I'm considering switching to ProductCart but my purchase depends on the answer to this question.

I find that the returning customer login feature actually turns away customers at check out.  They seem to be more inclined to register again as they are put-off by being required to login.  I DO NOT want to require login for returning customers.  They should be allowed to fill out the registration form as many times as they want to.  Is this possible with ProductCart?

Thank you...

"No" out of the box. "Yes" by slightly modifying the way the software works.

The difference between registering and not registering is only 1 field: the password field. All other pieces of information are required regardless of whether an account is created or not.

In ProductCart an account is always created as it gives the customer access to a number of advanced order management and profile management feature. The password field could be easily hidden by using a type="hidden" field and a random password (a small modification to the ASP source code is required). All text strings and buttons can easily be changed.

wow, quick reply! 

Anyway, that doesn't sound like a solution because then anyone could log in to another's account simply by entering their email address...correct? 

How about this:  If a customer registers new with an email address that they used for a prior purchase, will the system prevent this by telling them that they have to log in?

You see, I'm not interested in eliminating the log in.  I just don't want to REQUIRE it to make a purchase.

Thank you.

No, that's not correct. No one would be able to log into another person's account. The password would be generated randomly (e.g. it's extremely easy to generate a random number, for example).

As for the second question: yes, ProductCart does notify a customer that their email has already been registered on the store and prompts the customer to log in. A "password reminder" helps the customer retrieve a lost password.

Ah, I understand that you are talking about generating the password in a hidden field on the registration page.  That makes sense.

Even though this isn't exactly what I'm wanting, I understand that my request is a bit strange.  ProductCart certainly surpasses the capabilities of other carts that I'm using, so I'm going to buy it today. 

Many thanks for the quick replies.  That really makes all the difference with online customer service.

Actually - I would love to see this as a feature supported in future versions. More and more, customers request it from us.

(Not requiring registration to be able to order).