For one of my checkout systems we have been working to optimize the checkout to make it as easy as possible for each and every customer. Our customers did request the ability to log and see the status of their orders, and also to have their order information saved when they wanted to place another order so we implemented this. The way we implemented it was to make it a three page checkout. Page 1. Shopping Cart Page 2. Enter Email & Password or New Customer Page 3. Billing, Shipping, Order Notes, Payment Information and Place Order The one unique thing about our checkout is that we don't ask customers to enter a password, anytime they do anything whether it is create a price quote or place an order allow them to enter their email address and we just email them a randomly generated password after they have placed their order. We have used this system for about a year and it seems pretty good we convert about 18% of everybody who ads something to our shopping cart, however about 24% of people who add something to our cart click to page two (new or return customer) so we lose about 6% there, ( we basically have about a 100% conversion once they get to page three. My question is the idea of us emailing the customer a random password they can go in and change instead of asking for it from the customer sound like a benifit to you or is it something that bothers you?
irritant in the sense they have to go back and change the password because they didn't get to select it in the first place.. do you think there is value in taking out the thought process involved in thinking of a password...?
Most of us have got passwords we normally use for registering not-so-important accounts on different websites. So we remember them for easy logging in later on. You take our thinking process off when signing up, and force us to remember / change a random generated password, so what's better?
Let me reformulate then What is better.. Let visitors fill in passwords they already got used to when registering or force them to remember a random combination that they will eventually change anyway?
Clive when you say it that way it seems to let them use their password that they know. However, it is always good to get the sale.... and do everything possible to avoid messing up the process... I am in agreement that at this point that may not be the case.
Well, that's true, an online shop's main goal is to sell. Since you are requiring your customers to register before buy, if you're worried about their confort then try keeping the registration form to minimum fields. I would basically remove any fields that are optional, and display them on the user profile page where they can update if they please to. When it comes to passwords and security measures, I'd stick to what common practice is. Let them enter user and password themselves. Save them from having to change a random pass that would be given to them. At the end of the day, it's about an extra 10-20 seconds they will have to spend on entering and confirming a password, they can live with that..