----- Original Message ----- From: "Matt Robertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > The custoemr is holding money out to you. all you have to do is reach > out and take it. > > If you walk into a store, pick out a product and walk to the cash > register, can you ever remember a time when the clerk handed you the > money back and asked you for your username and password? > > To me, the purpose of a web site is not to build a marketing list. > Its to make sales. Anything you do to get in the way of transferring > product out of your warehouse and money into your pocket is a > detriment to that prime focus, and represents a loss of understanding > of what the web site is all about.
As always, Matt Robertson hits the nail on the head. I couldn't agree more. Here's what we do: 1) Only the absolute minimum number of consumer-side regions of the site require authentication (members-only areas, for instance). Store checkout is one of them. 2) When the user clicks Checkout, the system checks to see if he's logged in, and if not he is prompted with "If you are already in our system, enter your email address and password. If you haven't logged in to our system before, enter your email address and the password you want to use for our website." We typically also add a quick note that this is so they can track their orders, receive better customer support, etc. 3) If his email address is in the system and the password matches, he's in. If the email address isn't in the system, it takes him to a form where he verifies his password and enters his first and last name. The other info like address and such is optional. These days we also include a link that pops up the site's Privacy Statement in a separate window so as not to disrupt the purchasing process. 4) Submitting this form registers the user so he can later log back into the system, then it logs him in automatically and takes him to his original destination: the checkout form. 5) If the user entered his additional address info on the previous form, that information is automatically filled in on the checkout form, but it remains editable. If not, then the user can fill in the blank fields. 6) When the purchase is done and the "Thank You" page appears, you can check the user's profile for empty fields. If so, display a graphic showing filled fields from his sales order and empty fields from his profile with arrows drawn from the former to the latter, and ask him "Would you like us to remember your address info? Doing so will make your future purchases faster and more convenient." A simple click on the "Remember Me" button then calls a method to replicate the address info from the order he just completed to his user profile. This is a very transparent process to the user, and reassures him at each step that the personal info is optional and that it is only used for normal and reasonable purposes. Nothing interferes with the process of getting the consumer's money to the merchant with the minimum number of clicks, but the process supports good customer service for future purposes. And you get two opportunities for the user to make things more convenient for himself -- once on the first time he purchases, and a second time each time he checks out an order while having a partially-completed user profile. The login/registration functionality is built into Plum (but the purchase process isn't because Plum currently doesn't have its own shopping cart -- it will later on), so if you'd like to try such a login/registration system for real, go to http://www.productivityenhancement.com/plum/DownloadPlum.cfm. How do you guys handle such processes? I'd love to hear some alternate techniques. Respectfully, Adam Phillip Churvis Member of Team Macromedia http://www.ProductivityEnhancement.com Download Plum and other cool development tools, and get advanced intensive Master-level training: * C# & ASP.NET for ColdFusion Developers * ColdFusion MX Master Class * Advanced Development with CFMX and SQL Server 2000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:198815 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
