# What your customers see The buyer's path, from the shop through checkout to the account page. Source: https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customer-accounts/ **Add-on** Commerce is an add-on, so not every website has it. If it is not in your menu, see [Add-ons](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/billing/add-ons/) to add it. Every other Commerce page is about your side of the counter. This one walks the buyer's side, so you know what they are looking at when they call. ## The shop and the product page Your shop lists what you sell, with a picture, a name, a price and a button on each card. Each product has a page of its own. [The Shop page and blocks](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/shop-page/) covers both. On a product page, short notes show under the price when they apply: - "Pre-order", with the date it ships around - "Backordered, ships when restocked" - the turnaround, such as "Ships in 5 business days" - "Digital download.", on a product with a file - the stock count, such as "Only 3 left" A sold out or coming soon product shows a **Notify me** button instead of a buy button. The shopper signs in, and gets an email when it is back. ## The cart Adding anything makes a **Cart** button appear at the bottom of the screen, with a count. Click it and a panel slides in, titled **Your cart**. It lists each line, with buttons to add one, take one away, or **Remove** it. The total sits at the bottom, above a checkout button. The cart lives in the buyer's own browser. It is not on your website, and you cannot see it. Close the tab and it survives. Use a different computer and it does not. **Important** A cart holds one billing cadence. Monthly or yearly, never both. A buyer with a monthly plan in the cart who tries to add a yearly one sees "Cart is monthly", and nothing is added. ## Checkout Checkout is one page, on your own web address. The heading reads **Checkout**. On one side is what they are buying. On the other is a form, top to bottom: 1. **Discount or referral code**, with an **Apply** button. One code per order. 2. **Contact**: **Email** and **Full name**. A signed-in buyer sees "Signed in as" and their email instead. 3. **Remember my details on this device for 7 days**. Off unless they check it. 4. **Billing address**. 5. **Delivery**, when something ships. **Ship it to me**, or **Pick it up in store** when you offer pickup. 6. **Ship to a different address**, if it does not go to the billing address. 7. **Shipping method**: the rates they can pick from. 8. **Insure this shipment**, when you offer insurance. 9. A checkbox to agree to your terms and conditions. 10. Apple Pay, Google Pay or Link buttons, where their device has them, then **Or pay by card** and the card form. 11. The **Pay** button, with the total on it. The card form comes from Stripe, but it sits inside your page. The buyer never feels handed off. The total updates as they type, and they are never charged a total they did not see. A signed-in buyer can pick a saved address, and save a new one with **Save this address to my account**. When address checks are on, a wrong-looking address shows "Did you mean:" with **Use this** and **Keep what I typed**. See [Shipping](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/shipping/#address-checks). A pickup asks for no address. It offers **Phone (optional)**, so you can reach them about the pickup. A business buyer may see **Ship on my own carrier account**. See [Shipping](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/shipping/#buyers-who-ship-on-their-own-account). ### When checkout cannot start **Nothing selected** means they reached checkout with an empty cart. **Checkout isn't set up yet** means the thing has no price, or your Stripe keys are missing. See [Connect Stripe](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/connect-stripe/). Checkout turns away a billing address outside the countries you sell to. See [Commerce settings](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/settings/#checkout-countries). ## How checkout ends After paying, the buyer lands on a page on your website. It says one of these things. | What it says | What it means for you | | --- | --- | | Thank you, your order is confirmed | Paid. The order is in **Orders**. Get on with it. | | Thank you, your subscription is starting | A free trial began. Nothing is charged today. | | Payment received: it's still clearing | Their bank is slow. Nothing to do. It lands on its own. | | That payment didn't finish | Nothing was charged. There is no order. | | We couldn't find that order | The link was broken or old. Ask them for their receipt email. | **Important** That page only reports. It never makes the order. Your website is told by Stripe right away, whether or not the buyer keeps the tab open. A buyer who pays and shuts the laptop still gets their order made. ## Every buyer gets an account Every paid order makes an account on your website, from the email the buyer paid with. There is no separate "guest" checkout. For a first-time buyer, the thank-you page says "We've set up an account for you." To see the order there, they confirm their email first, with a sign-in link. A buyer who already had an account is told to sign in with their email address to see the order. That stops a stranger who typed someone else's email from getting into their account. ## The account page A customer manages their own things at your web address followed by `/account`. ### Signing in There is no password. They type their address and click **Email me a link**. The link signs them in. The reply is always the same: "Check your inbox for a sign-in link. It works once and expires in 15 minutes." It says that whatever they type. That is on purpose. A different reply for an unknown address would let a stranger work out who your customers are. ### Making an account without buying Under the sign-in form is a link: **Create an account**. It opens a page headed **Create your account**. They type their email, and a name and phone if they like. Then they click **Email me a link**. Nothing is made until they click the link in that email. ### Confirming their email A buyer whose account was made at checkout has not proved their email yet. Until they do, the page shows a note and an **Email me a sign-in link** button. Some tabs are hidden, and any change asks them to confirm first. One click on the emailed link fixes it. ### The tabs The page is headed **Your account**, with their email under it. **Sign out** is at the top right. | Tab | What is on it | | --- | --- | | **Account info** | Their details, addresses, codes and credits. | | **Subscriptions** | Their plans, the card they pay with, and their invoices. | | **Orders** | What they have bought, with files, tracking and reviews. | | **Forms** | Forms they have sent you. Only with the Feedback add-on. | | **Settings** | The newsletter, and closing their account. | ### Account info **Your details** is a form: **Name**, **Phone**, the address, **City**, **State / region**, **Postal code** and **Country code**. **Save details** stores it. You see the same details on their customer record. **Saved addresses** holds up to 10 delivery addresses. **Add an address**, **Edit**, **Make default** and **Remove** look after them. **Carrier accounts** holds up to 5 UPS or FedEx accounts, for buyers who ship on their own account. Only the last few digits ever show. **Your referral code** shows their code, a link to share, and a **Copy link** button. Under it, **Your referrals** lists how many people used it, with a date, a status and what they earned. It never shows who. See [Customers, credits and referrals](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customers/#referrals). **Your affiliate code** shows only for an affiliate. See [Affiliates](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/affiliates/#what-the-affiliate-sees). **Plan Credits** and **Project Credits** each show a balance and every change, with the note you wrote. Write those notes for them to read. On a site with the Bookings add-on, their bookings show here too. See [Bookings](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/booking/). ### Subscriptions **Subscriptions** lists any plan they pay for, its price, and when it renews. **Change plan** switches plan or billing period. **Cancel subscription** does not cut them off. They keep what they paid for until the period ends. **Keep my subscription** undoes it any time before then. You can do the same from your side. See [Subscriptions](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/subscriptions/). **Payment method** names the card on file, such as "Visa ending in 4242". Its **Update card** button swaps it. With no card saved, the button reads **Add a card**. The card is held by Stripe, never by your website. **Invoices** lists their invoices, with links. Those open on Stripe's website, in a new tab. That is normal. **Warning** Changing a plan from monthly to yearly charges the card right away. That is Stripe's rule, not a setting. A customer who did not expect it will call you. ### Orders **Order history** lists what they have bought. It includes orders they placed before they had an account, as long as they used the same email address. Each order shows its stage, its lines and its totals. Depending on the order, it can also show: - **Track your package**, once it has shipped - the pickup place and its hours - the proof, with a link to answer it. See [Orders](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/orders/#proofs). - their own uploaded files, with **Replace** and **Add a file** until they approve the proof - **Download** and the file name, for a file they bought. See [Digital products](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/digital-products/). - **Refunds**, with the date and the bank's reference number - **Your note**, the note they left at checkout - **Write a review** or **Edit your review**, once it has arrived and reviews are on - **Reorder**, which puts the same order back in their cart at today's prices **Your reviews** lists the reviews they have written. Files they uploaded are kept for 180 days after the order ships. The page tells them, and suggests they keep a copy. ### Settings **Newsletter** lets them sign up for your newsletter. It only shows when your website has a newsletter set up. See [Newsletter](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/newsletter/). **Close your account** lets them close it themselves. They check **I understand this cannot be undone.** and click **Close my account**. Closing signs them out everywhere. Their account record is deleted after a set number of days. Their orders stay in your records, because you need those for your books. See [Accounts](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/accounts/#closing-and-purging). ### Why they cannot change their email The form has no email box. The address is who they are. It is what the sign-in link proved. So a change goes through you. You can do it on their customer record. See [Customers](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customers/#editing-a-customer). ## When a customer writes to you Most of what they ask for, you can do in a minute. | They ask for | Where you do it | | --- | --- | | A refund | The **Orders** tab. See [Orders](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/orders/#refunds). | | A wrong address fixed on an order | The order's **Customer** card, **Edit**. See [Orders](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/orders/#fixing-the-buyers-details). | | A credit granted, or one used up | The **Customers** tab. See [Customers, credits and referrals](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customers/). | | Their email address changed | The **Customers** tab, **Edit**. See [Customers](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customers/#editing-a-customer). | | Their plan paused or canceled | The **Subscriptions** tab, or they do it themselves. See [Subscriptions](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/subscriptions/). | | A card updated | Nowhere. They do it themselves, under **Payment method**. | | Their account closed | **Plugins**, then **Accounts**, or they do it themselves. See [Accounts](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/plugins/accounts/). | Point them at their own account page for anything they can do themselves. Tell them to go to your web address, add `/account`, and ask for a sign-in link. **Contact support** Contact us if a customer says a sign-in link never arrived, or that it would not work at all. Also write to us if a customer who closed their account needs it back. Email [support@lookoutridgeit.com](mailto:support@lookoutridgeit.com). [Getting support](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/help/getting-support/) says what to put in the message.