The moment a
customer clicks ‘checkout’ the retailers #1 concern should be to get the
customer through the checkout process as quickly and efficiently as possible. Successful
checkout design maximizes purchase momentum thus reducing customer drop-out. Design
flaws create purchase friction which is akin to tying a ball n’ chain around my
ankles as I drag myself towards the checkout.
One of the repeat offenders of
purchase friction is requesting non-essential information. There’s an easy solution - do not ask customers any questions that aren’t
directly relevant to their order.
Would the main offender of non-essential
information please stand up? – Registration.
Registration itself is not a bad
thing although recent months have seen Registration on trial for all manner of
crimes against user-centric design. It’s
all about timing and giving your customer control. Good design offers your customers incentives
to complete the registration form but doesn’t force them to register.
It’s easy to understand the
friction Registration causes by considering the following real-world scenarios:-
Scenario 1
I pass through the checkout at
Sainsbury’s after buying my week’s shopping and as I walk towards the exit a
sales representative on behalf of Nectar tries to catch my attention. I have the choice to keep walking or engage in conversation. This particular day I’m not in a rush so I
stop to talk to the sales rep. He tells
me of all the great benefits I could take advantage of by being a Nectar Card
holder. These incentives are appealing
so I sign-up by opting to complete
the registration form. That experience
works for me as I was in control.
A similar scenario could have
happened as I entered the store before I started shopping. Either way on both occasions I would complete
the registration form on my terms, at a time that was good for me.
Scenario 2
I am stood in a queue with all
my purchases loaded up on the checkout and the cashier says ‘before I put your
goods through the till could you please complete this Nectar registration
form?’ I say ‘No’ but the cashier
insists as I can’t pay and exit unless I complete the form.
Does Scenario 2 sound like an
unlikely scenario? It might be so for a
bricks-and-mortar store, but many online retailers insist on registration and
this scenario is common online.
Why are online customers treated
so differently? This may be partly due to the visibility of in-store customers.
A store supervisor walking the floor
couldn’t miss a queue of tens of angry customers at the information desk or frustrated
customers at the checkout refusing to complete the form. The online friction
caused by direct registration may not be so evident unless the retailer performs
user tests or studies their site analytics.
Abandonment rates might stick out like a sore thumb on sites with direct
registration but many retailers don’t give the analytics the attention they deserve
and therefore aren’t aware of their higher than average abandonment rate or
can’t isolate where the abandonment is happening.
It’s clear to all that I’m not
an advocate of Direct Registration during the checkout process.
The good news is that some retailers are implementing alternative
ways to Register Customers which minimize purchase friction. These include: -
i)
Passive Registration
ii)
Sign-up at
end of Checkout Process
iii)
Sign-up after
Checkout Process
Passive Registration is where
the registration data is gathered as the customer passes through the checkout
process. The distinction between ‘Sign-up
at end …’ and ‘Sign-up after …’ is that the former is recognized as part of the
checkout process whereas the latter is achieved at a later time or date after
that shopping session has been completed.
An example of Sign-up at end is when a customer is
asked if they want to register an account by providing a password on the Order
Summary or Order Completed (thank you) screen.
An example of Sign-up after is
when a customer receives an email after placing an order giving them
instructions on how to register an account to access their order details. The customer may then use order data such as
their order number, email address and postcode to set up an account.
Back to the statement ‘do not ask customers any questions that aren’t directly relevant to
their order’. Is a password request classified
as directly relevant? There is an argument that requesting a password is
directly relevant to the order as it allows the user to track orders and view
order history. My view is that it isn’t relevant
because an order can be processed without the password. However, I don’t have issues with checkout
processes that request a password, providing it isn’t mandatory.
If the customer is asked to provide
information that isn’t directly relevant to an order then they also need to
know why. So when a password is captured it is important to inform the customer
of the benefits of registering an account.
For example, to save delivery and payment details or benefit from a
loyalty scheme.
Conclusion
- Do not ask any/ many questions that are not directly
relevant to a customers order.
- This means, marketing questions, email sign-up etc
must not be forced upon the customer during checkout.
- Use passive registration by harvesting the information
during the checkout process.
- Put the user in control.
There are plenty worst offenders
out there but I was motivated to write this post after a frustrating shopping
experience at Littlewoods. The only
options for new customers who want to checkout is ‘I am new to Littlewoods and would
like to register my details’.
Well I
don’t actually want to register but you’re not offering me the choice!
Along
with capturing the necessary delivery and payment details Littlewoods also
asked me to provide my date of birth, a username (not sure what’s wrong with
the more memorable email address which had already been collected), a hint
question & answer, and a checkbox asking whether I wanted to sign up for
offer. I just want to pay and get out.
aaaahhhhhhhhh