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Don’t ask potential buyers for information if it is not required for the sale.
It always stops me dead in my tracks. While shopping online, the merchant asks for information they simply don’t need. Many of the sites doing this seem to be copying checkout flows they have seen in the past on other sites. Things do change however, and if the site they copied it from is still in business, chances are that they have changed their ways.
Even more amazing to me is that there are so many articles written (like this one) advising merchants what they should and should not do in the course of a eCommerce checkout.
For this first blog entry, lets focus on what I believe to be one of the most discussed best practices:
Make registration optional, or Don’t offer it at all.
Despite the many great articles written (including this one from Linda Bustos of GetElastic.com) that clearly disapprove of the practice, so many merchants still insist that their site is different, and that they still need users to register before they can purchase anything.
Consider these points, when reviewing your eCommerce Checkout flow:
- Don’t require buyers to create a username and password for your site.
- If you really want buyers to register, kindly suggest that they save all the information they have provided at the end of the transaction, never at the beginning. At that point, all you need them to do is to create a password.
- Wherever you ask for login credentials, the page must be SSL secured. If you aren’t sure why, then you shouldn’t be asking users to register, as you may be exposing yourselves and your customers to great risk of ID theft, and more.
- When asking for their email address, just ask them to type it once. I am not sure where the “retype your email address” trend started, but chances are that whomever it was that started this trend has stopped with that foolishness a long time ago.
I know, I know. Many web developers and merchants will argue that by creating yet another username and password, and profile of my personal details, that “my next visit will be so much faster.” The truth, however, is that the best way to encourage that visitors come back is to make them a buyer first, and ensure that their purchase is memorable in how easy and friction-free it is to shop on the site.
So now tell me, what are your pet “best practices” that are least practiced?
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May 13th, 2010 on 12:02 PM
Most designers are using an existing platform for ecommerce (as I believe is the best practice for such projects). They rarely think of the sales flow or the checkout process, let alone the the default settings of fields requested. The fact is that these sites (and most sites) should be reviewed by an Internet marketer with an eye towards optimizing conversions and not just a designer and programmer. Depending on the goals of the site, it may be better to lose some sales in order to capture information which is not required for the sale. In other cases, you may be correct and such info is collected without thought.
Capturing user information is sometimes more valuable than making an initial sale. Building a list with information by which you can segment that list may have a higher profitability than one initial sale. If someone isn’t wiling to register on a site, they will likely have much less value as a lifelong client than someone who registers. I would argue that it is extremely rare (and unwise) to build a business that has a once in a lifetime product and whose client list can not be used to expand profitability.
It should be pointed out that with standards like OpenID and Facebook Connect, Web site programmers have other options than forcing users to create yet another username and password.
May 13th, 2010 on 12:33 PM
Thanks Charlie, good points.
Let me respond to the part about a user that does not want to register may not be a valuable lifelong user of a product (I hope I have paraphrased it well enough).
There is no denying that gathering good data is important. The main point here however is that data should not be the goal at the expense of a sale. Naturally, a site that is expressly in the business of gathering data, changes the picture somewhat, as the data for them is the ‘sale’ they are after. In the context of this article, I am referring to merchants that are trying to sell a product, but get their potential buyers caught up in a web of prerequisites in oder to be able to get through the checkout.
The user that is reluctant to sign up will likely be much less unwilling to do so, once he has purchased even a small item. Moreover, it is simpler at that point, as they need only check the box to save their info.
May 14th, 2010 on 11:32 AM
This is my point of view for this.
Sometimes you may get the impression that some of them are focused not on selling but on ‘collecting users’ in their online shops. This partially makes sense depending on merchant’s business model. However if they really have to collect information about their buyers do not force them to register at start. You can offer it but also allow them to complete the purchase as a guest so they could see how easy it is.
Question: when do you feel satisfaction from your purchase? There are two moments: 1. Right after you have paid 2. When you have received your goods. Conclusion: After they have paid many of your buyers will be keener to save their details.
This is the moment, just ask customer again: Do you want us to save your details for your next purchase in our store? This way you are following easy check out practices, get information you need and also show a bit of respect to your customers.
May 16th, 2010 on 5:34 PM
I know that personally my most satisfying moment is when I rec’v the message: “Thank you for your Order” (after being processed). At this point, I would be glad to have my details saved in order to expediate the next purchase.
May 16th, 2010 on 7:34 PM
Interesting points. I always advise my clients to think of the end user’s experience to create work flows based on usability – not based on the functionality of the system. You spoke strongly against the “retype your email” functionality, calling it foolishness. Can you elaborate on this strong reaction? As this is an extremely sensitive field – one wrong character can cause a lost sale, I don’t see that this is too much to ask. And this leads me to a general point. It could be that even if this, or other types of requests for information are not 100% necessary, it can provide users with a sense of confidence in their transaction. It reminds me of a situation where I worked in security in a high traffic public area. We were told to stop people and ask questions. More than providing any real security, it gave the public the feeling of security and confidence. If many websites are asking the questions, even if it may be more efficient to buck the trend and offer a more streamlined approach as you are suggesting, I wonder if the end user will feel something is missing?
Also, there is the harsh reality of the credit card or insurance companies dictating which fields must be completed in order to qualify an order.
Finally, I found it ironic – considering the topic of this posting, that in order to comment, my email address is a required field. And I’m not even buying anything!
May 17th, 2010 on 12:31 AM
Pawel, Hirschel: Thanks!
Nice contributions to the discussion indeed.
Sol,
Yours is actually the second comment on my strong feelings about the double entry of emails (the other was emailed to me). Maybe we can try to get a wider consensus on this, but my feeling is that duplication of email entry is futile, as users can just copy/paste the info from one line to the next anyway. As such, the value of duplication is gone, and just the annoyance is left. Having said that, the concern that you have lost contact with the buyer due to a mis-typed email address is a mitigating factor that may require some monitoring by the site owner to see if the double entry could help them. Are there any site owners out there care to chime in on this point? Have you tried this? Did it help?
Regarding the warm fuzzy feeling of being asked redundant questions, I certainly hope that we can help clients ask pointed questions only, while giving the user a smooth checkout, with full confidence.
Finally, the irony is not lost on me, but indeed, I must admit that I am making a conscious choice to limit the conversation to only folks that are prepared to share their email address with the blog owner (but not the general public).
While it is still a generally accepted practice to require emails for comments, it is typically not enforced that the email be valid. As such, it is an honor system and most contributors will voluntarily provide their real address when they are contributing on a blog that they want to be notified of updates on the comments they have contributed to. My hunch is that savvy users tend to use fictitious emails when commenting on blogs that they do not expect to be revisiting again too soon.
In the end, it is true that I am risking that some readers may choose not to contribute to the conversation due to the email address requirement. At this stage however, it is a trade-off that I am prepared to take.
May 17th, 2010 on 8:22 AM
Sol,
I found your comment about instilling buyer confidence very interesting food for thought.
Regarding the email question, I think that email, registration and passwords are all similar discussions.
If one truly wants to require email, I feel it must be double opt-in. We have sites like this, but they are usually membership sites, not ecommerce.
I want to reiterate the standards of Open ID, Facebook Connect, Yahoo ID, which I think is increasingly the way to solve these issues and would encourage more sites to adopt them as a means to simplify the login process and validate users.
May 17th, 2010 on 12:23 PM
Just one follow up comment about the email address issue. You mentioned that “users can just copy/paste the info from one line to the next anyway”.
The proper functionality here is that the email fields cannot be copied and/or the field won’t accept a paste. Basically, it ensures that both are manually typed in by a human (or a well trained close relative). It could be that many sites do not do this – and therefore your concern is a good one. But a properly built site should prevent this.
May 17th, 2010 on 11:52 PM
Yves:
Your points are well made. We can actually look at some well run brick and mortar stores and see whatthey do right. Last week I went into a high end sports store in Toronto where I get my raquest restrung. First, I was greeted with “Good Morning” and a smile from several staff members who crossed my path. After lining up to pay, the cashier finshed the transaction with the question “Are you in our email database for future deals and promotions?” So now I have a choice and now I also know why they want my email. Bottom line is as you say, make the sale, and if done right, the customer comes back for more. Tennis anyone?
May 18th, 2010 on 1:52 PM
Great point Brian. Indeed, can you imagine being greeted with the requirement to give your email or other personal information before place the racket in your shopping basket in the physical world? The great shopping experience is what will bring you back, much more than an email campaign to would-be buyers that chose not to buy.
May 22nd, 2010 on 8:42 PM
Hi,
I think that the online buying experience should be as similar as possible to the brick and mortar shopping experience.
First you see the merchandise, then you put it in your basket and then you pay. While paying you provide personal details.
With online stores, this should be the same.
But, buying online, one should provide more details. As this is card not present sale and there are a lot of fraud, the merchant needs details in order to protect himself.
Giving the option to register to a site lets the buyer to follow up his order and save the repetitive buyer from giving all details again.
June 3rd, 2010 on 10:04 AM
I totally agree with Nissim; First, let them pay (duh?!) and then you may ask for a long term relationship.
No marriage until sex
Amir