. This ensures a hold is placed on the card that merchants can capture should products not be returned by the end of the trial period.
Authorization periods vary based on payment provider and Shopify plan and deposits are limited to certain payment gateways at this time.
Begin by creating a purchase option that suits your trial campaign in Downpay. Make sure to assign all products you wish to offer on trial and set a payment due date that matches the trial period along with any shipping timelines to added accuracy.
It is possible to have longer trial periods beyond authorization periods, however this will require reauthorizing an order manually with Downpay.
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To ensure orders are authorized once they are created, we will be using Shopify Flow which is available on all Shopify plans. This workflow will only trigger on orders that have a Downpay purchase option in them.
Create this workflow or simply download the workflow file and make sure to set it to active.
Download the workflow file
Trigger: [Shopify] Order created
Condition: [Flow] Wait 10 seconds
Action: [Downpay] Authorize remaining payment
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Some default language on checkout and email notifications that Downpay installs with may not fit your try before you buy campaign and these guides can be used to tweak content to suit your brand.
- Checkout due later language
- Email notifications
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Follow the Downpay theme install guide to install Downpay blocks on your product and cart page and make any necessary content changes to suit your campaign.
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Be default, fulfillments are marked On Hold when using the Downpay payment due date type: Days after checkout. For try before you buy, this isn't very useful and it is recommended to release the On Hold fulfillments manually or with a Shopify Flow workflow to save time. We've provided one below.
Download the workflow file
Once the order holds are release, you may proceed with fulfillment as usual.
If you've enabled the 2 Shopify Flow workflows, automatic payment authorization and automatic fulfillment hold release, try before you buy orders will appear in Shopify like this example:
In this section, we will discuss various scenarios depending on what a customer decides to keep and return.
In this scenario, simply use the capture payment button to collect the balance owed.
Capture payment button will turn into Collect payment if the authorization expires. Collect payment does not guarantee you are able to collect from the card on file as the order does not have a hold on the credit card when authorization expires. You may reauthorize orders manually, please contact us for beta access to this feature.
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Downpay currently does not have a way for customers to begin the return process on their own. They must contact your store to begin the process.
Once a customer has reached out to request a return for some items, simply use Shopify's return workflow.
Toggle quantity of the right line item you wish you return, set a reason and return label url or tracking. Click Create return
Exchanges are not compatible with partially paid orders on Shopify at this time.
Customers will receive a Return created email notification with the return label.
The Return created template may have incorrect price breakdowns due to partial payments. We recommend adjusting the template to hide the items and price breakdowns. Sample template can be found here.
Once a return has been created, the remaining balance of the order will be adjusted to calculate only for the items left in the order. The payment authorization will still be active for the full amount of the previous remaining balance.
Once the product has been received, you may use the restock button to complete the return.
Now you may capture the remaining balance left on the order using the capture payment button and entering in the cost found under the Balance line. In this case, $99.30.
Once the balance is captured, the order will be marked as Paid, Fulfilled, Returned, Archived to showcase all the actions that have happened.
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If customers choose to return all products, simply follow the workflow for Customers keep some items.
One all items have been returned, if you do not want to refund the amount that was paid for the trial, use the Close return option found on the return section of the order page to close out the return.
Authorization holds cannot be released early and will expire based on the payment provider's timeline/your Shopify plan.
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We recommend looking for an order limiting app on Shopify for this functionality. An example is AOD ‑ Order Limits (Min‑Max).
We do not have this feature at this time. Customers would have to reach out for support to begin the returns process.
Yes, it is possible to conditionally display Downpay deposits to only select customers or regions.
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On this page:
Offer try before you buy on products
Overview
Create the deferred payment purchase option in Downpay
Create Shopify Flow authorization workflow
Adjust language on your store for your trial program
Launch your campaign by enabling the Downpay block on your theme
Try before you buy order management
Fulfillment
Payment collection and returns
FAQs
Offer try before you buy on products
Overview
Try before you buy is a selling strategy that allows customers to try products for a limited time before being charged for them. This selling strategy is valuable when customers need to determine the right size for clothing or shoes, choosing colour for makeup, or testing a product out like a mattress to determine if it's the right fit. Try before you buy is a great way to increase conversion on products that usually are more difficult to sell online.
Try before you buy can be set up easily by offering a 0$ deposit on the trial products and only authorizing payment on the payment method at checkout. This ensures a hold is placed on the card that merchants can capture should products not be returned by the end of the trial period.
Authorization periods vary based on payment provider and Shopify plan and deposits are limited to certain payment gateways at this time.
Create the deferred payment purchase option in Downpay
Begin by creating a purchase option that suits your trial campaign in Downpay. Make sure to assign all products you wish to offer on trial and set a payment due date that matches the trial period along with any shipping timelines to added accuracy.
It is possible to have longer trial periods beyond authorization periods, however this will require reauthorizing an order manually with Downpay.
Back to top
Create Shopify Flow authorization workflow
To ensure orders are authorized once they are created, we will be using Shopify Flow which is available on all Shopify plans. This workflow will only trigger on orders that have a Downpay purchase option in them.
Create this workflow or simply download the workflow file and make sure to set it to active.
Download the workflow file
Trigger: [Shopify] Order created
Condition: [Flow] Wait 10 seconds
Action: [Downpay] Authorize remaining payment
Back to top
Adjust language on your store for your trial program
Some default language on checkout and email notifications that Downpay installs with may not fit your try before you buy campaign and these guides can be used to tweak content to suit your brand.
- Checkout due later language
- Email notifications
Back to top
Launch your campaign by enabling the Downpay block on your theme
Follow the Downpay theme install guide to install Downpay blocks on your product and cart page and make any necessary content changes to suit your campaign.
Back to top
Try before you buy order management
Fulfillment
Be default, fulfillments are marked On Hold when using the Downpay payment due date type: Days after checkout. For try before you buy, this isn't very useful and it is recommended to release the On Hold fulfillments manually or with a Shopify Flow workflow to save time. We've provided one below.
Download the workflow file
Once the order holds are release, you may proceed with fulfillment as usual.
Payment collection and returns
If you've enabled the 2 Shopify Flow workflows, automatic payment authorization and automatic fulfillment hold release, try before you buy orders will appear in Shopify like this example:
In this section, we will discuss various scenarios depending on what a customer decides to keep and return.
Customer keeps all items
In this scenario, simply use the capture payment button to collect the balance owed.
Capture payment button will turn into Collect payment if the authorization expires. Collect payment does not guarantee you are able to collect from the card on file as the order does not have a hold on the credit card when authorization expires. You may reauthorize orders manually, please contact us for beta access to this feature.
Back to top
Customers keep some items
Downpay currently does not have a way for customers to begin the return process on their own. They must contact your store to begin the process.
Once a customer has reached out to request a return for some items, simply use Shopify's return workflow.
Toggle quantity of the right line item you wish you return, set a reason and return label url or tracking. Click Create return
Exchanges are not compatible with partially paid orders on Shopify at this time.
Customers will receive a Return created email notification with the return label.
The Return created template may have incorrect price breakdowns due to partial payments. We recommend adjusting the template to hide the items and price breakdowns. Sample template can be found here.
Once a return has been created, the remaining balance of the order will be adjusted to calculate only for the items left in the order. The payment authorization will still be active for the full amount of the previous remaining balance.
Once the product has been received, you may use the restock button to complete the return.
Now you may capture the remaining balance left on the order using the capture payment button and entering in the cost found under the Balance line. In this case, $99.30.
Once the balance is captured, the order will be marked as Paid, Fulfilled, Returned, Archived to showcase all the actions that have happened.
Back to top
Customers keep no items
If customers choose to return all products, simply follow the workflow for Customers keep some items.
One all items have been returned, if you do not want to refund the amount that was paid for the trial, use the Close return option found on the return section of the order page to close out the return.
Authorization holds cannot be released early and will expire based on the payment provider's timeline/your Shopify plan.
Back to top
FAQs
How can I limit how many products are allow in the cart for a trial?
We recommend looking for an order limiting app on Shopify for this functionality. An example is AOD ‑ Order Limits (Min‑Max).
Can customers use a portal to tell me which items are kept?
We do not have this feature at this time. Customers would have to reach out for support to begin the returns process.
Can I limit try before you buy to certain customers or regions?
Yes, it is possible to conditionally display Downpay deposits to only select customers or regions.
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Updated on: 21/11/2024
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