Creating Digital Downloads

Digital Downloads let you sell downloadable products such as e-books, music, software, patterns and digital artwork directly from your store. There is no need to manually create zip files or edit your theme — you upload the files to a product, and Spiffy Stores delivers them to your customers automatically through a secure, expiring download link.

Overview

When a customer buys a product that has one or more digital download files attached, they receive an email containing a download link for each item they purchased. The link opens a page listing every file for that item, and each file is delivered individually.

Each downloadable file has its own download limit and expiry. By default a file can be downloaded 5 times and the link expires 120 hours (5 days) after purchase. Every download is recorded so you can see exactly what was downloaded, when, and from where.

Digital downloads are counted separately from your store's site storage. Your plan includes a download storage allowance, and files can be up to 5 GB each.

Requirements

• Digital Downloads must be enabled on your plan. If the feature is not included in your plan, the Digital Downloads section will not appear on the product page.
• The product must be published so that customers can purchase it.
• Files are stored outside your store's theme and are not counted against your site storage quota.

Adding Downloadable Files to a Product

1. Go to Products and open the product you want to sell as a download (or create a new one).
2. Scroll to the Digital Downloads section.
3. Click Upload New Digital Files. You can select one or more files at a time. Each file can be up to 5 GB.
4. Once the upload finishes, the file appears in the list of digital download files for the product.

The product is marked with a digital status label once it has at least one current downloadable file, so you can identify it at a glance in your product list.

Associating Files with Variations

By default a file applies to all variations of the product. If your product has options such as size or format, you can restrict a file to specific variations:

1. Click the Settings (gear) icon next to the file.
2. In the Variations field, choose the variation(s) the file applies to. Select All variations to make the file available with every variation.
3. Click Save.

Watermarking PDF Files

For PDF files only, you can apply a watermark so that each purchaser receives a copy stamped with their own details. This discourages illegal sharing of your files.

1. Click the Settings (gear) icon next to the PDF file.
2. Tick Enable watermarking.
3. Choose the Position — Header, Footer or Tiled.
4. Enter the Template text. The following variables are replaced for each purchaser:

  * {{name}} — the customer's name
  * {{email}} — the customer's email address
  * {{phone}} — the customer's phone number
  * {{order_number}} — the order number
  * {{date}} — the date of the download
  
  For example: *Do not distribute - Licensed to {{name}} ({{email}}) on {{date}}*

1. Adjust the Font Size (4 to 72 points), Opacity (0 to 100%) and Colour.
2. Click Save.

To see exactly what your customers will receive, click the Preview (eye) icon next to the file. PDF previews are shown with a sample watermark applied.

Retiring and Deleting Files

Digital download files are never replaced in place. When you want to stop selling a file, you retire it:

• A retired file is removed from sale and from every variation, but purchasers who already hold a valid download link keep access until that link expires.
• Once no valid download links remain, a retired file can be permanently deleted.

The actions available for each file are:

• Preview (eye icon) — view the file, with a sample watermark for PDFs.
• Settings (gear icon) — change the name, variations and watermark settings.
• Retire (archive icon) — remove the file from sale. If the file has never been sold, retiring it permanently deletes it.
• Delete (trash icon) — permanently delete the file and its stored data. If the file still has valid download links, deleting it will break those links.

The file list also shows the number of Sales (download links issued) and Downloads performed for each file.

How Customers Receive Their Downloads

When an order is paid, each downloadable file on the order is given its own download link. These are grouped per line item, so a customer who buys one item containing several files receives a single link that lists every file for that item.

The customer can reach their downloads in two ways:

• From the order confirmation email, or the dedicated Digital Downloads email if it is enabled.
• The link opens a page listing each file, its size and the number of downloads remaining.

Each file is tracked separately, so a customer can download one file without affecting the remaining allowance of another file in the same order.

Managing the Digital Downloads Email

The email sent to customers is fully customisable through the store's email template system.

1. Go to Design & Assets > Email Templates.
2. Find the Digital Downloads email template.
3. Click Reload Template Defaults to load a clean copy of the latest template.
4. Customise the subject line and HTML content, then tick Custom Templates are Enabled.
5. Click Save.

The template has access to the order, the customer, the shop and the list of download links, each with a name, URL, file count and expiry.

Viewing Download History

Every order that includes digital downloads shows a Digital Downloads section on the order page in your Toolbox. This lists each file in the order, along with:

• Its status — Active, Expired or Revoked.
• The number of downloads remaining.
• The link expiry date.
• The file size.

Below each file is a full download history showing the date and time of each download, the result (downloaded or failed), the IP address the download came from, and the browser and user agent used.

When an order is refunded, its download links are revoked automatically and can no longer be used.

Storage and Plan Limits

Download storage is separate from your site storage and is based on your plan. Where a display is shown, the product page indicates how much download storage you have used out of your allowance. If you need more, additional download storage can be purchased as an add-on.

Related Pages

• Products
• Selling Gift Cards
• Editing your email templates
• How to Use AI in your Spiffy Store