Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

[chucklasker-BANNNED]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Ok, how would one go about doing this? :) This gets into areas that I have not yet ventured.

I'm afraid that is advanced enough that you'd either have to figure it out or hire someone to do it. You can submit a request for quotes at the Work for Hire forum:

http://extranet.mivamerchant.com/for...splay.php?f=55

[Red Flare]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Under the tutorial is a link that says, "Right click and save for code referenced in tutorial." The code is attached there. But here it is, too:

<table border="1" align="center" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000">
  <tr>
    <td><FORM METHOD = "post" ACTION = "&mvt:global:secure_sessionurl;">
<INPUT TYPE = "hidden" NAME = "Action" VALUE = "ICST">
<INPUT TYPE = "hidden" NAME = "Screen" VALUE = "ACNT">
<INPUT TYPE = "hidden" NAME = "Store_Code" VALUE = "MT"> <!-- PUT YOUR STORE CODE HERE  --> 
<input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipFirstName" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_fname;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipLastName" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_lname;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipEmail" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_email;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipPhone" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_phone;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipFax" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_fax;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipCompany" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_comp;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipAddress" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_addr;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipCity" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_city;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipStateSelect" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_state;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipState" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_state;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipZip" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_zip;" size="25">
   <input type="hidden" name="Customer_ShipCountry" VALUE="&mvte:order:ship_cntry;" size="25">
<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center">
 <tr>
   <td colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle"><strong>Create an Account to Make Checking Out Easier Next Time!</strong></td>
   </tr>
 <tr>
  <td align="right" valign="middle">
   <B>Create Login Name</B>  </td>
  <td align="left" valign="middle"><input type="text" name="Customer_Login" VALUE="&mvte:global:Customer_Login;" size="25"> </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td align="right" valign="middle">
   <B>Create Password</B></td>
  <td align="left" valign="middle"><input type="password" name="Customer_Password" VALUE="&mvte:global:Customer_Password;" size="25"> </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td align="right" valign="middle">
   <B>Confirm Password</B>  </td>
  <td align="left" valign="middle"><input type="password" name="Customer_VerifyPassword" VALUE="&mvte:global:Customer_VerifyPassword;" size="25"> </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td align="right" valign="middle">
    <B>Your Email</B> </td>
  <td align="left" valign="middle"><input type="text" name="Customer_PasswordEmail" VALUE="&mvte:global:Customer_PasswordEmail;" size="25"> </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
   <td colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">   
<input type="image" value="Create Account" src="graphics/00000001/createaccountbutton.gif" alt="Create Account"></td>
   </tr>
</table>
</form>
</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Keep in mind this is basic code- kind of ugly. David Lasker at Lasker Consulting developed this and when he implements it he has the Invoice only show a button that says "Create an Account," that, when clicked, expands out to show this form. Makes it less obtrusive and adds interest.

Hi Chuck,

So I pasted the code as directed above and I tested it. It will display the create and account form on the INVC page even if a person already has an account and checked out while logged in.

Is there some If then statement that is missing?

Thanks!

[marvster]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

While the "require vs. optional account" question is a completely worthy debate, I see this article pop up every few months and have grown fairly suspicious of its credibility.

Does anyone know which "$25 billion retailer" (that's billion with a B) retailer the author was consulting for? Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's bigger than Amazon, though not nearly as big as Best Buy.

I only bring it up because folks who argue against required account creation often use this article as the backbone of their argument, and I'd love to know if it's legit.

Marv

[chucklasker-BANNNED]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Good question. I don't know. The article can't pop up every few months too many times, Marv - it was only published 4 months ago.

It doesn't look like Jared Spool is the type of guy who would lie to make a point, though:

http://www.uie.com/about/consultants/

You can email him at [email protected] and ask - I'd love to know who the retailer was, too.

[chucklasker-BANNNED]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Good question. I don't know. The article can't pop up every few months too many times, Marv - it was only published 4 months ago.

It doesn't look like Jared Spool is the type of guy who would lie to make a point, though:

http://www.uie.com/about/consultants/

You can email him at [email protected] and ask - I'd love to know who the retailer was, too.

To me, it's enough to make it worth A/B testing - seeing conversion rates when requiring and not requiring an account. Every site audience is different, so nothing is across-the-board true on the Internet.

[marvster]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

The article can't pop up every few months too many times, Marv - it was only published 4 months ago.

Sorry, I meant it's come up several times in the past few months. :-) We've been having this debate at my company. It's certainly worth testing, and as you point out every audience and market is different.

I can't share internal data, but we have several stores that require accounts and they've been growing like gangbusters -- fair to point out that perhaps they could grow even more if we didn't require an account.

Since we do a ton of ESD business the account creation is directly tied to making it easy for customers who want to come back later and re-download their product, get other entitlements, or manage their profile.

This helps mitigate calls, which can be just as expensive as lost sales. So it's an even more interesting question when you add the dimension of total cost of sale (including post-sale support) instead of focusing solely on conversion.

Brand loyalty also seems to enter into it. I've discussed this with people who are dead set against required accounts, but when I point out Apple requires an account they say they don't mind because they "like" Apple.

Cheers,

Marv

[Biffy]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

I think another factor comes into play here. What does it mean to create account? Is it benign or aggressive? Does it auto-subscribe you to an email advertising bombardment? Does the consumer clearly benefit?

Perhaps it's the uncertainty that lies at the heart of the question. However, Chuck has the real answer - A/B Testing. It's the only way to know for sure.

[musicforkids]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

What do you think about eliminating the Create Account page but keeping the "my account" button on the top of my website. When someone clicks the "my account" button then they can create an account. Otherwise they just checkout.

[chucklasker-BANNNED]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Still a possible confusion-point. "What is that account button for? What does that mean?" If you do it, on the resulting account page be sure to fully explain it. At least it probably wouldn't cause people to abandon checkout out of confusion.

I shop online for almost everything but food. I have no problem entering my shipping and billing info when I order, even on a repeat order. I don't even think about it. So unless there's a value-added benefit, like a Price Group discount or Availability Group or something, I just don't see having it at all.

[William Davis]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

What a great and enlightening thread. Chuck, as usual, all the points made by you, as those made by others -they were all excellent points.

Perhaps the same check box at the bottom of every checkout page, or something similar in case they missed it in the previous checkout page. Once checked, it stays check until unchecked.

Example:

[x] Save account information for future customized shopping experience, and express checkout when you return to our store (We never not collect and/or store credit card information other than to process your current order).
[ ] Subscribe to e-mail sale promotion notification (no more than ? a month, and/or ? a year), and receive a ? coupon off your next order -you can always easily unsubscribe later.

[d_host]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

(We never not collect and/or store credit card information other than to process your current order).

Ohh, ahh, double negative. Does that mean you DO collect and store credit card info? :-)

[chucklasker-BANNNED]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Good idea, William. At some point they have to enter a user name and password to create an account. Any thoughts on that?

[William Davis]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Ohh, ahh, double negative. Does that mean you DO collect and store credit card info? :-)

Good point, what I meant was credit card; Number, Expiration Date, and CVV2 (e.g.: "...per PCI DSS standards, logos, etc..."). Obviously one would need to polish the sentence for brevity and clarity.

I just wanted to put the idea out there, and see if this idea would address the excellent points/concerns made by Chuck and the rest, or at the very least serve as a starting point for something better.

[William Davis]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

Good idea, William. At some point they have to enter a user name and password to create an account. Any thoughts on that?

Well, what if once the "subscribe" check box has been checked, it would automatically expand with the additional one or two field required.

Example:

[x] Save account information for future customized shopping experience, and express checkout when you return to our store (We never not collect and/or store credit card information other than to process your current order).

• Sign-In ID: [[email protected]] (automatically populated with lost password e-mail address once the "Save account..." check box has been checked.

Accompanied of course with language giving the consumer the option to change the pre-filled email address if so desired.

• Password: [ Bx1Lq3 ] (Similar to the previous field above, automatically populated with a random password using the same, or similar concept used by "KeePass Password Safe" "Password Generator" menu (excellent, I highly recommend it). Again, accompanied of course with language giving the consumer the option to change the pre-filled password if so desired.

Finally, I would let them know that they will be receiving an e-mail confirmation [[email protected]] of their user ID and Password for their records.

Just an idea... hoping of course that it will spark an even better one.

[William Davis]

Re: Great article about Creating an Account at checkout

My latest blog post, The $300 Million Button:

By default, Miva Merchant checkout has “Create New Account,” “Place Order Without Account,” and “Login to Existing Account” options. Users have been debating the best options to offer for a decade. I have had the opinion that asking a customer if they want to create an account during the checkout process is a high-level decision that distracts them from doing what you want, which is to give you money. Unless you are using Price Groups, Availability Groups, or membership benefits, I suggest simply eliminating the entire account functionality and let people enter their address each time they check out. It’s really not that difficult.

At last, my view has been vindicated with this excellent study, followed by a couple free tutorials about how to make changes in your Miva Merchant 5.5 store:

How Changing a Button Increased a Site’s Annual Revenues by $300 Million

It’s hard to imagine a form that could be simpler: two fields, two buttons, and one link. Yet, it turns out this form was preventing customers from purchasing products from a major e-commerce site, to the tune of $300,000,000 a year. What was even worse: the designers of the site had no clue there was even a problem.

Article Continued: http://www.uie.com/articles/three_hund_million_button

To remove the Account options completely, view this tutorial.

To move the Create an Account option to the Invoice page, view this tutorial (with code).

Chuck, do you are anyone else knows if there any module that can be used in conjunction with your "To move the Create an Account option to the Invoice page, view this tutorial (with code)" suggestion to avoid the "login id" question issue, thus eliminating one field, or use their e-mail address instead?

I get the impression that the modules I have seen are not meant to be used in the invoice page.