A large share of shopping cart abandonments in an online store is due to forcing users to register to make a purchase. Mandatory registration actually holds back many potential customers. So the question is clear: is it worth it?
A user’s motivation to register on an online store can depend on many factors, but it’s usually down to how often they buy the type of product we sell, or a certain interest in related offers and new arrivals. But when that’s not the case, and the registration happens only because the user had no other option at checkout, that registration isn’t very valuable from a marketing standpoint. If we think forcing users to register benefits our newsletter database, we’re making a mistake.
What do we want to sell or promote?
At this point we should ask ourselves: what is the purpose of our online store? It’s clearly not a content portal or a blog with daily updates. So if the purpose of our online store is to sell, why make life difficult for users who want to buy?
That said, don’t forget that building a good database of customers and newsletter subscribers is important for online marketing. But that database of potential customers is only useful if it isn’t full of “forced” registrations, which probably don’t show the same interest as “voluntary” ones. It’s much more effective to let customers freely decide what they want to do. That’s why we recommend that the checkout process allow purchasing without registering, because that potential customer is buying, not signing up for our newsletter. To attract potential customers or newsletter sign-ups, you should plan marketing strategies and actions designed for that purpose.
Finally, keep in mind that users don’t always tell the truth when filling out registration forms—especially when registration is mandatory. Our recommendation is to simplify the registration and checkout process, since unnecessary data is often requested that may even discourage customers from completing their purchase, even without registering.
Are there alternatives?
The idea is always to improve the user experience and ultimately turn the visit into a purchase. Having laid out the problem that mandatory registration can cause on our online store, the recommendations are clear: don’t force registration and simplify forms. Even so, it’s a “hassle” for users to enter their details over and over every time they want to buy…
Social login was created to connect users to our eShop (or any other type of website) as simply as possible, through an account they already have on a social network. Almost everyone we know has a Facebook, Twitter or similar account. Why not take advantage of it?
Facebook Connect is an alternative to user registration or data entry on our online store. With this social plugin, users can share their details simply by “logging in” with their Facebook account. This greatly simplifies the step, and it’s also an advantage for customers, since they don’t need an account on every online store they buy from. With their Facebook login they can shop wherever they like. Great, don’t you think?
