With the rise of online shopping, the demand for seamless checkout experiences has increased significantly. It has become very important to provide a smooth checkout process for customers. And to ensure a hassle-free checkout experience, guest checkout is essential.
Offering a guest checkout option is one of the most debated topics in the world of eCommerce, and it can be a great way to make buying from your store fast and easy for customers.
Customers can buy things from your store without making an account or giving you any personal information if you have guest checkout option.
This means they can check out in a fraction of the time and with less hassle. Plus, it’s a great way to provide a convenient shopping experience for customers in a rush or making a one-time purchase.
Weighing the pros and cons of guest checkout before deciding is crucial. Ultimately, only you can decide if guest checkout is the right solution for your eCommerce store.
In this article, we will provide complete information on guest checkout.
Let’s dive in together.
Contents
What is a Guest Checkout?
Guest checkout in eCommerce lets your customers make purchases from your store without creating online store accounts or logging in. Guest checkout and customer accounts both have a place in your online store. Guest checkout doesn’t make it obligatory to register before purchasing.
Statistics favor having a guest checkout option – 34% of online shoppers abandoned their cart because the online store required them to create an account. Additionally, the store’s conversion rates also saw a 45% increase if there was an option to checkout as a guest.
Guest Checkout vs Customer Accounts
With Guest Checkout, customers don’t need to create an account to make a purchase, which can be beneficial for quick, one-time purchases. On the other hand, customer accounts can be useful for customers who buy from you often because they let you save their information for future purchases and customer loyalty programs.
For customers, creating an account offers an extra layer of security. Customer accounts require a password, which can help to protect customers’ personal information. On the other hand, guest checkout does not require a password, and the customer’s data is not as secure.
Ultimately, the best option for an eCommerce business depends on the needs and goals of the business and the type of customer they’re targeting. For businesses looking to build a longer-term customer base, customer accounts are likely a better option. However, guest checkout may be the preferred choice for businesses looking for quick sales.
Benefits of Guest Checkout
Let’s first look at some advantages of having a guest checkout option in an eCommerce store.
1. Easier First-Time Purchases
Guest checkout allows customers to make a purchase without having to create an account or provide personal information, making it easier for first-time shoppers to complete their purchases.
2. Lesser Commitment
Guest checkout allows customers to make a purchase without having to commit to creating an account, which can be beneficial for customers who are hesitant to provide their personal information.
3. Reduced Cart Abandonment
It can reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts, as it eliminates the need for customers to create an account before making a purchase.
4. Uninterrupted Shopping
Guest checkout allows customers to quickly and easily make a purchase without having to navigate through the account creation process, which can help to reduce friction and improve the overall shopping experience.
Drawbacks of Guest Checkout
Guest checkout can be more troublesome than helpful in some instances. Let’s look at some disadvantages of the guest checkout option in your eCommerce store.
1. Returns and Exchanges Can Become a Hassle
Without an account, it can be more difficult for customers to return or exchange items, as they may not have access to their order history or tracking information.
2. Customization Can Be Tough
If the store has a feature for customizing the product, it may be difficult for the customer to access it, as it may require an account or logging in.
Why Customers Don’t Like To Create an Account?
There are various reasons why customers do not like to create an account. Some of these include the following:
- Customers often feel overwhelmed when they are asked to sign up for an account. They may not have the time to fill out all of the required information.
- The customers may not understand the benefits of having an account.
- Customers may also worry about the safety of their information and fear that their accounts could be hacked or used for other bad things.
- The customers may feel that creating an account is too much of a hassle and would rather just make a one-time purchase.
- They do not want unsolicited marketing emails flooding their inbox.
How Are Leading Companies Using Guest Checkout?
Leading companies are using guest checkout as a way to make the shopping experience easier and more streamlined for customers. Here are some examples of how leading companies are using guest checkout:
Nike
Nike is a well-known company that uses guest checkout to make shopping for customers easier and faster. With this feature, customers can buy things from Nike without having to sign up for an account.
Guest checkout lets customers enter their basic shipping and payment information at the time of purchase so they don’t have to do it again when they shop again. This makes it easier for customers to quickly place orders without having to go through the process of registering an account or logging in first.
Lowe’s
Lowe’s is an American-based home improvement and appliance retailer that has been in operation since 1946. Lowe’s recently introduced its Guest Checkout feature, making it easier for customers to purchase their products without signing up for an account.
This feature simplifies the checkout process and lets customers quickly move through the line. This feature has greatly improved the customer experience by streamlining the checkout process and giving customers more control over their purchase history.
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters is an American retailer specializing in eclectic clothing, beauty and lifestyle products. Established in 1970, the company has become a household name due to its vast selection of innovative, trendsetting products.
Urban Outfitters has improved the customer experience by introducing its guest checkout feature. Rather than creating a user account, customers can simply enter their information and proceed to checkout, making the process faster and simpler. As a result, customers can shop with more confidence and convenience.
Chumbak
A lifestyle brand from India called Chumbak has been at the forefront of digital innovation in India. By using their e-commerce platform and mobile app, customers can sign up through social media to make the checkout process easy.
The company has added a “one-click checkout” feature that lets customers pay without having to enter their payment information or address.
Should You Allow Guest Checkout in Your eCommerce Store?
With the number of eCommerce stores opening up, the list of online accounts in our names is also increasing. It seems impossible to purchase products online without a ‘sign up.’ Add to this, the signing up process is never straightforward, and remembering the passwords for each platform is also tiring!
Customers suffer from new account creation fatigue – and they wouldn’t want to create one unless necessary or there’s a clear benefit.
Moreover, if some customers are shopping on a website for the first time, they would be skeptical about saving their details on the site. The trust is yet to be built, and they may not want to rush storing payment details on the store’s database.
Forcing shoppers to sign up for a store account before they reach the checkout page can also make the conversion rates nosedive. Moreover, asking your shoppers to pause their shopping just to fill out a form doesn’t make the shopping experience interesting for the customers.
Once the shopper has decided to make the purchase, you should make the checkout process as hassle-free as possible by providing a guest checkout option.
But guest checkout isn’t the right decision for all online stores. Consider some factors when deciding between guest checkout vs customer accounts for your store.
1. Take into consideration your store’s number of repeat customers.
Having an option to checkout as a guest or not depends mainly on the type of customers your store has. Some stores have loyal customers who regularly buy from the same store. And then, some stores don’t get as many repeat customers as they like. It’s not uncommon for some stores to see repeat customers for a particular product or during the holidays.
Guest checkout is perfect for those stores that don’t usually get repeat orders from the same set of customers. Customers would consider signing up for a store account if they purchase from the same site, say, twice a month or even once every two months. However, they wouldn’t consider creating an account if they only go to the site for some Christmas shopping.
2. Consider the Frequency of Reorders
Now that we talked about repeat customers, let’s look at repeat orders. The frequency of orders and reorders from customers are two slightly different topics. Here’s why:
Let’s say some customers bought handmade soaps and lotions from an online store. They are satisfied with the products and pricing, so they become loyal to the brand and the product. So, they make repeat purchases of the same scent and size every month.
They would make the purchase regardless of whether the store has a guest checkout or account process. However, the reorder process becomes more straightforward when customers have an account with the store. They don’t have to worry about remembering the product names or keying in their payment details every single time.
3. Consider returns and exchanges
There’ll hardly be any online store that hasn’t had to deal with returns and exchanges of products. Guest checkout can make the total return and exchange process a tad bit more complicated.
Continuing with our soap example, customers would most likely return the soap only if it is defective or if the person they gifted the soap to didn’t like the scent. However, if customers had ordered clothing or accessories, the chances of returning or exchanging the items were more. The t-shirt’s colors might look different in person, the trousers might not fit, or the shoes could be two sizes bigger. The reasons are endless.
If there is no account, the entire return process should go through the mail, phone calls to customer care, or even social media. However, customers can log in and click on the return button with an account.
4. Consider the Benefits of Account Creation
You should consider both sides before choosing one or both! On one side, we are discussing whether stores need account creation. On the other hand, let’s also consider whether customers need online store accounts. Shoppers can gain memberships, special discounts, or customized product recommendations only when they register for a store account.
For some stores, allowing shoppers to checkout as a guest is the best choice, while not so much for others. Providing only the guest checkout option can confuse, exhibit a lack of commitment, and waste a lot of time.
Guest Checkout Best Practices
Once you have finally decided to have a guest checkout option in your store, remember some of these best practices.
- An ideal checkout is limited to one page; all necessary information such as payment, billing, contact, and delivery address, should fit into that page. 87% of shoppers will abandon their carts if they think the checkout process is too complicated – and nearly 55% will abandon the retailer after an awful checkout experience.
- A slow-loading site, especially during the checkout, can make the customer pull out of the sale – it makes them question the site’s credibility.
- Keep the CTA buttons clear and specific. Make sure CTA buttons are action-oriented and that nothing is left ambiguous.
- Help users auto-fill information they have already provided instead of having to type in everything. At the end of each purchase, ask your users whether they would be interested in saving their details for the next time. Be careful with the terminology, as words like ‘register’ can seem rigid.
- Keep the forms as simple as possible. Remove unnecessary questions such as home and work addresses or titles.
- Show off your store’s trust icons – and keep these symbols as close to the payment page as possible.
- Finally, offer a range of payment options.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, adding a guest checkout option to your eCommerce store can significantly benefit your customers and your business. You can reduce cart abandonment rates and increase sales by providing a convenient and hassle-free checkout process. Additionally, offering guest checkout can attract new customers who may want to avoid creating an account on your website.
If you need any help customizing your eCommerce website checkout process, then feel free to contact us.
As an eCommerce development company, we have helped many eCommerce businesses worldwide customize the overall eCommerce experience. This experience allows us to comprehend your business’s particular needs and implement the most suitable checkout process that will help you expand.
