How to Hide Cash on Delivery for Specific Products in Shopify | Shopify Tutorial

Shopify is a highly versatile platform, allowing store owners to customize nearly every aspect of their e-commerce experience. One common customization that merchants often need is the ability to control payment methods based on the products in a customer’s cart. Specifically, some merchants may want to hide the “Cash on Delivery” (COD) option for certain products. In this Shopify tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to hide the Cash on Delivery option for specific products using Shopify’s powerful customization tools. This guide is particularly useful for developers and store owners who want to enhance their Shopify checkout experience with custom code.

Why Hide Cash on Delivery for Specific Products?

Cash on Delivery (COD) is a popular payment option, especially in regions where credit card usage is low or customers prefer paying upon receipt of goods. However, there are scenarios where offering COD might not be suitable for all products. For example:

  • High-Value Items: For expensive products, merchants might prefer not to offer COD due to the higher risk of returns or fraud.
  • Perishable Goods: Items with a short shelf life may require upfront payment to ensure that the purchase is genuine.
  • Digital Products: Since digital products are delivered instantly, COD doesn’t make sense and could lead to complications.

By hiding the COD option for these specific products, you can protect your business from unnecessary risks while still offering COD for other items.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the customization process, ensure you have the following:

  1. A Shopify Store: You’ll need a Shopify store where you can implement and test these customizations.
  2. Basic Knowledge of Shopify Development: Familiarity with Shopify’s Liquid templating language, product tags, and basic coding principles will be helpful.
  3. Shopify Functions or Shopify Plus: This tutorial may involve using Shopify Functions or Shopify Plus features for advanced checkout customizations.

Step 1: Tagging Products for COD Exclusion

The first step in this process is to identify the products for which you want to hide the Cash on Delivery option. We’ll use product tags in Shopify to manage these products.

  1. Log into Your Shopify Admin: Start by logging into your Shopify admin dashboard.
  2. Navigate to Products: Go to the “Products” section from the left-hand menu.
  3. Select a Product: Choose the product for which you want to disable COD.
  4. Add a Product Tag: In the product details page, look for the “Tags” section. Here, you can add a custom tag like no-cod. This tag will help us identify the products that should not offer the COD payment option.
  5. Save the Product: After adding the tag, make sure to save the product.

Repeat these steps for all products where you want to hide the Cash on Delivery option.

Step 2: Creating a Shopify Function to Hide COD

Now that you’ve tagged the relevant products, the next step is to create a Shopify Function that will hide the Cash on Delivery option at checkout when these products are in the cart.

  1. Access Your Theme Code: Go to “Online Store” > “Themes” in your Shopify admin. Click on “Actions” next to your live theme and select “Edit code.”
  2. Create a New Script: In the “Assets” folder, create a new file and name it something like hide-cod.js.
  3. Write the JavaScript Code: In this new file, you’ll write a script that checks the products in the cart and hides the COD option if any product has the no-cod tag.
javascriptCopy codedocument.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
    // Check if the checkout page is loaded
    if (window.location.pathname === '/checkout') {
        // Fetch cart items
        fetch('/cart.js')
            .then(response => response.json())
            .then(data => {
                let hideCOD = false;

                // Loop through cart items to check for the 'no-cod' tag
                data.items.forEach(item => {
                    if (item.tags.includes('no-cod')) {
                        hideCOD = true;
                    }
                });

                // Hide the COD option if necessary
                if (hideCOD) {
                    const codOption = document.querySelector('input[value="cash_on_delivery"]');
                    if (codOption) {
                        codOption.parentElement.style.display = 'none';
                    }
                }
            });
    }
});

This script does the following:

  • It waits for the checkout page to load.
  • It fetches the cart data from Shopify.
  • It loops through the cart items and checks for the no-cod tag.
  • If any product in the cart has this tag, the script hides the Cash on Delivery payment option.
  1. Include the Script in the Theme: To ensure the script runs on the checkout page, include it in your theme’s layout file. Go to the layout/theme.liquid file and add the following line before the closing </body> tag:
liquidCopy code{{ 'hide-cod.js' | asset_url | script_tag }}
  1. Save Your Changes: Save all changes to your theme files.

Step 3: Testing the Checkout Customization

After implementing the code, it’s crucial to test the changes to ensure everything works as expected.

  1. Add a Tagged Product to Your Cart: Go to your storefront and add a product tagged with no-cod to your cart.
  2. Proceed to Checkout: Go through the checkout process until you reach the payment options page.
  3. Verify the COD Option Is Hidden: Check that the Cash on Delivery option does not appear when a product tagged with no-cod is in the cart.
  4. Test with Other Products: To ensure your script is functioning correctly, test the checkout with products that are not tagged. The COD option should still be available in this case.

Step 4: Refining the Customization

Depending on your needs, you may want to refine or expand this customization:

  • Multiple Conditions: Modify the script to hide COD based on multiple tags or other product attributes.
  • Conditional Messaging: Add custom messages on the checkout page to inform customers why COD is not available for certain products.
  • Shopify Plus Checkout Customization: If you’re using Shopify Plus, you can use Shopify Scripts to achieve similar results with more advanced logic and integrations.

Advanced Tips for Shopify Checkout Customization

For developers and merchants looking to take their Shopify customizations further, consider the following advanced tips:

  • Shopify Functions: Explore using Shopify Functions for more complex customizations that require server-side logic.
  • Shopify API: Leverage the Shopify API to create dynamic checkout experiences that adapt based on customer behavior or product attributes.
  • Custom Shopify Apps: If you have unique requirements, consider developing a custom Shopify app to manage payment options and other checkout functionalities.
  • Shopify Tags: Use Shopify tags creatively to manage a wide range of conditions, from payment options to shipping methods.

Conclusion

Hiding the Cash on Delivery option for specific products in Shopify is a practical customization that can enhance your store’s checkout process and help you manage risk effectively. By following this Shopify tutorial, you’ve learned how to use product tags and custom JavaScript to control payment methods during checkout. Whether you’re a Shopify developer or a store owner, this guide provides a solid foundation for further customization and optimization of your Shopify store.

As you continue to explore Shopify development, remember that the platform offers a wide range of tools and resources to help you build the perfect e-commerce experience for your customers. From Shopify Functions to advanced API integrations, the possibilities for customization are virtually limitless.

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