Diamond Stone Platform: Store
Date: 2026-11-11. Revision 1. Status: draft for owner review. One of three
customer-facing parts: this one, docs/WEBSITE.md and docs/PORTAL.md. Screens: the
"Store" section of docs/ui-shell-mockup.html.
1. What the store is
The store sells samples. It does not sell slabs or tiles by the square metre.
This follows a decision already recorded and still in force in the earlier work: orders for stone are quote-driven, with no checkout. Every earlier document agrees on that; none plans a shop for tiles, slabs, accessories or care products. It also fits the brand rule never to lead with price: a slab has no public price, a sample box may.
| Samples (the store) | Stone (not the store) | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is bought | Chosen, paid and shipped without talking to anyone | An enquiry basket, then a quote from sales |
| Price shown | The charge for samples and courier, if any | None in public; only in the quote |
| Where it continues | An order page by link | The client portal |
| In the accounts | A small sale, or a marketing cost when free | An order, as in docs/ACCOUNTS.md |
A sample is the strongest step toward an order: specifiers rank a physical sample above datasheets and photographs when choosing a material. So the store's job is to make that step take under a minute, and to turn each sample into a quote.
2. Screens
All four are drawn in the sketch.
| Screen | Visitor's question | Shows first | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samples | Which can I get? | Stones as photographs with the finishes available; a square mark on those chosen (the site's look, docs/SITE-DESIGN.md) |
Basket |
| Basket | What have I picked? | The samples, up to four to a box; charges; a line offering a quote instead for slabs or tiles | Checkout |
| Checkout | What do you need from me? | Name, phone, address, what they do; how to pay; the terms | Place order |
| Order | Where is it? | A thin progress line with its stage in words (paid, packed, with courier), tracking, their contact; "turn these into a quote" | Message |
Also needed, not yet drawn: the thank-you page (drawn for sample requests, reused here), the payment-proof upload, an order that cannot be fulfilled (a stone out of samples), and the terms and returns page.
No account is needed. The visitor gets an order number and a link by WhatsApp or email. If they later become a customer, the sample order is already on their record.
3. How it connects
| The visitor does | In the app | In the accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Places a sample order | An enquiry is created with the stones, their trade and the page they came from. Sales gets a ring with a timer | Nothing yet |
| Pays | Accountant checks the proof, or the payment provider confirms | A small sale with VAT; or nothing if samples are free |
| Warehouse or whoever packs gets a ring: pack these samples | Sample stock reduced; cost to marketing if free | |
| Courier collects | The order page and a message show tracking | Courier cost recorded |
| Samples arrive | Sales gets a ring to follow up that day | |
| Asks for a quote | The quote starts with those stones filled in | The usual flow |
| Accepts a first quote later | The sample credit is applied as a line on the order | A discount on the order, recorded against marketing |
4. Decisions the owner needs to make
The earlier documents disagree on every one of these, so none is assumed here.
| # | Decision | Options | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Are samples charged? | Owner, 11 November 2026: a setting. Default: charged, and credited against the first order. | Every part of the policy is a setting with a default ("Store settings" below). Only the charge per sample has no default: the owner enters it before the store opens |
| 2 | Who pays the courier, and where do you ship? (now a setting; this is the choice of default) | Oman only; GCC; anywhere at cost | Earlier default: collect at the showroom or deliver in Muscat, Seeb and Barka; abroad by courier on request |
| 3 | How many per order, and what size? (now a setting) | Three or four; 10 × 10 cm, or 30 × 30 cm on request | Earlier default: three |
| 4 | Card payment, or bank transfer with proof only? | Transfer only at first; add a payment provider | Stripe does not operate in Oman. Local providers include Thawani and Amwal Pay (unverified: features and fees not checked). An earlier plan named Tap |
| 5 | Anything else sold later? | Care products, sample books, small tiles | Nothing is planned. Each would need prices, stock and returns |
The basket in the sketch now shows a charge, courier, VAT and the line "comes off your first order". The amounts in the sketch are examples, not prices.
Store settings
The sample policy is not built into the app. It is a group of settings under Settings → Store, each with a default that works from the first day and can be changed later without a developer. (Owner's instruction, 11 November 2026.)
| Setting | Default | Choices |
|---|---|---|
| Samples are | Charged, credited against the first order | Free; charged; charged and credited; free for trade customers and charged for the public |
| Charge per sample | Not set; the store stays closed to orders until the owner enters it | An amount in OMR; a second amount for the larger size |
| Samples per order | 4 | 1 to 8 |
| Sample sizes | 10 × 10 cm | Add 30 × 30 cm on request |
| Courier charge | Charged at cost, by destination | Free; fixed amount; at cost; free above an order value |
| Courier charge is credited | No | Yes; no |
| Credit lasts | 12 months | 3, 6, 12, 24 months; no limit |
| Reminder before a credit lapses | 30 days | Off; 14, 30, 60 days |
| Credit applies to | The first order of the same customer | The first order; any order until used up |
| Where samples are sent | Oman and the GCC | Oman only; chosen countries; anywhere |
| Collect at the showroom | On | On; off |
| Payment | Bank transfer with proof | Add card when a provider is connected |
| Free samples above this value need approval | Any free sample | An amount |
| Order needs a phone number confirmed by a code | Off | On; off |
| Store open | Off until the charge is set | On; off, with a message |
Rules for these settings, as for all money settings (docs/INVENTORY.md section 13):
- A change needs a second person, takes effect from a date, and is kept in the history with who changed it.
- A change never alters an order already placed or a credit already given. Each sample order keeps the policy it was placed under.
- The basket, the order page, the structured data and the terms page all read from these settings, so they cannot disagree with each other.
- If "Samples are" is set to Free, the price lines and the credit line disappear from the basket and the pages stop carrying offer data.
How the credit works
- The sample order is a small sale: a tax invoice with VAT, paid by transfer (or card, once a provider is chosen).
- The amount paid for samples is held against that person or company as a sample credit, shown on their record and on the store's order page.
- When they accept their first quote, the credit appears as its own line reducing the order, on the quote, the proforma and the invoice. Sales does not have to remember it.
- In the accounts: the sample sale is revenue when sold. When the credit is used it is a discount on the order, recorded against marketing so that its cost is visible. (accountant confirms.)
- A credit not used within the period lapses, and the customer is told a month before.
- The measure that matters: the share of sample orders whose credit is used, since each one is an order won.
5. Law and tax
Researched on 11 November 2026. Get local legal confirmation before launch; most of this is from press reports and summaries, not the legal texts.
| Topic | What was found | Status |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce licence | Ministerial Decision 499/2023 requires an e-commerce licence through the Oman Business Platform, and the store registered on Maroof Oman, linked to the commercial registration | Press report, read |
| Penalties | Up to OMR 500 or suspension | Unverified |
| VAT | 5 % on samples sold in Oman; exports follow the export rule in docs/ACCOUNTS.md. Each paid sample order gets a tax invoice |
Unverified for samples specifically |
| Returns | Consumer Protection Law: return or refund within 15 days for defective goods | Unverified |
| Natural variation | A sample is sold as a range set of three (lightest, typical, most veined) in the ordered finish. The terms commit to delivery within the approved range (docs/MATCHING.md) |
Good practice |
| Privacy | The address and phone number are personal data under the data protection law: a notice at checkout, kept only as long as needed | See docs/PLAN.md, risks |
6. Being found
Because samples are charged, store pages carry Product and Offer structured data with price, availability, delivery and returns, and can be listed for free in Google's Merchant Center (Oman and OMR are reported as supported, unverified). The credit is stated on the page in plain words.
7. Measures
| Measure | Why |
|---|---|
| Sample orders a week, by source | Is the site bringing the right people? |
| Time from order to dispatch | The promise to the visitor |
| Share of sample orders that become a quote, and an order | The point of the store |
| Cost of samples and courier against the orders they led to | Whether free samples pay for themselves |
8. What is not built
Selling slabs or tiles with a basket and a price; discount codes; customer accounts for the store; stock shown publicly; automatic refunds.
Sample terms (added 11 November 2026)
The store has its own short terms, accepted at checkout and recorded with their
version. They are kept and approved like every other set (docs/DOCUMENTS.md section 6).
Currency (added 11 November 2026)
Samples are charged in rials. A setting may show visitors abroad an estimate in
dollars (docs/CURRENCY.md section 10).
The sample as the product in search (added 11 November 2026)
The priced sample is what search engines list as a product; its page is the stone's
page. This needs each sample to have its title beginning "Sample", its price, delivery
cost and time, a returns policy, and a stock code. To be listed in the UAE and Saudi
Arabia the sample would also be priced in dirhams and Saudi riyals, each on its own
address: a decision (docs/WEBSITE.md sections 15 and 20).
Settled by recommendation (12 November 2026)
The sample is a range set: three pieces, 10 × 10 cm, in the finish asked for,
priced per set, up to three sets in an order. Paid by card, by bank transfer in
Oman, or at our office. Credited in full against a first order within 12 months.
Wrong or not as shown: replaced or refunded within 15 days. The price is still to be
entered by the owner, and the store stays closed until it is. Earlier figures in this
document for pieces per box and price give way to this (SETTINGS.md section 10).