Can I restrict purchase based on zone?

-- HikaShop version -- : HikaShop Business 2.2.1
-- Joomla version -- : 3.1.5
-- PHP version -- : 5.3

We sell Pay Per View events to public establishments and one of the rules we have to follow is not to sell to anyone inside a 50 miles radius around the actual location of the event. For instance, since most events are held in las Vegas, no business in Las Vegas and for a 50 miles radius, can purchase an event held there. Establishments in Atlantic City will be able to buy it, but conversely if the event is in Atlantic City, establishments there are denied the sale while those in Las Vegas can buy it.

I was wondering if there was a way to use the zone system to limit the availability of the product.

FYI, we also charge a different amount per product based on the business occupancy. So customers already belong to a group based on how many people they can sit.

Thank you for the help.

Thanks for the reply. Couldn't I create custom zones under "Nevada" that include a range of Zip codes?

Initially, when I was informed of this requirement (and since at the moment they are handling it manually) I told them that we should just alert them on the product page of the restriction, give them a link to a website where they can check their zip code and their distance from the location and then tell them that if they went ahead with the purchase they would just get their money back. In addition, many of these people already know they would not be allowed if the event is near them.

So there is a way to handle it already, but it would be nice if I could implement this logic without having to build a plugin (Also since I have no idea what the plugin would have to do).

Basically, if any extra work is necessary, we will have to take care of it after the site launches, but if there is an easier way to do it I can try to implement it before launch. Doesn't sound feasible so far.

Is there any other way, outside of the zone system to deny a purchase by location?

Yes, that would be the way I envisioned it. Is there anyplace where it explains how that would work? A tutorial, checklist or anything like that?

Basically the idea is to make it impossible for a registered user to checkout if their address is in the blackout zone, but aside being able to create the zip code range for areas like Las Vegas, Reno, etc. I have no idea how to then restrict the checkout for members from the restricted areas.

Hi,

You just have to create shipping methods for allowed zip codes. If the customer address is in the blackout zone, no shipping methods will be displayed and he will not be able to checkout.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, another thing I am trying to do is get rid of the shipping step, since there is nothing to ship. Customers are buying access to a cable TV event. So one of the questions I need answered would be how to eliminate the shipping step without blocking checkout. I already removed shipping from the checkout steps, but I haven't had a chance to test it yet.

Wpould there be a way to associate a different price for those zones, where the price would be $0? In that case, even if they purchased the event, at $0 it would be a clear flag that they were not allowed to receive permission.

With the system we are building, there are human actions necessary through the process. After registration customers have to be put in their "occupancy" group manually (We need to make sure they are not cheating) and then they'll be able to purchase an event. After purchase, their names are entered manually and assigned to their cable or satellite company, and the eligibility is checked at that point as far as the blackout zone.
Automating this would basically save us from having to issue refunds.

Hi,

You have to let the shipping step in the checkout, by this way the system will checked if the customer is in the blackout zone or not.
In Configuration > Checkout > Payment & Shipping, enable the option to automatically select the shipping and payment methods. Then with some css you can hide the shipping part.

The customer will not see anything related on the shipping, and the check will be made. If he's in the blackout zone, an error message will be displayed, you can change this message with a translation override to say something like "your are in the blackout zone, ...".
www.hikashop.com/support/faq.html#tran

EDIT: Since HikaShop 2.2.0, you can restrict the payment methods to a zone, so you just have to create many payment methods the same way than the shipping methods. And remove the shipping step in the checkout.