I see that some members here ask their customers to register before buying. With oscommerce there is mod to get rid of this and I expect here is one available for Zen-cart although I have not looked yet.

My question is does asking buyers to register, scare some of them off.

Tony

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Hi Tony,

I removed that obligation from OSC without risking that it would put off a buyer. Basically, if I went onto a site looking to buy something and was asked immediately to register, I'd click out of there fast. Wouldn't you?

Kate

It's all semantics really because when you get to the checkout you have to provide exactly the same details as you do when you register. It's the way you ask your customers for their details that makes the difference.

Removing some of the fields helps to make it a little less intimidating, why on Earth do you need to know the gender of your customer? They give you money, you give them the goods it's as simple as that The person's gender shouldn't come into it. Compulsory telephone numbers always put me off, why do they need it? If they want to contact me they can email me, If I want to talk to someone on the phone I will phone an order through to a company, not buy it on the net.I alway give them my fax no. when forced to provide a tel no The only exception to this is when the delivery driver might need it.

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Lawrence

It isn't quite the same. Once you've put something in the basket and moved on to checkout, it's obvious that details will need to be given, but as a shopper, if I was required to register before putting anything into the basket, I would click out and never go back. But that's just me. It would be interesting to know what everyone else thinks about it?

Kate

I misread the earlier posts and thought you were against an actual "registration" process and you just wanted to be able to provide disposable delivery details like when ordering a pizza.

I agree, the registration process should come after you've made the decision to purchase something. If I'm asked before I get to the checkout then I'm always suspicious of the reasons why they want the info. Are they going to spam me? I also think the fields on the registration page should be kept to a minimum. Gender, as mentioned before is irrelevant for a purchase, DOB is also excessive unless it's a legal requirement for the product you're selling.

All they need is your name, address and payment details. Any extra information is only of use to someone in marketing and isn't required if, as the websites usually claim, they are not going to pass your details on to 3rd parties or spam you.

One of my bug bears with registration forms are the address fields, when are some of these web designers going to realise that not everyone lives in a city? I live in Kenley, Surrey, admittedly it's part of the London Borough of Croydon but neither Croydon nor London are on the address and putting Kenley as the "City" just looks silly.

Whenever I make a "Create account" page, I always use Address1, Address2 etc, and only make three fields compulsory. It may look boring on the screen, but at least it covers every type of address format, especially if you sometimes sell abroad.

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Lawrence

Yep, this time I agree word for word.

Kate

I thought zencart didn't ask for registration details until they have decided to buy something? If they don't register you have no customer details I would have thought
Anyway I have added my telephone number to the the top of that page so if anyone is put off they can always ring for free instead

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