Creating a receipt and webhook notification with Commerce.js

This guide explains how to create a receipt page along with using webhooks provided by Commerce.js and the Chec Dashboard.

Live demo for this Guide: "Creating a receipt and webhook notification"

****** Note ******

This guide is using v2 of the SDK
The Live Demo is best viewed on Desktop (responsiveness limited)
This is a continuation of a previous guide - Single page checkout

Overview

After we capture a checkout and processed the payment, we now want to provide some confirmation of purchase to the customer. Thankfully the Commerce.js SDK (post capture) provides all the data needed in order to curate a 'receipt' or conformation page. We will be using that data to display to the customer some of the order details and shipping info. Lastly we will incorporate webhooks provided by Commerce.js via the Chec Dashboard to help send a Slack notification that a new order has been placed! Let's get started ...

This guide will cover:

Saving receipt info to local storage
Retrieving receipt data for display
Add private route & removing data from local storage
Setup URL to receive webhook payload
Add webhook in Chec Dashboard
Send notification message to Slack channel

Requirements/Prerequisites

IDE of your choice (code editor)
npm (npm comes installed with NodeJS) or yarn
Some knowledge of Javascript & React
Some knowledge of webhooks
Bonus - Using React Hooks - specifically useState()
Bonus - React Router
Bonus - Node/Express
Bonus - Slack API - webhooks
Bonus - familiarity with the framework Semantic UI (react) library

Getting Started

STEP 1. Saving Receipt Info to Local Storage:

Because certain data that is saved after a successfully checkout is private - Commerce.js requires the use of your secret API key in order to fetch that data. If you recall - anytime you utilizes a SDK helper function, you're actually using a public key.

This guide will cover saving that data post capture to local storage, and then retrieving it later in my <CheckoutComplete /> component. Alternatively if you don't like saving data in local storage (important to remember you must ALWAYS remove from local storage) - you could make an api call using your secret key to this endpoint:

v1/orders/{order_id}

But for simplicity and remembering to remove the data from the browser, we will proceed with the stated method - let's take a look at the response from capturing a checkout:

As you can see this entire response is essentially the cutomer receipt. Inside the then() function connected to our commerce.checkout.capture() - we can save this data to local storage:

// *** CheckoutForm.js ***
commerce.checkout.capture(props.tokenId, final)
    .then(res => {
            props.setReceipt(res)
            localStorage.removeItem('cart-id')
            localStorage.setItem('receipt', JSON.stringify(res))
            history.push(`/order-complete/${props.tokenId}/${res.id}`)
            setProcessing(false)
    })

*** Note *** You must stringify the response object when adding to local storage

localStorage.setItem('receipt', JSON.stringify(res))

A quick recap of what's happening post capture:

props.setReceipt(res) triggers a call on the homepage to update cart info
localStorage.removeItem('cart-id') removes cart-id for routing logic
localStorage.removeItem('cart-id') new - adding receipt data to local storage
history.push(`/order-complete/${props.tokenId}/${res.id}`) routing the customer to the conformation page
setProcessing(false) logic trigger for displaying cart icon

Checking Local Storage for data

Now that you've added the data to local storage, let's check to make sure it is there. Go to your browser and inspect your page. The inspect window will have tabs and you should locate the Application tab. From there you will see a Local Storage dropdown with a specific domain. Click the domain and you will see a list of all objects stored in local storage:

Confirm that local storage has the proper information with the key set to 'receipt'. It is important to note this data will always be stored in the browser's local storage until it is either manual deleted or removed in code (we''ll cover this later 🧐). You can now access this data anywhere in my app! Let's see about retrieving ...

Step 2. Retrieving Receipt Data for Display

Accessing the data in local storage is as straightforward as putting it in local storage. You just use localStorage.getItem() and pass it a key:

// *** CheckoutComplete.js ***
const receipt = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('receipt'))

Just as you needed to stringify previsouly - you also must use JSON.parse() in order to get the data into a format needed for utilization. You can log the 'receipt' variable and you will see it's identical to the response we logged post capture.

The `<CheckoutComplete />` component

It is time to update the <CheckoutComplete /> component with all the useful data a customer would like to see after completing a purchase. Now that you have a variable that contains everything, let's initialize state with the new data:

// *** CheckoutComplete.js ***

// Parsing local storage data
const receipt = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('receipt'))

// Initializing state with our local storage data
const [customerReceipt, setCustomerReceipt] = useState(receipt)

Once initialized, you can now use the state object to render whichever customer data you choose. Again this portion is completely up to you, but here's an example of some of the data one can show:

// *** CheckoutComplete.js ***
return (
<>
    <Segment className='order-complete'>
        <div>
            <h1>Your order <span>{customerReceipt.customer_reference}</span> is complete!</h1>
            <p>
                Thanks for shopping at Seities Apparel - we sent an email to <span>{customerReceipt.customer.email}</span> with your full receipt. Please check spam if the email has not arrived within 5 minutes. 
            </p>
            <Divider className='divide'/>
            <section>
                {customerReceipt.order.line_items.map(item => (
                    <Container className='item-data-container' key={item.id}>
                        <CheckoutItems item={item}/>
                    </Container>
                ))}
            </section>
            <Header size='small'>
                Shipping: {customerReceipt.order.shipping.price.formatted_with_symbol}
            </Header> 
            <Header>
                Total: {customerReceipt.order.total.formatted_with_symbol}
            </Header> 
            <Divider className='divide' horizontal>Shipping To</Divider>       
            <Segment>
                {customerReceipt.shipping.name}  <br />
                {customerReceipt.shipping.street}  <br />
                {customerReceipt.shipping.street_2 && (
                    <>
                    {customerReceipt.shipping.street_2}
                    <br />
                    </>
                )}  
                {customerReceipt.shipping.town_city}, {customerReceipt.shipping.county_state} {customerReceipt.shipping.postal_zip_code}  <br />
                {customerReceipt.shipping.country} 
            </Segment>
            <Link to='/'>
                <Button secondary size='large' onClick={removeReceipt}>Shop Again</Button>
            </Link>
        </div>
        <Image src={img} size='medium' />
    </Segment>
</>
);

As you can see, this portion is all about taking the data given and displaying it however you see fit.

Step. 3 Add Private Route & Removing Data from Local Storage

We've completed the component that will display information for the customer - now what 🤷!? You want this information displayed as long as the customer hasn't navigated away - either by pressing back or clicking shop again button.

Once the customer navigates away, they should NOT be able to return and still render the receipt info.

Private Route for the `<CheckoutComplete />` component

In order to achieve this you will need to setup a private route to the <CheckoutComplete /> component that only renders if the 'receipt' object is stored in local storage:

// *** PrivateRouteReceipt.js ***
const PrivateRoute = ({ component: Component, ...rest }) => {
	
	return <Route {...rest} render={(props) => {

		if(localStorage.getItem('receipt')) {
			return <Component {...props} {...rest}/>
		}
		
		else {
			return <Redirect to="/" />
		}

	}} />
}

This function checks to see if 'receipt' exist in local storage - if true, the function will return the <CheckoutComplete /> component; if false the customer will be redirected to home (to="/").

Let's add this private route to our <CheckoutComplete /> component:

// *** App.js ***
<PrivateRouteReceipt 
    component={CheckoutComplete}
    path={`/order-complete/:checkoutToken/:orderId`}
    setCheckout={setCheckout} 
/>

Removing from local storage

The last step is to actually remove the data from local storage. As mentioned, once the customer navigates from the page, they should not be able to navigate back again.

One obvious place to remove data from local storage is when shop again button is clicked. Create a function that does this:

<Link to='/'>
    <Button secondary size='large' onClick={removeReceipt}>Shop Again</Button>
</Link>

const removeReceipt = () => {
    localStorage.removeItem('receipt')
}

Once clicked, removeReceipt() will delete the key 'receipt' from local storage. Because of the private route created, the customer will not be able to navigate back to the conformation page.

Now - let's access what happens when a customer presses back. The previous page is the checkout page which displays cart info and a form to capture a checkout. You should already have another private route setup to check if the 'cart-id' key is in local storage - if false the customer will NOT be able to view the checkout page (because that cart has already been emptied based on a successfully capture) and will be routed home.

You now need to remove the 'receipt' object (from local storage) whenever the <ProductContainer /> component is loaded. Whenever the <ProductContainer /> component is rendered (which is essentially our home page), there should NEVER be a 'receipt' object in local storage. You can simply add the removal in the useEffect() to always delete the desired key upon every render:

// *** ProductContainer.js ***
useEffect(() => {
    commerce.products.list()
        .then(res => {
        setProducts(res.data)
        })
        .catch(err => console.log(err))

        props.setCheckout(false)
        localStorage.removeItem('receipt') //Added to remove key from LS
},[])

These actions ensure the customer will ONLY have access to the receipt info UNTIL they navigate elsewhere. Okie dokie! That pretty much sums up handling the receipt info along with proper navigation/routing logic. The next steps pertain to setting up and configuring webhooks 😎.

*** Note *** In order to proceed, you will need to have some knowledge about setting up a server along with handling http request.

Step 4. Setup URL to Receive Webhook Payload

Commerce.js has recently added webhook functionality within the Chec Dashboard. This means as a developer you can select among many actions/events that when triggered will send specific data associated with that event to a specified URL. Some actions include:

When a checkout capture occurs
Whenever an order gets fulfilled
Once a new product is created

As you can see there are many different webhook events you can choose from. This is very beneficial in that you don't have to ping an endpoint or use the SDK to see about certain data changes. Once configured, your server will automatically get a notification (a http post request) whenever an event takes place. In this example we will be configuring a webhook event for whenever an order is captured.

Setting up your endpoint

As mentioned previously, you can setup your server using the technology of your choice - We are choosing to setup a popup server using Node.js:

// *** index.js ***
const server = require('./server.js');

const PORT = process.env.PORT || 7500;

server.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`Listening on port ${PORT}...`);
});

Further, once your server is setup, you will be using express to handle http requests. For the purposes of this example, we only need to create one endpoint that accepts a POST request:

// *** server.js ***
server.post('/new-order', (req, res) => {

    // Just logging the body of the request
    console.log(req.body, 'data from webhook call')

    // Sending a 200 to show success
    res.status(200).json({message: "success"})
        
})

For the moment, this is all that needs to be done. In the next step you will configure the webhook in the Chec Dashboard with the newly created URL - myserver.com/new-order

Step 5. Add Webhook in Chec Dashboard

Now that your endpoint is setup and you are logging the req.body (in order to see what's coming through), you need to add that URL and configure the webhook from the Chec Dashboard. Navigate to Setup and click the Webhooks tab. Once you're in the webhooks menu, click + ADD WEBHOOK button:

Finish the process by clicking Add webhook. Let's start off by sending a test to my server endpoint. If you recall we're logging the req.body so if the test runs successfully, you can see the webhook payload (another word for data). Under options click View details:

You will see a button that says SEND TEST REQUEST. If configured properly you will see some data logged on your server:

Because we sent back a 200 status code, a green check mark will display if successful:

Capture an Order!

Remember, the ultimate goal is take some data that is sent to your server (whenever the webhook event is triggered) - then use the new data to send a notification to Slack. Before we proceed, let's look at the payload whenever the webhook event is triggered. All you have to do is capture an order and see the data that gets logged in my server ...

With further investigation you'll notice this looks a lot like the response returned whenever an order is captured using the SDK helper function! We should take a step back and look at the big picture. Because of this webhook provided by Commerce.js - whenever an order is captured the system will send that receipt data to the specified URL. On the server side all you have to do is take that data and perform whatever task needed 🤓.

Step 6. Send Notification Message to Slack Channel

Now that you have the necessary data to compile a notification - you need to decide what to send to Slack. You don't need everything; but just some important data that you would like to be notified about in the event an order has been captured:

reference_id
name
email
country
'#' of items ordered
order amount

Next, deconstuct to get the data needed:

// *** server.js ***

let { customer_reference, customer, shipping, order } = req.body.payload

Creating the Slack App & Incoming webhook

In the spirit of webhooks - Slack has the ability to add incoming webhooks in order to post messages in a particular Slack workspace. To achieve this, you MUST create a Slack App and give the specified Slack workspace access to the app. Here is a step by step!

For testing we created a brand new Slack workspace and gave the proper access to my Slack App "New Order".

You can now add an incoming webhook via Slack that will generate an URL. This endpoint when sent a POST request with message data in the body will automatically post the message in the configured channel. Set this incoming webhook to post in an #ecommerce channel created in my FTT Slack workspace.

Formatting the Slack message

The Slack API has many ways to format a message and you can find those HERE. You will be using blocks and creating an object that will be sent in a POST request:

// *** server.js ***
let newOrderMessage = {
    "blocks": [
        {
            "type": "divider"
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": "*You have a new order!* :fire:"
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": "_Here's some of the order details below:_"
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": `*ref #:* ${customer_reference}`
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": `*name:* ${shipping.name}`
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": `*email:* ${customer.email}`
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": `*country:* ${shipping.country}`
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": `*total items ordered:* ${order.line_items.length}`
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
                "type": "mrkdwn",
                "text": `*amount:* ${order.total.formatted_with_symbol}`
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "divider"
        }
    ]
}

As you can see we simply added the necessary data from the req.body to the newOrderMessage object. This object will be sent in the body to the Slack incoming webhook URL provided in developer settings.

Sending message to Slack

The last step is to make an API call to the provided incoming webhook URL along with the message details.

// *** server.js ***
axios.post(process.env.SLACK_WEBHOOK, newOrderMessage)
    .then(res2 => {
        res.status(200).json({message: "success"})
    })
    .catch(err => {
        res.status(400).json({message: err.response.statusText})
    })

If everything is configured properly whenever an order is captured, you will get a Slack notification in the proper Slack channel!

Conclusion

Hopefully you can now see the power of using webhooks. Once setup, you can automate a lot of tasks or other actions more efficiently. Commerce.js suite of webhooks will be very helpful in the building of your eCommerce website. Instead of relying on one source to confirm a new order, Commerce.js can now send that same 'receipt' data to another server instantly. You can use this data to send out custom emails or save it to your personal database - Slack notifications are only the beginning. Here's a final recap!

Added receipt info (response from order capture) and set to local storage
Used the local storage data to create conformation page for customer
Added a private route and setup logic so customer can't navigate back to receipt page
Setup the server and configured endpoint for Commerce.js webhook
Added webhook in Chec Dashboard and set URL to my configured endpoint
Parsed payload from Commerce.js webhook and made API call to Slack's incoming webhook URL

This guide is a continuation of a previous guide:

Single page checkout - A step by step showing the process to capture an order.

LIVE DEMO

Built With

React.Js
Semantic-UI
Commerce.js (SDK)
Node/Express

Authors

Joseph Garcia - Github

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README.md

README.md

Creating a receipt and webhook notification with Commerce.js

Overview

This guide will cover:

Requirements/Prerequisites

Getting Started

STEP 1. Saving Receipt Info to Local Storage:

Checking Local Storage for data

Step 2. Retrieving Receipt Data for Display

The `<CheckoutComplete />` component

Step. 3 Add Private Route & Removing Data from Local Storage

Private Route for the `<CheckoutComplete />` component

Removing from local storage

Step 4. Setup URL to Receive Webhook Payload

Setting up your endpoint

Step 5. Add Webhook in Chec Dashboard

Capture an Order!

Step 6. Send Notification Message to Slack Channel

Creating the Slack App & Incoming webhook

Formatting the Slack message

Sending message to Slack

Conclusion

Built With

Authors

Files

README.md

Latest commit

History

README.md

File metadata and controls

Creating a receipt and webhook notification with Commerce.js

Overview

This guide will cover:

Requirements/Prerequisites

Getting Started

STEP 1. Saving Receipt Info to Local Storage:

Checking Local Storage for data

Step 2. Retrieving Receipt Data for Display

The <CheckoutComplete /> component

Step. 3 Add Private Route & Removing Data from Local Storage

Private Route for the <CheckoutComplete /> component

Removing from local storage

Step 4. Setup URL to Receive Webhook Payload

Setting up your endpoint

Step 5. Add Webhook in Chec Dashboard

Capture an Order!

Step 6. Send Notification Message to Slack Channel

Creating the Slack App & Incoming webhook

Formatting the Slack message

Sending message to Slack

Conclusion

Built With

Authors

The `<CheckoutComplete />` component

Private Route for the `<CheckoutComplete />` component