1 in 4 abandon online purchases due to forced registration

Do you require your website users to register with you before making a purchase? If so, you could be losing out on a heap of sales, according to new research from Econsultancy and Toluna.

by Helen Leggatt

There are a number of things that can cause a website user to abandon a website at the point of purchase. The usual culprits are high delivery prices, technical issues, trust issues and high product prices.

However, there's another reason that consumers may choose not to continue with a purchase - registration.

We're all used to being asked at a store checkout if we'd like to join up for this or that loyalty scheme and register details. It's easy to say no and continue the process. However, some online websites don't give shoppers the option of purchasing without registering, and that time-consuming process is causing them to walk away empty-handed.

According to Econsultancy and Toluna's findings, a smidge over a quarter (25.6%) of shoppers would abandon a purchase if asked to register their details first.

Giving shoppers the option of a Guest Checkout will keep those who don't want to register on-site. Alternatively, there's no reason why the registration request can't be positioned post-sale, or even in the sales confirmation email, so as not to divert shoppers from proceeding with the purchase.