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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ProductCart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-November-2007 at 5:12pm

What is the difference between not creating an account and checking out without entering a password (which is already supported)? You enter a billing address, a shipping address, an email where you will be notified of the order status. There are no differences. None. Not even 1 field.

It's just a matter of language, and we believe in telling the truth. You can't use language that would suggest to a customer that you are not storing their information in a database when you indeed are.

Which is why - by the way - all of the top online retailers do NOT offer it. Just start from the top (as ranked by Internet Retailer): Amazon, Staples, Office Depot, etc. etc. etc.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ssharp Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-November-2007 at 5:49pm
There is actually a huge difference.

The "checking out without entering a password" feature actually creates a password that is not disclosed to the customer. The first time they order it works beautifully. The problem comes the second time around. They go along adding things to their cart, expecting to use the Early Impact version of quick checkout and they enter their email and choose to "not create a password" and they get the message that the account already exists and it won't let them checkout without logging in.  At this point, they are frustrated and leave.

Our method actually prevents them from entering an email address, and we create a dummy email address for them. Of course they don't get order confirmations, but my client can look up the customer's order with their name or phone number - these people usually prefer doing things the hard way anyway which is why they don't want to create accounts. The next time they come back to the site they put in all of their info again and we create yet another dummy email. Its not a perfect solution but the day we did this change her sales starting going up. Month for Month from 2006 - 2007 her sales have been up a minimum of 40% and for the fall and winter months her sales are up 100%. Not all of this can be attributed to this change, but her company is almost 70 years old. That kind of growth doesn't happen after 70  years. She did no extra advertising, and as a matter of fact she has cut her google Adwords spend by about 75% and she is still bringing in twice the volume she did last year. The only major change is the Express Checkout Hack we wrote.

Trust me - we didn't approach this lightly - we told her she was crazy - that noone wants to shop without creating an account. I mean none of us do that - but none of us are grannys who sit at home and sew and hate being on the computer. That is her primary customer. We went through all the channels of speaking to developers at Early Impact as to whether there was a future release that had this level of express checkout option and we were assured it would not happen.

So we did what we had to satisfy the customer, and happily for us, it has made a tremendous improvement in her sales. Most of her customers checkout that way believe it or not. So maybe amazon and the other major retailers you mentioned might want to take a lesson. Pottery Barn for Kids has this feature and i'm sure its for a reason.

Again it might not be right for every business, and you and I might not shop that way, but her customers do and it was right for her store. It may be a feature you should consider building in!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ProductCart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-November-2007 at 6:13pm

Thank you for the additional feedback.

In version 3.11 we changed the message that is returned to the customer when they use an e-mail that already exists in the database, and detect that a random password had been created for them. The message better explains why the e-mail already exists.

The increase in sales on your client store was very likely not related to this feature as it only affects repeat purchases, as you indicated yourself. There was probably an increase in the amount of unique visitors, a decrease in the bounce rate, and an increase in page views: you probably did a good job with SEO and site design!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote geoff Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-November-2007 at 9:42pm
ssharp - thanks for the comments.

Based on your ideas, I am inspired to also do this hack. I get a number of customers who are highly conservative and reticent to provide an email. Providing choice is IMO a good thing. Currently, I get good conversion once the customer has registered but the drop -off between viewcart and registering is quiet high.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amytxus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-November-2007 at 3:32pm
We have 2 online stores that have been up and running for several years.  When people call us on the phone to place an order, we always ask for their email address.  You would be surprised at how many people do not want to give it to you and the funny thing is that they will readily give you their credit card information.  I usually explain the email address is only used to send them order confirmation and shipment tracking information and then they are generally willing to give it out.  It would be helpful if people could skip entering their email address and just enter their billing, shipping, and payment information.  I'm sure there are potential customers that we lose because of this requirement. I realize that the top retailers require it, but the big boys can require things and do things differently than your average small online store.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cpgmar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-November-2007 at 10:32am
In our store we also have several "granny" types that are either not able to check email or not comfortable "registering" with anyone.  What happens is that they then call us on the phone and it takes valuable time to take their order manually.  (BTW it would be nice to have a "quick phone order" interface within admin.)

We have always entered these customers with a dummy email and pw and although they don't get emails, we realize that they wouldn't anyway as many don't even check their email on a regular basis.  We flag these orders so that we know contact needs to be by phone.  Maybe there would be an option for "no email" in the express version.

I really like the idea of the "Express Checkout" as long it is clear that communications from us are always by email so they would lose that ability to receive confirming, tracking and order change emails.  Many times the customer only intends to order one time only and unfortunately we have to respect that and make it easier for them.  Walking into a brick & mortar store is what we don't want them to do and they are generally only asked for a zip code if that.

I know that customers still have to enter all the info for name address phone etc but calling it "express" and not making things "required" goes a long way for many potential customers and saves our customer service dept. time on the phone.  We currently don't use the "no password required" feature because it doesn't solve the no email problem. It is easy for us who are online all the time to forget that there are many folks out there still very unfamiliar with the web and email. 

Please let us know if a mod is written that can do this automatically.


Edited by cpgmar - 29-November-2007 at 10:39am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mimpoz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-January-2008 at 12:09pm
Lately I have had many customers complain (since they have integrated google analytics) of a very high drop off from the view cart to checkout/login. One of my customers requested we do something like http://www.magellans.com checkout. Basically what they have is when you checkout you come to the page with the where you fill out your shipping information and on the right hand side it gives you the option to log in. Further more when you put in your email address there is check box Save your information for future purchases.  If you check it ,it gives you the ability to create a password right there. My customer thinks this checkout is great it skips the login page there by not scaring off customers.. and asks for an email address(so the users get the confirmations) but does not require creating a password. Can anyone think of a way to integrate this into product cart?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cpgmar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-January-2008 at 2:49pm
I think that is great, if it helps...the fear factor is really tangible for so many people.  Please let me know if this modification can be done.  
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