Payment Methods: Zero Subtotal Checkout

System > Configuration > Payment Methods > Zero Subtotal Checkout

Selling products normally consists of you exchanging goods for money. Although there is no doubt that this is how commerce works, there are sometimes cases where you don’t necessarily require an initial transaction at checkout.

Magento Go allows you to sell products (and lets the customers checkout these products) without requiring a payment transaction. This is done using the Zero Subtotal Checkout payment method.

To give you a better idea of when you would use this payment method, let’s use some examples.

Example 1: One example is if you were selling a product or service that would have to be personalized for each unique order. It would be insufficient to give the customer a quote without analyzing the order. In this case, the purchase order (without any transfer of payment) can be used as a starting point for this sale.

Example 2: Another case is if you were selling business-to-business solutions. Similar to personalized products, there would be no initial transactions at checkout. The checkout process would be regarded as a Purchase Order that would later become an invoice.

Example 3: The customer uses a coupon or gift card that discounts the order and shipping total.

To set up Zero Subtotal Checkout:

1. From the Admin Panel, select System > Configuration.
2. From the left side panel, select Payment Method tab under the Sales section.
3. Expand the Zero Subtotal Checkout tab to configure the settings displayed below:
   • Title – Select an appropriate title to identify this payment method in the checkout settings of the Payment Information page of your Magento Go web store.
   • Enabled – Set to Yes in order to activate this payment method.
   • New Order Status – Specify how you would like processed orders to be identified in their Order Status (this is visible to the customer as well as you, the merchant). This option does not set any limitations on the transaction; it is simply for identification purposes. Pending - The order is pending approval and processing. Processing – The order is being processed.
   • Automatically Invoice All Items – Select whether all items having zero subtotal will be automatically invoiced by the system.
   • Payment from Applicable Countries – Select whether you want this payment method available to all customers or only those of select countries. Choose between the following options: All Allowed Countries – customers from all of the countries in the default countries list can use this payment method; Specific Countries – only customers from countries selected in the Payment From Specific Countries list (it appears when you select this option) may use this payment method.

     Note: You can define which countries are listed in the default list by modifying the Allowed Countries field located in System > Configuration > General > Countries Options.

   • Sort Order – When you use several payment methods, the Sort Order value determines where in the order this payment method will be displayed (in the Payment Information section of the Checkout page in the frontend).
4. Once you have configured the Zero Subtotal Checkout settings, click [Save Config] to save your settings.

Tip: Be sure to test this payment method in your Magento Go store before going live.

See also:

Creating a Gift Card