Buy 2 Get 1 Free: are mulitple Add to Cart buttons possible

Several, but not all, of my product categories offer a Buy 2, Get 1 Free, where buying 2 units of one item gets a 3rd unit of the same product for free. The discount does not allow mix-and-match with other products, so from what I have read, the "better together" option does not apply here.

Currently, the product descriptions and the shopping cart have text advising customers that when they choose "2" as the quantity they will receive 3, but I often get terse notes along with orders saying that I'd better send 3 or else cancel the order. Harumph. So I want to reassure my customers by allowing them to click a button that says "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" that will show the quantity ordered as 3 and the total as the price for 2.

I have figured out how to set up the appropriate pricing with either attributes or Discount Qty. With the attributes they can select a menu item to "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" or with the Discount Qty. there is a chart then that shows the price for 1 or 2 items and the discount price each for 3. This is an improvement over the current setup, but the customers still have to enter the desired quantity manually in the "Add to Cart" section on the product info page, which will likely cause confusion and dismay. Not to mention more terse notes.

So, is there a way to have more than one Add to Cart" button on the product info pages for some categories? One button would be labeled "Buy 1 (Price: $15.50)" and the other would be labeled "Buy 2 Get 1 Free (Price: $31.00)". Clicking the first button would record a quantity of 1 in the shopping cart, the other would record a quantity of 3.

If that's not possible, is there a way to use attributes to add a specific quantity to the shopping cart? I've been searching through these threads and haven't found anything that specifically addresses this issue.

Or even more simply, is there a way to hide the Discount Qty Chart or set up an "invisible" attribute with the special pricing so all customers need do is enter 1 or 3 as the quantity? Again, existing text advises them of the B2G1 offer.

Using version Zen Cart 1.3.8a. I am comfortable adding modules (currently using Products with Attribute Stock, User Nicknames and Zen Lightbox) and can copy and paste code confidently (with clear instructions) but cannot write my own.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Changing the quantity would not help you to get the proce right. But Zen Cart does have the hooks in place to support what you want to achieve.

You'll find a worked example of something similar about two thirds of the way down this wiki page. Search for BOGOF.

Thanks for your swift reply.

kuroi:

Changing the quantity would not help you to get the proce right.

The Quantity Discount allows me to set the price each for 3 items as 1/3 of the normal price for 2, so it does work out actually. Maybe a penny off here and there, but I can live with that.

kuroi:

But Zen Cart does have the hooks in place to support what you want to achieve. You'll find a worked example of something similar about two thirds of the way down this wiki page. Search for BOGOF.

Thanks for this. It looks like it would be indeed a possibility, if it did not fall outside of my comfort zone and skill set. I am not clear on where this would go, how to set up the array of product IDs, etc.

Further help on how to implement the suggested fix or other advice on how to have 2 "add to cart" buttons would be greatly appreciated.