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Downloadable Product

This site contains archived merchant documentation for a version of Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source that has reached end-of-support. The documentation available here is intended for historical reference only and is not maintained. The Adobe Commerce Merchant Documentation for current releases is published on the Adobe Experience League.

A downloadable product can be anything that you can deliver as a file, such as an eBook, music, video, software application, or update. You can offer an album for sale and sell each song individually. You can also use a downloadable product to deliver an electronic version of your product catalog.

Because the actual download is not available until after the purchase, you can provide samples, such as an excerpt from a book, a clip from an audio file, or a trailer from a video that the customer can try before purchasing the product. The files that you make available for download can be either uploaded to your server or from a different server.

Downloadable Product

Downloadable products can be configured to require that the customer log in to an account to receive the link or can be sent by email and shared with others. The status of the order before the download becomes available, default values, and other delivery options are set in the configuration. Fore more information, see Download Options.

The following instructions demonstrate the process of creating a downloadable product using a product template, required fields, and basic settings. Each required field is marked with a red asterisk (*). When you finish the basics, you can complete the advanced settings and other settings as needed.

Downloadable file names can include letters and numbers. Either a dash or underscore character can be used to represent a space between words. Any invalid characters in the file name are replaced with an underscore.

Step 1: Choose the product type

  1. On the Admin sidebar, go to Catalog > Products.

  2. On the Add Product (  ) menu at the upper-right corner, choose Downloadable Product.

    Add Downloadable Product

Step 2: Choose the attribute set

The sample data includes an attribute set called Downloadable that has special fields for downloadable products. You can use an existing template or create another before the product is saved.

To choose the attribute set that is used as a template for the product, do one of the following:

  • For Search, enter the name of the attribute set.

  • In the list, choose the Downloadable attribute set.

The form is updated to reflect the change.

Choose Attribute Set

Step 3: Complete the required settings

  1. Enter the Product Name.

  2. Accept the default SKU that is based on the product name or enter another.

  3. Enter the product Price.

  4. Because the product is not yet ready to publish, set Enable Product to No.

  5. Click Save and continue.

    When the product is saved, the Store View chooser appears in the upper-left corner.

  6. Choose the Store View where the product is to be available.

    Choose Store View

Step 4: Complete the basic settings

  1. Set Tax Class to one of the following:

    • None
    • Taxable Goods

  2. Enter the Quantity of the product that is currently in stock.

    Take note of the following:

    • By default, Stock Status is set to Out of Stock.

    • Because downloadable products are not shipped, the Weight field is not used.

    Inventory Management: If you enable Inventory Management, Single Source merchants set the quantity in this section. Multi Source merchants add sources and quantities in the Sources section. See the following Assign Sources and Quantities (Inventory Management) section.

  3. Accept the default Visibility setting of Catalog, Search.

  4. To feature the product in the list of new products, select the Set Product as New checkbox.

  5. To assign Categories to the product, click the Select… box and do either of the following:

    • Choose an existing category:

      • Start typing in the box to find a match.

      • Select the checkbox of each category that is to be assigned.

    • Create a new category:

      • Click New Category.

      • Enter the Category Name and choose the Parent Category to determine its position in the menu structure.

      • Click Create Category.

  6. Set Format to one of the following:

    • Download
    • DVD

    If necessary, you can edit the attribute to add more values.

    Product Details

    There might be additional attributes that describe the product. The selection varies by attribute set and you can complete them later.

Assign Sources and Quantities (Inventory Management)

For Multi Source merchants using Inventory Management, scroll down to the Sources section and assign sources and quantities:

  1. To add a source, click Assign Sources. The Assign Sources page displays.

  2. Browse or search for a source you want to add. Select the checkbox next to the source(s) you want to add for the product.

    Assign sources to the product

  3. Click Done to add the sources.

  4. To change settings and quantities per assigned source, do the following:

    • Set Source Item Status to In Stock.

    • Enter an amount update the Qty for on-hand stock.

    • To set a notification for inventory quantities, do one of the following:

    Custom Notify Quantity Clear the Notify Quantity Use Default checkbox and enter an amount in Notify Quantity.
    Default Notify Quantity Select the Notify Quantity Use Default checkbox. Magento checks and uses the setting in Advanced Inventory or global Store configuration.

    Update Product Quantities per Source

Step 5: Complete the downloadable information

Scroll down, expand the Downloadable Information section, and select the Is this downloadable product? checkbox.

The Downloadable Information section has two parts. The first part describes each download link, and the second part describes each sample file. The default value for many of these options can be set in the configuration.

Downloadable Information

  1. In the Links section, enter the Title that you want to use as a heading for the download links.

  2. If applicable, select the Links can be purchased separately checkbox.

  3. Click Add Link and do the following:

    • Enter the Title and Price of the download.

    • For both File and Sample files, choose one of the following methods of distribution for the downloads:

      Upload File Choose this method to upload the the distribution file to the server. Browse to the file and select it for upload.
      URL Choose this method to access the distribution file from a URL. Enter the full URL to the download file.

    • Set Shareable to one of the following:

      No Requires customers to log in to their accounts to access the download link.
      Yes Sends the link by email, which customers can share with others.
      Use Config Uses the method that is specified in the Dowloadable Product Options configuration.

    • Do one of the following:

      • To limit downloads per customer, enter the number of Max. Downloads.
      • To allow unlimited downloads, select the Unlimited checkbox.

    Link Detail

  4. To add another link, click Add Link and repeat these steps.

Complete the samples

  1. In the Samples section, enter the Title that you want to use as a heading for the samples.

  2. To complete the information for each sample, click Add Link.

    Samples

  3. Complete the link detail as follows:

    • Enter the Title of the individual sample.

    • Choose one of the following distribution methods:

      Upload File Choose this method to upload the the distribution file to the server. Browse to the file and select it for upload.
      URL Choose this method to access the distribution file from a URL. Enter the full URL to the download file.

    • To add another sample, click Add Link and repeat these steps.

    • To change the order of the samples, grab the Change Order (  ) icon and drag the sample to a new position.

Step 6: Complete the product information

Scroll down and complete the information in the following sections as needed:

Step 7: Publish the product

If you are ready to publish the product in the catalog, set Enable Product to Yes and do one of the following:

  • Method 1: Save and Preview

    • In the upper-right corner, click Save.

    • To view the product in your store, choose Customer View on the Admin (  ) menu.

    The store opens in a new browser tab.

    Customer View

  • Method 2: Save and Close

    On the Save (  ) menu, choose Save & Close.

    Save & Close

Things to remember

  • Downloadable products can be uploaded to the server or linked to from another server on the Internet.

  • You can determine the number of times a customer can download a product.

  • Customers who purchase a downloadable product can be required to log in before going through checkout.

  • The delivery of a downloadable product can be made when the order is in either a Pending or Invoiced status.

  • Because downloadable products are not shipped, the Shipping step of the checkout is skipped when the cart contains only the downloadable product.

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