Registration types and the logic behind them
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2022 11:08 am
Hi,
I have a lot of returning customers in my store. Which is a good thing . However, many customers forget to login before they buy. So even when they have an account, many purchases go through as guest purchases. This is not a big problem, but it's not optimal. I give rewards for reviews and testimonials but these things require an account of course.
So I have been playing around with vm registration settings lately. I'm almost there, but I'm not happy with either solution. Please let me explain.
With registration type set to "optional or guest" I get the following results :
If customer tries to checkout as guest but has the same e-mail registered to an account already, opc throws the string "COM_VIRTUEMART_STRING_ERROR_NOT_UNIQUE_NAME". This is good! However, if customer ignores that "warning", and do not click the "Create account"-button and enter matching passwords, the new order is saved as a guest purchase, even though customer already has an account. So the customer can login and view his orders, but the latest order won't be in that list. That is confusing.
IF the customer actually clicks "create account", enter the same password, then the new order is associated with the users old account. This is great! But it requires that the customer enters any new password two times. I don't fully understand the logic here, I must admit.
I would prefer if all new orders got associated with current accounts, IF the customer already has an account (e-mails match).
I can disable "Enable duplicit emails in any type of registration", but this will prevent the customer from checking out at all as guest if there already is an account, and this is not a good solution either. I'd rather have guest checkouts, than no checkouts . (customer will lose patience I'm afraid, can't remember password, too much hassle to buy ).
As an option, I can change registration type to silent. In this mode, ALL new orders are associated with current user accounts. Perfect! But the thing is, I still want to allow guest checkouts for those who prefer, I know not everybody wants to have accounts with passwords on too many sites. I don't want to force user accounts on those who don't want it.
- - -
So, I guess I want the best of both worlds. I want to allow guest checkout, but I want all new orders to automatically associate with current user accounts - IF there is an account already (matching e-mail addresses).
For now, I have put a message on the cart page recommending guests to login (or create account), because they get benefits . But I don't know how much effect this will have.
Stan, what are your thoughts on this? Is my reasoning making any sense? There could be settings I'm missing too. Please advise .
Thanks
Best regards
Peter
I have a lot of returning customers in my store. Which is a good thing . However, many customers forget to login before they buy. So even when they have an account, many purchases go through as guest purchases. This is not a big problem, but it's not optimal. I give rewards for reviews and testimonials but these things require an account of course.
So I have been playing around with vm registration settings lately. I'm almost there, but I'm not happy with either solution. Please let me explain.
With registration type set to "optional or guest" I get the following results :
If customer tries to checkout as guest but has the same e-mail registered to an account already, opc throws the string "COM_VIRTUEMART_STRING_ERROR_NOT_UNIQUE_NAME". This is good! However, if customer ignores that "warning", and do not click the "Create account"-button and enter matching passwords, the new order is saved as a guest purchase, even though customer already has an account. So the customer can login and view his orders, but the latest order won't be in that list. That is confusing.
IF the customer actually clicks "create account", enter the same password, then the new order is associated with the users old account. This is great! But it requires that the customer enters any new password two times. I don't fully understand the logic here, I must admit.
I would prefer if all new orders got associated with current accounts, IF the customer already has an account (e-mails match).
I can disable "Enable duplicit emails in any type of registration", but this will prevent the customer from checking out at all as guest if there already is an account, and this is not a good solution either. I'd rather have guest checkouts, than no checkouts . (customer will lose patience I'm afraid, can't remember password, too much hassle to buy ).
As an option, I can change registration type to silent. In this mode, ALL new orders are associated with current user accounts. Perfect! But the thing is, I still want to allow guest checkouts for those who prefer, I know not everybody wants to have accounts with passwords on too many sites. I don't want to force user accounts on those who don't want it.
- - -
So, I guess I want the best of both worlds. I want to allow guest checkout, but I want all new orders to automatically associate with current user accounts - IF there is an account already (matching e-mail addresses).
For now, I have put a message on the cart page recommending guests to login (or create account), because they get benefits . But I don't know how much effect this will have.
Stan, what are your thoughts on this? Is my reasoning making any sense? There could be settings I'm missing too. Please advise .
Thanks
Best regards
Peter