I just visited the 4.6.1. gold demo site...
Is it just me, or is the registration page just as dysfunctional in 4.6.1 as it's been for the past few years?
Please, someone tell me that I am doing something terribly wrong:
1. Go to x-cart 4.6.1 demo
http://demo.x-cart.com/demo/home.php
2. Click on register.
http://demo.x-cart.com/demo/register.php
Fill in name, email password. Submit.
3. We are taken to
http://demo.x-cart.com/demo/address_book.php
Now what should i do? Add new address? Why? Why didn't the store ask for my address before I "registered" ?
All I want to do is buy something...
Ok, let's go buy something... as I'm registered... I didn't enter my address because I don't understand why I need to do this to "register" (I'm playing dumb customer right now).
I added an item to the cart and proceeded to checkout.
I'm now in checkout. I'm offered a checkbox, "Save as a new address " -- but it's asking for my name AGAIN!? I already told you my name. How can I spend money at your store if your cart doesn't remember my name?
Abandoned cart.
You see where I'm going with this...
PERSONAL INFORMATION fields are useless and should be BILLING NAME. Yes, I did this on my production store.
Registration should have the EXACT SAME FIELDS as checkout, including billing name and address. Anything less is just a newsletter signup with a password.
What am I missing?
I KNOW this is not the "XC5 checkout thread" but if 4.6.1 is the flagship (as of today), I have to ask why this "registration" UX has not been EVER dealt with....
Ok, customer profiles in the admin:
http://demo.x-cart.com/demo/admin/configuration.php?option=User_Profiles
WHAT is the difference between "Customer" and "Customer at checkout"
IT USED to be that "Customer" was for registration, and "Customer at checkout" was for, well, exactly as it sounds.
"Customer" is no longer, right?
SO what is "Personal Information" and why is this different than "Billing" info? In what circumstances will a customer's "personal information" name not their "billing name?
SO -- for many years, I have disabled "personal information". I simply don't collect it. But HOW can a customer register without multiple steps prior to checkout?
Currently, we are asking the customer to click on Add New Address when they submit registration. Then they get a popup. "But I already gave my name".
A temporary fix proposal:
Customer clicks "Submit" and then is redirected to address_book.php
AND THEN automatically, the "add new address" popup appears with the customer's name already pre-filled. (this is assuming you are not using the personal info name and using billing name instead)
Is the code to call a popup on a pageload something that we can do without great effort?
I hope this does not sound like a rant. It's a cry for a registration process that's just like the other kids and not oozing geek. We are leaving SO much business on the street and our conversion rates are down substantially since migrating to xcart 4.5.x (from 4.1) -- I know that this broken address book design and dysfunctional registration process are contributors to the overall lower customer experience.
I'm surprised X-Cart has permitted this to remain broken as long as it has.
I didn't permit customers to register for a very long time (except at checkout) - so I didn't feel the pain. I just recently started permitting customer registrations at any time -- and this has been a total downer.
MAYBE - the short term solution is to popup the "add new address" immediately upon entering address_book.php ?? Can we get away with this?