The E-Commerce functionality offered by Absorb is broad, with multiple potential applications. When configuring E-Commerce it is ideal to consider how it will be used, prior to making any changes. Once you have plotted out how you will be using E-Commerce in your Portal, the next step is to implement that use-case. Use-cases can vary depending on how you are advertising your content and where you expect potential Learners to purchase your Courses.
This article provides insight into general E-Commerce considerations and preparation. For more information about configuring E-Commerce review the following article:
E-Commerce Overview
E-Commerce is the feature utilized by Absorb LMS to facilitate the purchase and acquisition of course content throughout a Portal. Once configured, this allows a potential Learner to purchase content from your Portal with real currency. How a Learner makes that purchase, whether or not the payment must be received before they receive access to their Course, cost and public access are all additional configuration elements of E-Commerce.
One of the most important considerations will be whether you utilize Private Purchases or Public Purchases:
Private Purchases
A Private Purchase is an E-Commerce transaction that occurs in your Portal to a User that already has an account. This typically occurs by listing a Course for sale in the Catalog, making sure the visibility for Self Enrollment is correct and then allowing your existing Learners to purchase/enroll into the Course.
Private Purchase is ideal if you have an active population of Users in your Portal that will be actively directed towards the new content either via in person marketing, Portal side Billboards or similar marketing methods.
A Course that has been setup for Private Purchase only, can only be purchased by Users in your Portal. It can however, target specific Departments or Groups in your Portal. In summary, Private Purchase should be used when you are selling content to a group of Users already in your Portal, or whom will be brought into your Portal via another method.
Public Purchases
A Public Purchase is an E-Commerce transaction that occurs when you configure Course Content to be available for sale on your Public Dashboard to potential Learners who are not yet Users in your Portal. A Course that is available for Public Purchase will always be configured to allow Self Enrollment for all Users. This makes it so that anyone can find and purchase the Course.
Public Purchase is ideal if you aim to attract Learners from outside your Portal and will be directing these Users to your Catalog. A Course that is configured for Public Purchase will also be available for purchase for everyone in your Portal. A Course configured for Public Purchase cannot be restricted to specific Departments or Groups as this restriction would prevent external Users (who have no Department or Group) from discovering the Course.
Configurations by Business Type
Each of the following articles showcases an E-Commerce configuration that may be suited for a business of a specific type, performing sales of a specific kind. The suggestions in these articles should be considered templates that you can adopt and expand to better suit your use-case:
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