In a nutshell, YES!
We will do some limited custom work to give Motorola what they want. There are enough options within AbleCommerce that I can play with alternatives.
#1. Restricting the site to log-in users only does not work for us because it prevents guests from looking around.
#2. One option is to limit the checkout process to log-in users only - This could work, but for the limited guests that only want to buy certain non-MAP accessories, it would be a pain in the butt.
#3. So, for now, we will create two fields in the store settings, cf_DisableGuestMapPurchase and cf_DisableGuestMapMessage - Right now, this is the better option.
If a guest were to look around and purchase a non-Map item, all would be fine. Still, if that guest were to stumble upon a MAP (Click-to-view-price) item, the Add to Cart button would be disabled so they couldn't add it to the cart and view the price, and the click-to-view price would not show, instead displaying the cf_DisableGuestMapMessage value. Something like "If you wish to purchase this item and view the discount pricing, you must log in to your account.
For now, this is the most minor programming we can do to keep Motorola happy, but we're thinking about this, and I want to share some ideas with you.
We're thinking of adding a login price for items. In other words, a guest user would see one price, and a login user would see another. For items that are not MAP, both the login price and the regular price would be the same. This way, I can display MAP pricing for guests, but people who are logged in will get their discount price instead of the MAP item price without the Click-to-view-price option. That should still be included in the cart.
Since we're talking about ideas, you can create a third price and assign it to a user group. It will only display for people who are logged in and are part of that group.
So for an item, you would have three pricing:
#1. Regular pricing that all can see, guest and login
#2. MAP Discount Price for login users
#3. Special group price- For people who are part of a specific group
Just ideas at this point, but I believe option three is the way to go for us at the moment, and I hope I've thrown some ideas at you that you can use later on.
-Ray
