Members-Only Purchasing and Browsing

Creating an exclusive area for certain customers can boost sales and build brand loyalty.

Written by�Jared K

When you configure your store to allow members-only shopping, customers need to register with your store before they can shop or place orders.

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Before you limit your store to members only, you need to decide what level of exclusivity you want to offer � there are 2 types of members-only configurations available.

Skip to the Site Designer Section if your site is setup to use Site Designer.��

Members Only Prices and Purchases

This level of exclusivity requires all customers to register for a customer account before completing their first purchase. Non-members will be able to browse your site to view products, but they will not be able to view product prices or check out on your store.

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To configure your store for Members Only Prices and Purchases:

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From your store's Admin Dashboard, go to Settings > Config Variables.

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Click Search near the top of the page, then type "members" into the Name field and click Search.

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Select Enable Members Only Prices and Purchases by checking the checkbox.

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Click the blue Save button at the top right of the page.

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For information on customizing prices for your members, see "How to Create Special Discount Prices for Customers and Products ".

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Members Only Browsing

This option requires customers to register with your store before they can view any of your products. Visitors will be greeted with a login screen and a message stating that they need to register or log in.

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Note that when you create a member account in your Admin Area, you must enter a First Name and Last Name in order for Members Only Browsing to function properly.

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To configure your store for Members Only Browsing:

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From your store's Admin Dashboard, go to Settings > Config Variables.

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Click Search near the top of the page, then type "members" into the Name field and click Search.

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Select Enable Members Only Browsing and select 'Enable Members Only Prices and Purchases�by checking the checkboxes, both need to be enabled to prevent shoppers from being able to browse the site, and will be directed to the /register.asp and will have to log in first to continue.��

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Click the blue Save button at the top right of the page.

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Using the Enable Membership Pending Status Variable

When this variable is enabled, customers who register with your store will not gain access until approved by an administrator. If a customer tries to access your store before their membership has been approved, they'll see a message on the storefront indicating that their registration is pending.

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To enable pending registrations:

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1.From your store's Admin Dashboard, go to Settings > Config Variables.

2.Click Search near the top of the page, then type "pending" into the Name field and click Search.

3.Select Enable Membership Pending Status by clicking the checkbox.

4.Click the blue Save button at the top right of the page.

To change a customer's status from Pending to a fully-registered customer, go to Customers > Accounts and change their Access Key from Membership Pending to Customer. Click Save to finalize the customer account status.

Using the Enable Register Pending Status Email Notifications Variable

Enable this variable if you want to receive a notification email when a customer registers on your members only store. The email will notify you that there is a customer account with a Membership Pending status that needs review and approval.

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To enable pending registration emails:

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1.From your store's Admin Dashboard, go to Settings > Config Variables.

2.Click Search near the top of the page, then type "pending" into the Name field and click Search.

3.Select Enable Register Pending Status Email Notifications by clicking the checkbox.

4.Click the blue Save button at the top right of the page.

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You will now receive pending registration emails to the Send Order Notifications To email address you configured at Settings > Company.

Note that the pending registration email is only sent when a customer creates an account through your store's register.asp page. If a customer visits /login.asp and then selects Register, the process does not trigger a pending registration email.

Enabling Members Only Settings When Using Site Designer:

Store's using Site designer are able to set their sites to be Members Only Prices and Purchases, and Members Only Browsing.�

Members Only Prices and Purchases:

This works in the same way as a store without Site designer in that all you need to do is enable the setting.�

1.Go to 'Settings' and then 'Config Variables' and click 'search'.

2.Type 'members' in the 'name' field and click search.�

3.Check the checkbox labeled Member's Only Prices and Purchases and click Save.�

You will now see that the customers are able to browse the site and look at your products, but in order to see the Pricing information or to be able to add the product to their cart, they will need to be logged into their account.��

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Members Only Browsing with Site Designer:

You can now add a block in Site Designer called the "Members Only Browsing' block found in the Misc blocks. To add this block so that every page on the site is not able to be viewed until the customer logs in, you can add the block to the 'Global Templates', however if you only want certain pages to require the customer be logged into their account before viewing, you can also choose to add the block to individual page, for example 'categories'.�

Adding the Members Only Block to the "Global Template".�

1.Log into your Volusion Dashboard and go to Design > Site Designer.�

2.Click the 'Site Pages' Button in the upper left.�

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3. On the menu that opens up on the left side, click on 'Global Template'

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4. Hover your mouse over the middle of the page until you see one of the purple plus buttons, and click on the plus� button to add a block.

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5. On the left menu , click on 'Misc' and 'add block' on the 'Members Only Browsing' block.

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6. You can set the specific url you want them to be redirected too if they access a page with this block. Again, if you added it to the Global template, every page will require that the customer is logged into browse. You can change the redirect url to '/register.asp' to direct them to the registration/login screen.� You can also customize the background color and modal background color, and change the text that appears during the redirect .

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7.Once you have finished customizing the settings ,click 'done' and then click the green publish button.�

Adding the Members Only Block to Specific Pages:

You can also choose to only add the block to certain pages, for example if you want to just have them redirected to the register page when they visit the category page, you'll want to make sure you delete the block from Global templates if you added it there.�

1.Go to Design > Site Designer

2. Click the Pages Button in the upper left.�

3.Click on 'Category Page' and then hover your mouse over a blank space on the page until you get the purple plus button.�

4.On theft side click on 'Misc'

5. Add the Members only browsing block as described above.�

6.Click the green publish button so the changes take affect on the live site.��

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Other Considerations

Note that the Members Only Prices and Purchases and Members Only Browsing settings are not compatible with Volusion Mobile Commerce or Deal of the Day . If you use either of these features and attempt to enable one of the members only variables, you'll see a message indicating the conflict. You can enable members only variables once you've disabled any conflicting features.

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Shopping Carts Being wiped/cleared when customers log out.

If the config: Enable Members Only Prices And Purchases is enabled and reports customer's shopping cart contents are disappearing when they log out of their account, this is considered to be intended functionality of the feature.

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The reason behind this is because our system store's the cart data in a cookie. The only way our system can ensure the site and its content remains visible to members only is to wipe to cookie on logout which permanently removes it's contents.