Checkout FAQs

This article will answer FAQs about checkout steps.

Is StoreFront checkout secure?

When you use StoreFront, all sensitive information is sent via HTTPS secure protocol during checkout.

My customers see predefined values in checkout fields. Why?

When a customer goes to checkout, StoreFront determines his/her country, city and zip code based on the IP address (we use MaxMind's GeoIP solution). These found values are automatically shown at checkout. Why it is a great feature:

  • In most cases, it helps the customer to check out faster(= more sales for you).

  • Your customers see estimated shipping and tax cost as soon as they open the cart page.

If you get incorrect predefined values, it means that the MaxMind databases do not have the correct value for your IP address. In this case, go to www.maxmind.com/en/locate_my_ip. If you see the correct values on that page, it means that the problem is already fixed in the newest MaxMind database and it will be fixed in the next StoreFront updates (we update our geo-IP databases monthly).

If you see incorrect values on that page, then please send a correction and MaxMind will fix the problem.

Will customers see the countries I do not ship to at checkout?

StoreFront hides countries and states that you do not ship to from the drop-down list on the shipping details page at checkout, meaning that your customers only see the available shipping destinations.

If you only ship within one country, the country drop-down will not appear at all. Instead, your customers will see a message saying your store ships within that country. The same is true for the states and regions.

So, as long as you have shipping options and destination zones set up in your store settings, StoreFront will take care of displaying the right selection of countries and states at checkout.

Also, StoreFront detects the customer location by their IP address even before they go to checkout, which makes your store checkout smart—it knows the customer location and shipping cost even before the customers go to check out. When they do, they see the clean and straightforward checkout form that does not distract the customers with unnecessary lists of countries and states you do not ship to.

Why is the checkout button missing from my store?

If all payment methods are disabled in your store, then StoreFront doesn’t show the checkout button. In order to enable the button, go to the Store Menu, click Payment and enable at least one payment method. For more information on how to set up payment methods, see About Payment Options.

I don't want to process orders online. Can I get notifications when my customers select products?

Yes. To implement this:

  1. Disable all payment methods except Phone Order.

  2. Click the payment method to rename it. For example, rename the method to Place Order.

  3. Ensure all your products do not have a weight assigned. In this case, StoreFront will omit the Shipping Details checkout step.

  4. Modify or disable your mail notifications.

How can I offer free promotional goods?

It is common practice to offer a free promotional product to attract customers, especially if you sell intangible goods, such as music, books, and so on.

In order to make such promotions more efficient and convenient for you and your customers, you can use the If payment method selection is skipped, set order status to option. To enable this option:

  1. Go to the Store Menu, click Settings, and then click General.

  2. Go to the Cart & Checkout page, and go to the Checkout Settings section.

  3. Select an option from the If payment method selection is skipped, set order status to drop-down.

I don't want to ask for the billing address at checkout. Can I disable it?

Yes. To disable the billing address at checkout:

  1. Go to the Store Menu, click Settings, and then click General.

  2. Click Cart & Checkout, scroll to Checkout Settings, and disable the Ask for a billing address during checkout option.