Parents can't purchase School Shop items

Parents and guardians might not be able to purchase School Shop items because they have been set up incorrectly. Follow the troubleshooting steps below to resolve this. 

Permissions

You'll need the Finance: Administer permission to make changes to the School Shop. If you don't have the permission, you'll need to ask your admin team to give you permission using these instructions.

Step 1 - Check the Parent Portal availability dates

If an item isn't marked as available, it won't be visible on the Parent Portal or Arbor App, and will appear in the Inactive Products tab in School > Payments > School Shop. Select the item, then click on Availability Dates.

Add Parent Portal Availability dates. The items will be available to purchase within these times.

Step 2 - Check the eligible students

If an item isn't available for a student, it won't be visible on the Parent Portal or Arbor App. Go to School > Payments > School Shop. Select the item, then click on Eligible Students.

Add more student groups, then click Save Changes.

Step 3 - Check the number of available items

Once all items have been sold, parents can no longer purchase the item through the Parent Portal and Arbor App, and school staff also cannot log an item as purchased.

Select the item, then click on Max. Number Available.

Increase this number if needed, then click Save Changes.

Step 4 - Check the Customer Account Type has been linked

If the School Shop doesn't have an account specified, the items won't be available to purchase.

This can also occur if you changed the Category of your Account Type to School Shop, rather than creating a new Customer Account Type with the Category of School Shop.

Go to School > Payments > School Shop, select the item, then click on More information.

Click into the Accounting Details section and select your Customer Account Type. If you can't select the right one, follow the instructions here to set up the account: Step 1 - Create the Customer Account Type.

Step 5 - Check the prices for students

If students aren't covered by a price category, the item won't show on the Parent Portal or Arbor App to be purchased. Go to School > Payments > School Shop, select the item, then click on More information.

In this example, students who are in Year 5 and not Pupil Premium would not be able to purchase this item. Follow the instructions here to add prices: Step 3 - Add item prices