Customers required to log in before purchasing, good or bad?

[UCSharon]

I am trying to find statistics on whether or not it is a good thing to force customers to create an account and log in before prucahsing 9such as oscommerce).
My concerns are that:
1.it delays the checkout process
2.customers may forget their log in details next time and again it delays the purchasing procedure

What do you think?

[gapgb]

I would think most people are pretty used to setting up accounts so wouldn't see it as a problem if I wanted to buy a t-shirt.

If I want to download some free info then I'm put off by having to fill in my details.

[mattk]

What Guy said. I wouldn't be put off buying if I had to register. As long as it was right at the end of the buying process and I could see the total cost, including deliver before I had to register.

Just another tip if you are looking at e-commerce packages. I always want to see if an item is in stock. The worst thing in the world is buying a product only to receive a message saying it's out of stock and it will be delivered in 4-6 weeks :evil:

[Astaroth]

There was a pole on this earlier in the week.

Personally I dont like having to remember my log in details - and it can be a real pain if you want the items to be sent to another address other than the one your card is registered to and they will only do it after the first purchase.

Saying that it would rarely turn me away - the only time it would is if it was forcing me to log in but I had forgotten my password and wouldnt have access to my personal email address and so I go for a retailer that I can order from without the issues.

[quotes4]

Why not automatically create an account for visitors when they buy? One of the sites i recently completed does this by asking customers to enter their email address when they go through to the checkout. If the email address is unknown it will create an account for them at the end of the whole process. If it is known it asks for their password and completes their details for them.

Its a double edged sword this because you'll have customers who use your site regularly who'll want you to hold their details to save them time, but new visitors to the site might complain that they have to create and account and it takes too long.

You should try and automate the process as much as possible but there's always going to be someone who finds it time consuming.

[silverpuresilver]

I'm glad someone brought this up, and I shall have a look for the previous poll.

My new designers are very pro-accounts, as is my business partner - I'm not keen on it personally. However, their point of view is that the customer has to enter all their details anyway when they want to purchase something, and with an account they only have to do it once.

Jury's out in Birmingham . . .

[bitsnstuff]

Can you not set something up so that next time the customer comes back the system recognises their info - isn't it called Remember Me on this PC or something?

You will already have their data and then that feature will save them having to enter everything again.


I personally will only register to buy online if it is a site where I have been able to check everything out in advance and know that it is the sort of site that doesn't just get luxury or impulse buys, but regular use.

Kate :lol:

[confused]

I personally wouldt sign up (or give me email to be more to the point) just to buy something, fair enough entering an email addy towards the end of the transaction in order to be contacted in case of a problem, but I wouldnt sign up for any type of account unless I knew the company I was dealing with, or they had been reccomended by someone.

[Cornish Steve]

For me, it's a privacy issue. I never supply information if it's not needed.

Recently, a local computer store wanted my phone number as part of the checkout process. I refused to give it, and the checkout system wouldn't complete the sale without it. The checkout lady used her home number to get around the problem.

I'm asked for my zip code (US equivalent to postcode) all the time when checking out, but I won't give it out. I'm asked for my email address all the time, but I won't give it out. If information is not needed to make the sale, I won't provide it. Frankly, it's none of the store's business.

As for online purchases, I won't create an account. I will shop elsewhere sooner than supply the information needed to establish an account (telephone number, email address, etc.). I'm sure I'm not the norm here, but privacy is a real issue for me.

[confused]

I agree, they are my reasons also.

[crus]

Again, no, no, no, create the account after purchase.

D

[SillyJokes]

Gold Steve, if you don't give out contact details with your order how on earth is the company going to contact you if there is a problem with your order?

Yes in a perfect world there would never be a problem with an order but in reality problems do occur and it is very difficult to get them sorted out if the customer only gives their email address as email can be junked, deleted, ignored, typed in incorrectly.

I assume you do not shop online therefore,

[Cornish Steve]

Gold Steve, if you don't give out contact details with your order how on earth is the company going to contact you if there is a problem with your order?

Yes in a perfect world there would never be a problem with an order but in reality problems do occur and it is very difficult to get them sorted out if the customer only gives their email address as email can be junked, deleted, ignored, typed in incorrectly.

I assume you do not shop online therefore,
Most often, I buy things online for other people (birthday presents, etc.), so there's no need for the store to have anything other than my email address and the recipient's mailing address. I do check for email confirmations etc., and I've not had any problems to date.

As a frequent international traveller, I'm quite sensitive about identity fraud - which is becoming rampant around the world. The more personal information we give out, the more susceptible we are to it. I even keep plastic hotel room keys these days because I read once that check-in information, including credit card details, are encoded on them. Maybe I'm becoming a paranoid old man!

[vdeep.com]

I have spent time looking into this and it is now often taken as given that removing as many ‘barriers to checkout’ as you can is important. See Amazons One click buying processes is an example.

If you look at a number of stores they have now taken to removing the need to create an account. Give the consumer the option to sign-up an account that way if they find themselves ordering from you regularly they can save themselves the hassle of having to keep filling information out

Lots of people do not like having to sign up for accounts and think of passwords etc, so being asked to sign-up can be a real put off as some people here have indicated, on the other hand by having the option to sign up if they so choose to will satisfy those that do wish to make an account.

[easyasit]

in all theory and fairness i agree with logging onto a site

For the seller its a good way to keep track of what customers buy and sending them email offers tailored to their likes.

from the buyers point of view a more secure method of buying is offered

Al

[CBR1000RR]

I have spent time looking into this and it is now often taken as given that removing as many ‘barriers to checkout’ as you can is important. See Amazons One click buying processes is an example.

If you look at a number of stores they have now taken to removing the need to create an account. Give the consumer the option to sign-up an account that way if they find themselves ordering from you regularly they can save themselves the hassle of having to keep filling information out

Lots of people do not like having to sign up for accounts and think of passwords etc, so being asked to sign-up can be a real put off as some people here have indicated, on the other hand by having the option to sign up if they so choose to will satisfy those that do wish to make an account.

+1, I agree and this is the exact way I have set up my website and it's really busy. Creating an account is a turn-off for me so I won't expect my customers to do it!!

[Ozzy]

I used to require my customers to create an account when ordering, which caused me to have a lot of "dropped carts".
I have now built the account registration into the order process in a way so that it does seem like a "registration" process. In basic terms my site says "we need to know where to send your order to" so they provide their contact details. That creates their account needed to the ecommerce process to work.

[nickster]

Interestingly enough, I've tried both sides of this.
I used to run on a high-street retailer's website a couple of years ago and we had a checkout that used to force users to login or create an account.
Thinking this was a barrier to entry, we re-designed the checkout to allow users to buy anonymously.
And what happened?
Our conversion rate went... down! That's right, people were less likely to buy when they didn't have to create an account.
It only went down around 2% (from something like 18% to 16% of people who started the checkout finished and bought something).
We reckoned that people expected to have to create an account and removing it confused people or reduced their trust in the process. If they're expecting it and they don't find it, they think they're lost!

If you want to know what to focus on, simplify the whole process and add in as much information as you can in order to build trust. A year later, our checkout conversion was up at around 80% :)

[F5 Webdesign]

If you want to know what to focus on, simplify the whole process and add in as much information as you can in order to build trust. A year later, our checkout conversion was up at around 80% :)

So was that with the need to log in reinstated?

[nickster]

Yep, we put the checkout back as it was with a login.register.

The final version (which had over 80% conversion) was login/register, billing address, delivery address (optional page), payment, order summary.
A good big SEND ORDER button on the summary page topped it off.

[F5 Webdesign]

Is the site still live so I could take a look? Just I'm undertaking an ecommerce project at the moment, and this is a major issue for me.

Cheers

[UCSharon]

Thanks for all the replies.
It seems to be that smaller websites might be better off not forcing a user account, but high street retailers and the like who are already well known are better off having a login page.

Well thats my understanding of it anyway ;)

[magic-merl]

If you had to register with every shop in the highstreet just to buy something - would you!

I wouldn't.

Give customers the option of registering after their purchase - you will also have genuine quality interested parties joining.

[crus]

I was very interested and suprised by nickster's thread.

I am assuming that marketing activity, seasonal trends, and competitveness of pricing have all been taken into account. The larger the brand you are working with the more chance of external factors effecting conversion rates etc.

My experiments with this topic have primarily been based around a fixed product base, fixed pricing and like for like marketing activity and I am yet to acheive a result such as that of nicksters.

I am not saying it didn't happen I am just very suprised and keen to see if the concept is scalbaloe or not.

D

[nickster]

Yep, seasonal factors were all taken into account - the data was looked at over a period of 3 months.
The site in question I won't mention specifically, but let's just say it was a high street retailer selling baby stuff :)
The site is a little different than when I ran it, although they've kept the checkout reasonably similar to when I was there.

I've been in this game for almost 10 years now and I must say that the best thing to do is to follow the crowd. If Amazon, John Lewis and your main competitors are doing it, then do it too. Even if it's not the best interface, present people with what they're used to and already understand! You may think you've got a better idea, but leading the pack is risky....