Tip #7 : Integrating online forms with Zoho Subscriptions

Tip #7 : Integrating online forms with Zoho Subscriptions

Hello everyone,

We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions. This week, we will be looking at how you can integrate online forms with Zoho Subscriptions.

Business Scenario:

In many subscription box businesses, their primary need is to personalize the subscription box according to their customer's preferences. In such cases, businesses will collect their customers' preferences before they check out.

Usually, businesses use online form building applications to collect customers' preferences. These applications offer customization options which helps businesses to design the form so that it's easier for customers to select their preferences. The forms usually contain a series of questions with multiple choices.

Typically, when customers want to subscribe to a box, they select the box, choose their preferences and the business will redirect them to the payment page. Here, they pay and a subscription will be initiated for them.

In Zoho Subscriptions, we provide the Hosted Payment Page to collect the customer's payment information securely which can be used as the checkout page. However, in this scenario we're looking at today, the business would ideally want to integrate the form building application with Zoho Subscriptions to save customers' preferences along with the subscription details.

Let's consider the following scenario to understand this better. Zylker Beauty runs a subscription box business that ships personalized makeup and beauty products every month. They use a third-party online form builder to collect the customers' preferences like the color of their eyes, hair etc. This helps the business to find the right products for their customers.

After the customers select their preferences, Zylker Beauty uses Zoho Subscriptions' Hosted Page to check them out and start their subscription. However, they need their customers' preferences to be saved along with the corresponding subscription details in Zoho Subscriptions.

To implement this process, we use the API Hosted Page which saves customers' preferences and generates a customized payment URL. The customized payment URL will reflect the customer's preferences. This way, the business can use the form builder application to customize the form and integrate it with Zoho Subscriptions at the same time.

How can you do it?

 For our explanation today, we will be using JotForm as the form builder. You can view the form that we've built to address the above scenario. JotForm lets you send the submitted date (customer's preferences) via a HTTP POST method. All you have to do is:
  1. process the submitted data;
  2. send it to Zoho Subscriptions server; and
  3. redirect the customer to the customized Hosted Payment Page.
In Zoho Subscriptions, we will create Custom Fields for the Subscriptions module to save the customer's preferences and map those preferences to the custom fields. You have to write a script to send an API call to Zoho Subscriptions server with all the data obtained from the form and retrieve the customized hosted payment page URL. Later, you can load this URL for your customers to check out.

There are two ways in which you can do this;

1. Create a custom PHP page:

You can create  your PHP script and deploy it in your server to process the submitted date. Access the code in GitHub.
  • Create a PHP web page using your text editor.
  • For the above example, you can copy-paste the code available in GitHub.
  • Modify the code based on your requirement.
  • Save the file with extension .php.
  • Deploy it in your website and configure the correct URL in the JotForm's Thank You page.
2. Use Google Cloud Function:

If you cannot host a PHP script in your website, don't worry. Google Cloud Functions can act as your script that processes the submitted data.

You can invoke the cloud functions with HTTP requests and configure them to meet our need. Learn more about cloud functions and get started. Once you complete the initial setup and enable the Cloud Functions API, follow the steps below:

  • Visit Google Cloud Functions and click the Create Function button at the top.
  • Provide a suitable name for the function and select the Trigger as HTTP.
  • The source code would be written in the Inline Editor with Node.js 6 runtime environment. So, configure them accordingly.
  • Next, copy the code from GitHub and modify it to suit your needs.
  • Create the function and configure the HTTP trigger URL in the JotForm's Thank You page.
Once the Thank You page of JotForm is successfully configured to redirect to one of the above URLs, the script will be executed successfully and your customers will be redirected to the hosted payment page to check out.

For further clarification, you can checkout this  video to understand this integration. 

Found this useful? Try it our for your subscriptions business and let us know. If you have any queries, feel free to comment below. We are here to answer them.

Cheers,
Sasidaran K,
Zoho Subscriptions.



      • Sticky Posts

      • Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business

        Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. Customers

      • Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

        Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's

      • Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

        Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can

      • Tips And Tricks - Announcement

        Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,

      • Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions

        Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information

        • Recent Topics

        • Send Whatsapp with API including custom placeholders

          Is is possible to initiate a session on whatsapp IM channel with a template that includes params (placeholders) that are passed on the API call? This is very usefull to send a Utility message for a transactional notification including an order number

        • Zoho Sheets not compatible with Excel/Google Sheets

          In order to share a copy of a Zoho sheet with someone that does not use Zoho, it must be downloaded as MS Excel format and then added to an email.  This is a labor intensive, and frankly confusing process.  I have forgotten to do this before, only to

        • Zoho One not working

          I'm having several issues accessing Zoho One. Some pages don't load (for example, Zoho Directory) and the labels are all messed-up (oz.account.directory.display.shorname, oz.settings...., etc.)

        • If I turn off the Task Prefix & ID in the Portal Configuration section, will it remove the dependencies in my projects?

          Hi all, basically the title, I am new to zoho projects and trying to get my head around some basic principles. Unfortunately I have not found this information via the search option and after deleting yesterday some Phases I had created in the Phases tab,

        • Add Ability to Designate Decision Branches as "Error Branches"

          Zoho Flow gives the ability to track down, troubleshoot, and fix errors with the Status and Filter dropdowns in the History tab. This works well for when a "normal" Flow action registers with an error. However, there are other times where it would be

        • Explication sur comment mettre en place des règles d'affichage ou "layout Rules"

          J'ai passé plus d'une heure hier avec le support et je n'ai rien compris !! Je suis lecteur assidu des guides (je "RTFM") qui ne sont absolument pas orienté "client" chez Zoho, et je tiens à le rappeler ici . Dans la documentation on m'indique un cas

        • Visitors sending message via Whatsapp are not saving on contacts

          Visitors who sends me messages from Whatsapp when i finish the chat do not populate on contacts, how can I add them as contacts?

        • ChatGPT only summarize in English

          Hello i' v enabled chatgpt in salesIQ, it works great inside conversation (revise, Rephrase etc) add tags works well with another language than English. But when I want to summarize it render only in English, despite sales IQ is set to another language.

        • Multiple Facebook Pages under Single Brand

          Hi everyone, I'd like to know if there is a possibility of connecting multiple Facebook pages under a single brand on Zoho? At the moment, there are different Facebook pages of a single brand and would want to keep under the same brand on Zoho as we

        • Brand with multiple facebooks pages

          HI, We are a small publisher that has different FaceBook pages for each of our product lines. All are within the same FB account.   Is it possible to add all of these pages to our one brand in zoho social so I orchestrate the posts between the different products?    Cheers, Joe

        • Connect multiple Facebook ad accounts to Zoho Social

          Hi there. I'm doing the Facebook Ads and Zoho Social integration to automate the leads that come from Potential Customer campaigns on Facebook to Zoho CRM. I have a company (1 fanpage, 1 brand), but within the business or brand on Facebook, I manage several

        • Modules are continuously loading

          Hi! We are not able to open the task modules, it keeps continuously loading

        • Pushing Data from One CRM account to another.

          We have business partners that want to collaborate through the CRM. Other than pre-planned data migrations what are the options for Zoho Users to transfer data between the accounts. For instance, could I create a webhook that is sent from our CRM and then is picked up in the partner's Flow?

        • How do I connect Sales IQ to Shopify

          How do I connect Sales IQ to Shopify.    

        • DORA compliance

          For DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) compliance, I’ll want to check if Zoho provides specific features or policies aligned with DORA requirements, particularly for managing ICT risk, incident reporting, and ensuring operational resilience in

        • Set up multiple IMAP email addresses

          Hi, I just started using CRM and its great, but I just found out I can only add one imap email address for incoming mail in the included salesinbox ...this is ridiculous. All companies have different email such as sales@domain, info@domain , personal@domain

        • Free user licenses across all Portal user types

          Greetings everyone, We're here with some exciting and extensive changes to the availability of free user licenses in CRM Portals. This update provides users with access to all Portal user types for free to help them diversify their user licenses and explore

        • Stock Count - Does it really work?

          We have been trying to use the new Zoho Inventory stock count feature. It seems great at first glance.. ..but what we can't get our heads around is if a count doesn't match you can't simply set up a recount of those that are unmatched, which just seems

        • Create Ticket from Chat with Rest API

          Hi to everyone, is possible to create a ticket from Chat with Rest API? In user interface is possible by clicking on the button "Convert chat as a ticket". Anyone know how to do that? Thanks

        • How to send binary data in invokeurl task?

          Hello, I am using Adobe's Protect PDF API. Source: https://developer.adobe.com/document-services/docs/overview/pdf-services-api/ Everything works fine in Postman. But for some reason after encrypting the file, it is empty after password protecting the

        • Address Grabber function for Zoho

          I converted from ACT to Zoho. With ACT, I used an add-on called AddressGrabber to scrape the contact information from leads that I buy and contact information contained on emails and websites and directly add it as a new lead or contact. Does anyone know

        • Set another Layout as Standard

          We created a few layouts and we want to set another one to standard:

        • Add blueprint buttons to listview and kanban

          Hello, just started to use the Blueprints feature - really useful. I have one suggestion to help this work even better - can there be transition buttons that appear on the top of listview & Kanban? Maybe an option as well - "Blueprint transitions appear

        • Zoho CRM search not working

          The search bar is not showing any results in our CRM installation. We have a lot of items and can not search them by using the navigation each time. Can someone please check this asap.

        • Zoho Payroll US?

          Good morning, just reaching out today to see if there's any timeline, or if there's progress being made to bring Zoho Payroll out to be available to all states within the USA. Currently we're going through testing with zoho, and are having issues when

        • How Can I Customize Sales Reports in Zoho CRM to Better Track Our Sales Team's Performance?

          Hello everyone, I'm new to using Zoho CRM and need some help with customizing our sales reports. We want to track our sales team's performance more effectively and visualize trends that can inform our strategy. What specific customizations or features

        • Marketing Automation : Adding to existing Lead Score

          I want to be able to add a score to an existing ZMA lead however I can't find the field in the "Fetch Lead" action that contains the existing score. There is an action for Add lead score, but that's not clear if it overwrites the existing value or adds

        • Items should display under specific warehouse

          I have configured the multi warehouse but it show all the items under all warehouse which is not correct according to our business logic, so i want that items should only display under that specific warehouse not under all the warehouses not even with zero quantity. Some items should be common but not all so is there any option for that purpose so i can specific the items to its warehouse. Regards

        • Package Dimensions

          Packages need to have dimensions that are sent to carriers in addition to just the weight. Without the package dimensions being transmitted to carriers, the correct dimensional weight is not calculated for the label price, which results in corrections

        • Theft Prevention Sensor Integration in Zoho Inventory

          Is there a way to integrate a theft prevention sensor with Zoho Inventory, so items cannot leave the store unless they've been scanned at checkout? Any insights or existing solutions would be greatly appreciated.

        • Zoho Workplace gets yet another security boost: The addition of Zoho Vault

          Hello Community, Passwords are often the first line of defense, yet they're also one of the most common weak points. We're thrilled to announce that Zoho Vault is now integrated with Zoho Workplace! Zoho Vault Standard is now included at no extra cost

        • Where is the customization and extendibility of zoho inventory?

          After delving into zoho one subscription to test out systems we need for our business, I'm really disappointed after working in Zoho Inventory. Its features and customizability are extremely lacking compared to the other tools like CRM. In our case we

        • Deleted message in SPAM

          In one of my gmail accounts (getnickifit@gmail.com) I had an email from PayPal in the SPAM folder. I thought I was moving the message to the inbox from the zoho mobile but it looks like it was deleted. It is no where to be found--inbox, trash, etc. Can it be restored?

        • "notes"-field in a task to full width?

          Hi, Is there someone that can tell me how to adjust the "notes"-field in a task, to full width? I already played around with 1 or 2 columns, but this has nu effect on the standard width. Thx in advance for your help. Cheers, Ralph.

        • Search function not working anymore

          Hi! The search function is not working anymore. How can we solve this problem?

        • How to download Job Sheets in Zoho FSM?

          Hello, I'd like to download copies of completed job sheets as PDF's for upload to a workdrive to keep an audit record of completed Job checkout sheets. I do not see download of this file type as an option - any help is appreciated!

        • Custom service report or Zoho forms integration

          Hello, So far the experience with Zoho FSM and the integration with Books has been good, however there are limitations with service reports. As with my business, many organisations send technicians to different types of jobs that call for a different

        • JOB Sheet can not send PDF as service rapports and more info needed other topic

          Goedendag, - Jullie hebben nu job sheet erin gedaan en dar is echt super goed, enkel kunnen we de werkbon ( JOB sheet) nu niet verzenden als PDF als een service rapport naar onze hoofdaannemer hoe we dat nu doen als bewijs van de levering van het werk

        • Dialing Microsoft Teams Phone Service via Zoho CRM

          I am using the VOIP option in Microsoft teams for my office phone system. I was hoping to have a way to dial numbers directly from Zoho CRM, but don't see anything in the Teams Integration or in the Telephony integration that will enable this. Does anyone

        • [Webinar] Zoho Writer for law firms and legal professionals

          Are manual processes slowing down your legal practice? Are you ready to simplify document management and free up more time for your team to focus on what truly matters? Join us on January 16, 2025, for an exclusive Zoho Writer webinar designed specifically

        • Next Page