Simplifying the osCommerce Checkout System
I am back to building an osCommerce site and am taking the opportunity to work from the ground up. One of the things I have never changed alot from my current osC store is the cheockout system.
Now, I know from doing a lot of reading that many osC owners/developers but a lot of effort into reducing the number of stages in the checkout procedure. Not just osCommerce users but also, it is very eveident that any online retailers do the same. Currently, I am not convinced of the benefits. I know this goes against the grain and I am standing by for the backlash. My resoning - well, think about your own online purchasing. How much time do you usually put into making a purchase online? Including deciding on what it is you want to buy, checking any other similar options, comparing prices, evaluating the credentials of a seller - In my case it is quite often hours, if not days. Assuming that I find the right item at the right price, from a seller I am willing to trade with, I am just not likely to be put off by an extra page or two in the checkout process. In fact, if there is a problem with the online checkout, I am likely to go to the effort of finding a contact telephone number and actually trying to get in touch with the seller.
Of course, like anything else in the online retail world, you have got to play the percentages - assuming you have your prices right and you are in the right search results, to have one page less than your competitors in the checkout, all other things being equal, you may get the sale.
I still think this obsession with reducing the process is over-rated but, in view of the fact that I am starting from a vanilla osC setup, I have nothing to lose in trying to slicken things up. So, how to modify it? I have read Wizardandwars thoughts on the matter and to be honest, I reckon his original solution is the best way. Having read alot on the osC forum and looked at other contributions, I think many of the solutions are going to far. One in particular that I have taken a good look at tonight is the Fast Easy Checkout. Two things worry me - firstly, too many changes to the stock osC code, possibly causing problems with integrating payment modules and the like further down the line, but more importantly, this idea of buying without an account.
I can well understand the theory behind the "buying without creating an account" way of thinking but disagree with it entirely. Surely, in order to send someone their goods, you need their address. If their is a problem with their order you need to be able to contact them, so having their email/contact telephone number is essential, whether they create an account or not. Now, what is the difference? There is none. So long as you can word the account login system in such a way that the customer doesnt realise they are creating an account - the details are the same - the big difference to me being that if they do create an account there is a chance they will sign up for the newsletter.
So, for anyone who shops online, what do you look for in a checkout system? Is it of any importance?
Right now I am thinking of following Wizardandwars guide to the letter and going for the combined login/create account page and keeping the number of details asked for to a bare minimum. Just one last thing I cannot decide on - automated passwords or user created ones.
Any thoughts from either osC owners or developers or, maybe more importantly, online shoppers would be very welcome.
Cheers.
Now, I know from doing a lot of reading that many osC owners/developers but a lot of effort into reducing the number of stages in the checkout procedure. Not just osCommerce users but also, it is very eveident that any online retailers do the same. Currently, I am not convinced of the benefits. I know this goes against the grain and I am standing by for the backlash. My resoning - well, think about your own online purchasing. How much time do you usually put into making a purchase online? Including deciding on what it is you want to buy, checking any other similar options, comparing prices, evaluating the credentials of a seller - In my case it is quite often hours, if not days. Assuming that I find the right item at the right price, from a seller I am willing to trade with, I am just not likely to be put off by an extra page or two in the checkout process. In fact, if there is a problem with the online checkout, I am likely to go to the effort of finding a contact telephone number and actually trying to get in touch with the seller.
Of course, like anything else in the online retail world, you have got to play the percentages - assuming you have your prices right and you are in the right search results, to have one page less than your competitors in the checkout, all other things being equal, you may get the sale.
I still think this obsession with reducing the process is over-rated but, in view of the fact that I am starting from a vanilla osC setup, I have nothing to lose in trying to slicken things up. So, how to modify it? I have read Wizardandwars thoughts on the matter and to be honest, I reckon his original solution is the best way. Having read alot on the osC forum and looked at other contributions, I think many of the solutions are going to far. One in particular that I have taken a good look at tonight is the Fast Easy Checkout. Two things worry me - firstly, too many changes to the stock osC code, possibly causing problems with integrating payment modules and the like further down the line, but more importantly, this idea of buying without an account.
I can well understand the theory behind the "buying without creating an account" way of thinking but disagree with it entirely. Surely, in order to send someone their goods, you need their address. If their is a problem with their order you need to be able to contact them, so having their email/contact telephone number is essential, whether they create an account or not. Now, what is the difference? There is none. So long as you can word the account login system in such a way that the customer doesnt realise they are creating an account - the details are the same - the big difference to me being that if they do create an account there is a chance they will sign up for the newsletter.
So, for anyone who shops online, what do you look for in a checkout system? Is it of any importance?
Right now I am thinking of following Wizardandwars guide to the letter and going for the combined login/create account page and keeping the number of details asked for to a bare minimum. Just one last thing I cannot decide on - automated passwords or user created ones.
Any thoughts from either osC owners or developers or, maybe more importantly, online shoppers would be very welcome.
Cheers.
posted by richandzhaoyan | 12:41 AM
4 Comments:
Rich, have a hunt in the osCommerce Forum for the thread "customer login" which I started about 3 years ago. This has a lot of good ideas for streamlining osCommerce login and checkout procedures.
On my own osCommerce shop I have:
~ combined login and checkout
~ removed password inputs
~ new customers get logged out immediately *after* creating an account (told to log in using the password sent to them) - stops fraud.
~ removed checkout_success.php
~ removed create_account_success.php
So, though I have removed a few pages, I have placed 1 extra (quite big) barrier to checking out. Works great. Store Owners who worry too much about shortening the checkout don't understand how a customers mind works.
If I had postage costs, I would definately make sure to have shipping charges shown on the shopping cart page (at least estimated shipping). The customer should be able to see the full cost *before* creating an account => this is where most osCommerce sites fail miserably.
If you can get your checkout to 4 steps I think that is acceptable. Any more than that is not in my opinion.
Thanks for your input Gary.
I can understand your reason for the new cutomers being logged out for a downloadable product. I can imagine it must be quite difficult to prevent fraud when the product is instantly available.
I am happy with the combined login and checkout. The one page I know I could do without is checkout_shipping. I dont have any shipping options, I am only going to ship to the UK and only offer one type of shipping at a flat rate so really the only reason for the checkout_shipping page is if the customer wants to change their shipping address. As the checkout_payment page offers the ability to change billing address, I would think this would be a more natural place to put the change shipping address option.
I will have to put a little more thought into that - It depends really on the consequences of making the change. How much it will affect future contributions or payment modules.
Also, not too sure of the pros and cons of the "generated" password. Although it is another "field" to be entered by the potential customer, I think its a pretty standard practice on alot of different types of site now so shouldnt be too much of a turn off.
Thanks for the heads up on showing the shipping costs on the shopping cart - that is certainly something I will look into adding.
Cheers,
Rich
I'm not too keen on site-generated passwords- they are often hard to remember, difficult to type, and generally it just pisses me off when I can't pick my own :)
I can understand the urge to minimize the amount the customer has to type in and to improve security, but I don't believe in doing it at the expense of the customer experience.
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