Knack includes payment features that can be seamlessly integrated with other Knack features like user logins and workflows. You can use this to build everything from single payment forms to rich E-Commerce applications.
Here are some examples of what you can do with E-Commerce features:
- Accept donations for your charity or non-profit
- Create member areas that are only accessible after users pay for membership
- Build self-service portals that allow customers to view and pay invoices or update payment information
In this article, we will review examples of how you can add E-Commerce features to your apps.
E-Commerce & Payment Examples
Basic Payments
No matter if you're selling products or providing services, it is essential to have a system in place to keep track of customer orders and facilitate payment processing.
You can see a quick and easy example of this in our Event Registration sample app:
Learn More
-
See it in action in the Event Registration sample app
- See our article on E-Commerce: About E-Commerce
Multi-Item Payments
Customer orders often consist of multiple products or services, requiring you to charge for all items within a single order.
For example, in our Bakery Manager sample app, users can add multiple baked goods to their order and then pay for that order.
Learn More
-
See it in action in the Bakery Manager sample app.
- See our article on How to Build an Orders App.
Saving Payment Information
Customers have the option to securely store their payment information, providing them with the convenience of easily making future payments. Additionally, you can utilize the saved information to process payments on behalf of customers.
Here’s how that works in our Customer Payment Portal sample app:
Learn More
-
See it in action in the Customer Payment Portal sample app.
- See our article on How to Save a Customer’s Payment Method.
Charge on Behalf of Customers
Some services require hourly billing or dynamic billing approaches where you need to charge on behalf of your customers as services are rendered.
For example, you may need to charge customers half upfront for a service and the other half upon completion.
Learn More
- See our article on How to Charge on Behalf of Customers.
Customer Self-Service Portals
A self-service portal makes it easy for your customers to manage their own requests and billing without having to contact you.
For example, in our Customer Payment Portal sample app customers can submit service requests, manage their payment information, and pay active invoices.
Learn More
-
See it in action in the Customer Payment Portal sample app
Paid Member Access
One option is to implement a paywall or payment gateway that limits access to certain information or sections of your app until users have paid for access.
This is commonly done by charging a registration fee for membership and concealing paid areas from non-members.
Fundraising & Donations
When fundraising for a cause or charity, you need an easy way to track and accept donations from donors.
For example, you can have a donation portal that allows donors to donate to your cause and to store their credit card information so that future donations are a simple, one-click process. Here’s how it works in our Online Donation Portal sample app:
Learn More
-
See it in action in the Online Donation Portal sample app
Dynamic Cost Calculations
Calculating the cost of a purchase can include the base price plus additional items like taxes, fees, and discounts.
A common example is giving customers a discount for bulk purchases. Here’s how that could work in the Bakery Manager sample app:
Learn More
- See our article on How to Create Discount Codes.
- See our article About Equations.
Additional Resources
In addition to the examples we have provided for integrating E-Commerce into your apps, there are countless other use cases and features that can enhance the value of your E-Commerce capabilities.
See the articles below for more resources:
-
All the examples above require users and access.
-
However, there are use cases where you may not want users to log in to make a payment: How to Simulate a Login without Users
-
All these examples can extend to include Reporting.
-
Several workflows can be added to existing systems like sending a receipt after a transaction is complete
Limitations
While E-Commerce in Knack is powerful, there are certain features which are currently not available:
-
Subscriptions & Recurring Payments
-
Peer-to-peer payments
-
Shopping cart