The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

How could I quickly create a shopping cart that DOESN'T WORK to test a concept?

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
Yes you heard that right.

I'd like to put together a minimal prototype of an ecommerce shopify-like shop where you can complete a checkout process, but nothing happens except a confirmation. You select "place your order" after going thru the whole checkout, but nothing happens besides a fake confirmation. Is that possible on Shopify? (asking here before trying to explain that to their support team lol) or a similar platform? Or is it something I'd have to build from scratch. Any suggestions?

Thank you <3

B
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

csalvato

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
297%
May 5, 2014
2,058
6,106
39
Rocky Mountain West
If this is purely for market validation, it will be easier to just take the orders, then refund them, ironically.

Or, you can use something like clickfunnels, but have the CC form just be a regular form, and a successful submit just goes to a thank you or "thanks for validating this, but we aren't selling it, do you want to give feedback when it's ready?" page.

Otherwise, you will probably need to write some custom code, and that would take too long.
 

csalvato

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
297%
May 5, 2014
2,058
6,106
39
Rocky Mountain West
I believe Stripe test mode will fail with real credit card numbers and only pass with their test numbers. Not 100% sure on that though.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Scot

Salad Dressing Empire
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
472%
Jul 10, 2016
2,975
14,055
Florida
Instead of the very obvious and shady implications of collecting payment transactions...

You could always do a landing page with a “buy now” button. That button takes them to a page that says something like “thank you for wanting to purchase. We’re in presale mode, enter your email address to be notified when it’s available”

Put a tracking code on the page, see how many click through the buy now button. Added bonus is you can build an email list of people who want to buy it.

The big problem with accepting payment then reversing it is, 99% of people don’t understand what Stripe or Shopify are and assume YOU get their credit card info. This will scare a lot of people if you go this route.
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
Instead of the very obvious and shady implications of collecting payment transactions...

You could always do a landing page with a “buy now” button. That button takes them to a page that says something like “thank you for wanting to purchase. We’re in presale mode, enter your email address to be notified when it’s available”

Put a tracking code on the page, see how many click through the buy now button. Added bonus is you can build an email list of people who want to buy it.

The big problem with accepting payment then reversing it is, 99% of people don’t understand what Stripe or Shopify are and assume YOU get their credit card info. This will scare a lot of people if you go this route.

Cannot do because the product is the app itself. The app simulates a purchase, customer knowing. But I want to make a prototype to give ppl to try and tell me if it actually proves the hypothesis that would make the product be valuable...

And I mean by "app" I totally could mean e-commerce platform. Doesn't have to be an app.
 
Last edited:

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
WooCommerce with Stripe, and put stripe into test mode. That will do what you want.

I think Shopify with Stripe will work, also with Stripe in test mode

Thank you I will look into that!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
I believe Stripe test mode will fail with real credit card numbers and only pass with their test numbers. Not 100% sure on that though.

Just looked it up and you are right. That is the closest option I have, my only concern is that it will affect the test subject's perception of the "test". It has to feel real.

EDIT: Omg I had an AH HA moment. I'm gonna pretend the fake card #s are gift cards I'm giving away for the testing. That way it will feel real. I hope...
 

csalvato

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
297%
May 5, 2014
2,058
6,106
39
Rocky Mountain West
EDIT: Omg I had an AH HA moment. I'm gonna pretend the fake card #s are gift cards I'm giving away for the testing. That way it will feel real. I hope...

That will remove the user's commitment that they are actually buying something, so the data will be less powerful.

Clicking on a "Buy Now" button or submitting a gift card is not parting with cash. If you want real validation, you need to be sure they will part with cash.

I've done this sort of things before, and i have taken the money and promptly refunded it...but only with 10 purchases. If I get 10 purchases quickly, I know I'm on to something. And at worst you piss 10 people off.

In reality, they don't get pissed, they get upset that they haven't bought it yet, so I give them a discount on the price they thought they paid for it when the product is ultimately ready.

A real purchasing form + a thank you page letting them know that you were just validating the idea is very powerful.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

1step

Gold Contributor
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
231%
Dec 4, 2012
1,038
2,396
Kentucky
WooCommerce with Stripe, and put stripe into test mode. That will do what you want.

I think Shopify with Stripe will work, also with Stripe in test mode
I believe Stripe test mode will fail with real credit card numbers and only pass with their test numbers. Not 100% sure on that though

If you use Authorize.net as your payment processor you can leave it in test mode and it will act as if everything worked fine for the customer. They wouldn't be charged and you wouldn't get any money but they would see the thank you page after checking out like normal.
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
If you use Authorize.net as your payment processor you can leave it in test mode and it will act as if everything worked fine for the customer. They wouldn't be charged and you wouldn't get any money but they would see the thank you page after checking out like normal.

So they could actually use their CC #? For the record I'm not doing anything shady it's a psychology-type of experiment to see if simulated purchases help people with compulsive buying. That's why it has to BE real yet not be charged nor I'm interested in their CC info. I'm trying to prove whether the checkout process is what reduces anxiety/urge rather than the product.
 

biophase

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
474%
Jul 25, 2007
9,120
43,260
Scottsdale, AZ
You can just make a fake form for the checkout then. Do you need an add to cart or just a checkout. You can use any form service like wufoo or jotform and make a form that requires a credit card input.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

csalvato

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
297%
May 5, 2014
2,058
6,106
39
Rocky Mountain West
You can just make a fake form for the checkout then. Do you need an add to cart or just a checkout. You can use any form service like wufoo or jotform and make a form that requires a credit card input.

If the credit card info is actually submitted insecurely, though, I would consider this to be a selfish move as it puts your potential customers’ CC info at risk.
 

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
If the credit card info is actually submitted insecurely, though, I would consider this to be a selfish move as it puts your potential customers’ CC info at risk.

But it wouldn't submit anywhere, no? Technically the "Place your order button" would be just a link to a Thank You page, not an actual submission anywhere. It can literally be just HTML text areas, not even a real form.

I wanna link "the shop" to some people with shopping issues (who willingly participate in "a consumer experiment for people who need help with impulsive shopping", but don't know the shop isn't real) to "shop" and then ask about their experience.
 
Last edited:

biophase

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
474%
Jul 25, 2007
9,120
43,260
Scottsdale, AZ
If the credit card info is actually submitted insecurely, though, I would consider this to be a selfish move as it puts your potential customers’ CC info at risk.

You can do this with SSL on the forms.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

BellaPippin

B is for Beast
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
275%
Jul 16, 2015
1,430
3,928
34
Chicago, IL
Ok I think I got it figured out. After all the whole point is that they know it's fake, I need to prove that it still helps even if they are aware. A whole static HTML funnel should do it and they don't even have to put in their CC.
 

csalvato

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
297%
May 5, 2014
2,058
6,106
39
Rocky Mountain West
But it wouldn't submit anywhere, no? Technically the "Place your order button" would be just a link to a Thank You page, not an actual submission anywhere. It can literally be just HTML text areas, not even a real form.

I wanna link "the shop" to some people with shopping issues (who willingly participate in "a consumer experiment for people who need help with impulsive shopping", but don't know the shop isn't real) to "shop" and then ask about their experience.

Having the button be a link would be ok, but the button would work even if CC info isn't included. Not a big deal, I guess, but something to take into account when looking at the results.

You can do this with SSL on the forms.

SSL will protect the data while it's being transmitted, but if the CC info is in a WuFoo field, it will be stored in plain-text on WuFoo's servers. That presents a risk to customers and technically means you're breaking PCI compliance laws and harvesting credit card information since the data is not in secured storage that is PCI compliant.
 

Rabby

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
319%
Aug 26, 2018
1,924
6,128
Florida
OH gosh, seriously, just an "add to cart" button that links to a plain HTML form. Capture their basic info and let them click a "checkout now" button on that page that links to "coming soon" instead of the expected credit card entry. Anticlimactic? Yes, well.

I don't see why you even need complex software, or an actual shopping cart at all. It could be as simple as looking at the server logs and seeing how many people reach all 3 pages. Someone can convince me that's too simple, but is it?

If you want a more simulation-like experience, you could get a freelance front end developer to set something up for you... it should not take long for someone who knows what they're doing. They'll probably just configure a CMS for you.

Also an option, put a web form together with a tool like leadpages. Super easy, no coding, lots of options, and you can feed leads into a marketing tool for later followup.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top