This guide provides an overview of how to effectively set up and manage your online store using HirePOS. The online store module enables you to receive quote requests or bookings with or without a deposit/payment required. Availability checking can be enforced, ensuring all bookings are able to be fulfilled.

This document will outline the process of activating your online store, managing store items, checking for new bookings, processing orders, customizing store appearance, and exploring various setup methods.

To activate your online store, follow these steps:

1. From the main menu strip at the top, navigate to Setup > Preferences > Modules.

2. Switch on the Online Store toggle to the right.

3. Click Save Changes.

Once activated, the Online Store button will appear on the Home page and under the Sales/Hire menu at the top.

When navigating to Setup > Online Store > Setup Store Items, you may encounter an error such as:
"Oops! An error occurred. The ConnectionString property has not been initialized." or similar. This type of error will show if you do not yet have an online store database setup.

If you see this (or a similar) message, contact HirePOS Support at hirepos@hirepos.com.au to request online store initialization. Include a screenshot or copy of the error message to expedite the process.

To activate store items for your online store, follow these steps:

1. Go to Setup > Preferences > Online Store. (or Sales/Hire > Online Store)

2. Click the Setup Store Items button at (towards the top of the screen).

3. Select the items you wish to show in the Online Store using the check boxes.

4. Click the Activate Store Items button at the bottom of the list.

This process copies the Item Code to the Website Code and the Item Description to the Website Description field.

To customize the website code, click each item to activate and either copy or enter the desired Description and Code. The online store Description can differ from the main HirePOS item description. For instance, an item like "White Chair Model 77 Basic" can be listed in your online store as "Premium ultra comfy, deluxe ivory chair".

When setting up a code and description for an item, you also have the option to add a long description (paragraph format) to let the customer know more about the item.

While you are setting up your Items, you can also add images. Do this by either clicking the image placeholder in the items list or by opening the item and going to the Images tab.

To deactivate store items, follow these steps:

1. Go to Setup > Preferences > Online Store.

2. Click the Setup Store Items button at the top of the Layout tab.

3. Check the item(s) you wish to deactivate.

4. Click the Deactivate Store Items button at the bottom of the list.

Alternatively, you can open the item from Setup > Preferences > Online Store > Setup Store Items, and then remove the website code from the item. Only items with website codes populated are counted as active in the online store.

To view new bookings, click the Online Store button on the main page. The Online Store Bookings/Orders page will display any new orders, indicated by a number badge beside the Online Store button.

When a new booking/order appears, click on it in the Online Store Bookings/Orders page to view details. You can then match the order with an existing customer or create a new customer and choose to accept or decline the order.

To customize the appearance of your online store, follow these steps:

1. Go to Setup > Preferences > Online Store.

2. Adjust settings to suit your business theme or processes.

3. Click Save Changes when finished.

To view your online store and see the changes, click the View tab and select the Stand-alone option.

To enable Availability checking (and prevent unavailable items from being booked)

1. Go to Setup > Preferences > Online Store >Availability (tab)

2. Enable "Allow availability check on Item Details page"

   1. Optionally you can also turn on:

      • "Show Availability Calendar in Item Details page (for singular items only)"

      • "Dim out unavailable items in Items List page"

If you would like customers to be able to place any items in their cart, regardless of availability ensure all of the above options are off.

If you would like to require a payment from the customer (via Pin Payments) to submit a booking:

1. Ensure you have a live and approved Pin Payments account, and that is it properly connected to HirePOS. (Read more: https://docs.hirepos.com/en/articles/2313921)

2. Go to Setup > Preferences > Online Store > Checkout (tab)

3. Place a value in the "Payment % Required:" field. This number is the percentage of the total order value you require to accept the booking. 100% would require the customer to pay the entire value of the booking in order to submit it, for example.

Note: Turning this on will inherently require availability checks to run, to prevent money being taken for services that cannot be rendered.

The Online Store module offers different setup methods:

• Stand-Alone Online Store: Use the out-of-the-box online store provided by HirePOS for standard layouts and visuals.

  • Go to Setup > Preferences > Online Store > Preview (tab) and look at the Stand Alone option.

  • This provides a direct link/url to your HirePOS online store.

  • You can publish this link in marketing/social media, place a button pointing to this location on your website or landing page, or otherwise direct potential customers to visit your HirePOS store URL.

• iFrame Deployment: Host the HirePOS Online Store content within an existing web page on your site using an iFrame.

  • In Setup > Preferences > Online Store > Preview (tab) there is an iFrame option.

  • An iframe is a way to embed one webpage inside another. For your online store, it means your store will appear on your website, but it’s still hosted and run by HirePOS. This option keeps everything looking seamless, so customers feel like they’re browsing your website while we handle the technical side in the background.

  • HirePOS provides some basic iframe code that you can copy/paste to your webpage.

  • The iframe code works as-is but is generic in nature and will likely require modification/optimisation to suit your specific webpage theme and layout.

  • If you have a web developer looking after your website, you can supply this code to them and they will know what to do from there.

  • If you are self-managing your site you can modify the iframe code with the assistance of a Google search or AI (such as ChatGPT) to optimise it for your site.

• HirePOS API or Zapier: Integrate HirePOS with your existing website using the HirePOS API or Zapier for more advanced functionality.

  • This is the way to go in the case that you already have an ecommerse solution such as woocommerse/wordpress, shopify, ecwid or similar. You can use Zapier to connect your existing deployment to HirePOS, pushing through completed orders/bookings to HirePOS.

  • This is also the ideal long-term goal if you require more control over the looks/functionality of your store than HirePOS provides. The HirePOS online store (iframe and stand-alone, as described above) is a one-size-fits-all, turnkey solution. Building your own store using a platform like woo-commerce provides you the flexibility to create any experience you desire for your customers.

  • Read more about HirePOS and Zapier here: https://docs.hirepos.com/en/articles/2315137