Digital products

Besides tangible goods, you have the option to vend virtual items such as digital books, images, melodies, video guides, and more on your shop. When you introduce a product to your shop, you can upload a document that will be automatically dispatched to purchasers via exclusive download links following their acquisition.

Including a digital product

You can attach a sole document or numerous documents under one product. There's no cap on the number of files that can be linked to a downloadable product.

1. From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Products.
2. Click on a product for editing or create a new one.
3. In the General tab, uncheck Requires shipping or pickup:

4. Then proceed to the Files tab.
5. Click on +Upload Files.
6. In the pop-up, select Choose file:

7. Choose the file on your computer.
8. Tap on + to include more files.
9. Click on Upload Files.
10. Input the file description.
11. Click on Save.

And you're all set! Your patron will automatically receive the download link for their product at the conclusion of the checkout process once their payment has been submitted to you and the order status has been updated to Paid.

Disabling delivery for a digital product

If you're marketing a virtual item or a service, you will need to deactivate delivery for that product. Once a customer completes checkout, the delivery segment of the checkout process will automatically be omitted (it remains for carts containing both physical and downloadable products).

To deactivate delivery via desktop:

1. From your shop admin, navigate to Catalog → Products.
2. Select a virtual product.
3. In the Shipping & Pickup section of the product page, click This Product Requires Shipping or Pickup option and switch off the button to disable delivery.
4. Click Save.

Once the order is settled, the customer will receive an email notification containing a unique link to download the purchased items.

Securing download links

There are two methods to prevent customers from distributing download links to others: 1) Establish a lifespan for the link: this guarantees that the link will automatically expire after a specified timeframe; 2) Restrict the number of downloads per link: this ensures customers can only access the link a predetermined number of times.

To establish limitations:

1. From your shop admin, proceed to Settings → General → Cart & Checkout.
2. Scroll down to the E-goods section:

3. Indicate a number of hours and/or download attempts.

The shop administrator can manually refresh or invalidate any link in the Order details page. Refreshing a link will furnish the customer with a new download link while forced expiration will render a link instantly inactive.

Examples of download limitations:

• Lifespan is configured for 24 hours, and the number of download attempts is unspecified: the link is accessible for 24 hours solely, with unrestricted downloads.
• Lifespan is not specified, and the number of download attempts is set to 5: the link is accessible without any time restrictions but can only be downloaded 5 times per order.
• Lifespan is configured for 48 hours, and the number of download attempts is set to 3: the link is accessible for 48 hours and can be downloaded only 3 times per order.

Providing digital items for no charge

You have the option to offer complimentary downloads in your shop, allowing customers to acquire a file without making a payment. This feature can serve various purposes, such as sharing sample files (such as audios, videos, etc.) or providing documents with instructions on utilizing other products available in your shop.

There are two methods to offer digital products for free:

1. Establish a product with a price of zero: Customers can add this product to their cart, proceed to checkout, and access the download links without any payment. To streamline this process, we suggest navigating to your shop admin under Settings → General → Cart & Checkout. Once on this page, navigate to the Checkout Settings section and activate Default payment status for orders with zero total to Paid so that customers instantly receive the download link after completing an order.
2. Embed a file by including a download link directly within the product description. By embedding a download link directly within your product, customers can download the file directly from the product page without having to place an order. To do this, first upload your file to any hosting service. For instance, you can utilize SaberCat which is free. Second, insert a link to this file in your product description. Note: this method does not allow you to view downloads in the order list.

Placing a test order

Once you've created a digital product, you can place a trial order to test its functionality.

Downloading a product as a customer

Your customer will automatically receive the download link for the purchased product as soon as the order status is marked as Paid.

Upon successful online payment, buyers will find the download link directly on the Thank you for your order page:

Additionally, buyers will receive an "Files ready for download" email containing the download links:

Furthermore, download links for purchased products are accessible to buyers within their customer accounts on your shop:

FAQ

How can I personalize the email containing the download links?

You can customize the Download E-goods notification sent to your customers upon purchasing a digital product in your shop admin under Settings → Notifications. Learn how to edit email notifications.

What occurs if a customer's download is interrupted?

If a customer experiences connectivity issues, the download will automatically resume once the connection is restored. However, this feature only functions if you have not imposed a limit on the number of downloads.