Pros and cons?
[quote name=‘Len Backus’]Pros and cons?[/quote]
Where, on the forum???
Sorry, for checking out of a cart.
I just noticed somewhere a forum member mentioned it in an unrelated thread. Never considered it and was just wondering.
Ensure you have “allow anonymous checkout” being available.
Most businesses/websites will only ever have one purchase from a customer due to size, need, value etc etc.
Same logic applies to a customer, why would I want to provide you my personal details when I just want to buy “this”
J.
[quote name=‘JesseLeeStringer’]Ensure you have “allow anonymous checkout” being available.
Most businesses/websites will only ever have one purchase from a customer due to size, need, value etc etc.
Same logic applies to a customer, why would I want to provide you my personal details when I just want to buy “this”
J.[/QUOTE]
Agree. Two (of the many) golden rules of e-commerce is don’t require your customers to register to put something in your cart and don’t require them to register to checkout. Allowing anonymous checkout is a good thing. Maybe not for you, but for your customers.
Thanks, all. Yes, my attitude in all the businesses that I have owned is make it easy and pleasant.
[QUOTE]Allowing anonymous checkout is a good thing. Maybe not for you, but for your customers.[/QUOTE]
Right up to the time in which they decide they would like to place a repeat order on your site and realize that none of the details they entered on their previous order were saved, and now they get to enter their details all over again… :o
The only difference between registering & not is a customer needs to decide on what they would like their password to be, they still have to enter all of their address details to place an order!
Whether to allow “anonymous checkout” or not really depends on your type of business. If you are mostly a retail type business of which you don’t have many repeat customers, then sure, it will give them a warm fuzzy, however, if your business is more b2b & does maintain long term repeat customers, then offering it is not always the best idea.
[quote name=‘Struck’]The only difference between registering & not is a customer needs to decide on what they would like their password to be, they still have to enter all of their address details to place an order![/QUOTE]
I know it’s been mentioned in other threads: it might be a good idea if the customer could add that password to create an account immediately after their purchase - I think a lot of customers might have a “why not” attitude after they have already provided their information. Couple this with an effective order confirmation/thank you page where anonymous checkouts could be asked if they want to create an account.
Bob
I have it as optional, but the thing that I don’t like about it is that customers can’t check on their order status unless they register.
I would not require it unless there were a good reason. I do require it and it is because I run a downloads-only store and I want customers to be able to access their download links in their My Account area after ordering. I state this as the reason for registering and I think customers understand the purpose because they want to be able to easily access their links.