In your Woocommerce store, making your checkout process effortless is crucial to avoid abandoned carts and increase sales. One of the best ways to optimize this process is by allowing guest checkout.
Guest checkout enables a few buyers to quickly place orders on the go without having to spend time in account creation, thus reducing the risk of abandoned carts.
Today, in this article, I’ll guide you through enabling the WooCommerce guest checkout without login. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to activate and effectively use guest checkout in your WooCommerce store, ensuring a smoother and more inviting shopping experience for all users.
Let’s get started.
What Is WooCommerce Guest Checkout?
WooCommerce guest checkout is a feature that helps optimize the shopping experience by removing the need to create an account before making a purchase. This means, your customers can select items, proceed to checkout, and place the order even without an account.
This is especially important when a customer is in a rush but wants to make an order.
For example, let’s say a person is on a business trip, but on his way, he saw an Ad about your product that he liked. He was about to place an order when he reached his destination. Now, when trying to pay, if he would see that he would have to input all the information and create an account to place the order, that would feel like a nuisance and he would leave the site for later, only to forget. With guest checkout, you simply allow the customer to place orders without an account immediately and move on to his business endeavors.
Another case would be when a person is looking to keep his/her identity anonymous, although this is not encouraged.
Benefits Of Allowing Guest Checkout
Allow guest checkout comes with a few benefits that you may want to take advantage of.
- Speeds Up the Buying Process
Guest checkout makes the transaction faster in the customer buying process. They appreciate the convenience of skipping the account creation step, especially when in a rush or making a one-time purchase. - Lowers Cart Abandonment Rates
Often, customers abandon carts due to the lengthy process of creating a new account. By enabling guest checkout, you remove this barrier and reduce cart abandonment easily. - Enhances Customer Satisfaction
Offering a guest checkout option demonstrates that you value your customers’ time and preferences, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty.
Now, let us look at how you can enable WooCommerce guest checkout easily.
How To Enable Guest Checkout In WooCommerce?
If you want to win back your sales or recover your abandoned cart, you need to follow some major steps by enabling guest checkout in WooCommerce. You will find separate settings options for each element including account and privacy in WooCommerce. Follow the steps below.
1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings.
2. Here, go to the Accounts & Privacy tab.
3. Now, you will find the guest checkout option, “Allow customers to place orders without an account.” Enable it.
4. Scroll down and click on “Save changes.”
That’s it. You now have guest checkout enabled in your WooCommerce store.
**Tip: It’s always a good idea to test new settings. Open your website in Incognito mode and try placing a test order to see if guest checkout works. (You may enable Cash on delivery for the time being for testing purposes).
Special Note: Allow Option To Log In Or Create Account During Checkout
We have already established how to enable WooCommerce guest checkout is a great feature for some online stores. However, you can go one step further by using two more additional features that WooCommerce comes with.
i. Create An Account During Checkout
While guest checkout is an option, this feature will allow the buyer to give consent with a checkbox to create an account, right on the checkout page while the order is placed. This means, the user will not have to go for a complete registration process. He can complete his account later and just create an account while placing the order.
You can enable this feature in the same settings area under Accounts & Privacy.
ii. Allow Logging In During Checkout
Another option is, when people are in a hurry, sure, they can go for guest checkout. But you may also allow the user to log in on the checkout page so that all he has to do is input the username and ID while placing the order.
Again, you can enable this feature in the settings area under Accounts & Privacy.
Allowing Guest Checkout Only For Specific Products
You may not want to allow guest checkout for all of your products. Rather, you may choose to allow it only for specific products or product categories.
Following are some product types or scenarios where guest checkout is a good idea:
- High-Demand or Seasonal Items
For products that are typically bought during specific seasons or are in high demand (like holiday gifts or limited-time offers), guest checkout can expedite the buying process. Customers looking for quick purchases appreciate the convenience. - First-Time Shoppers
If you’re attracting customers who are likely to make a one-time purchase, offering guest checkout for those specific products can reduce friction and encourage a sale. - Promotional or Low-Cost Items
For items used in promotions or those with lower prices, the guest checkout option can simplify transactions. It’s particularly effective for deals that are designed to attract new customers who might not want to commit to creating an account. - Digital Products and Downloads
For digital goods like e-books, music, or software, where immediate access post-purchase is expected, guest checkout can make the process faster and more efficient. - Gift Purchases
If your product is often bought as a gift, buyers might prefer guest checkout to avoid receiving marketing emails or creating an account for a one-time purchase. - Simplifying Bulk Orders
For products often bought in bulk (like corporate gifts or supplies), guest checkout can simplify the process, especially for buyers who may not be regular customers.
To implement this selective approach, you may look into the following plugins:
- Flux Checkout for WooCommerce
It enhances your checkout process with a sleek, multi-step experience, and it allows you to enable guest checkout for specific products. - AIO Checkout
This tool, on the other hand, offers a drag-and-drop builder for custom checkout forms and the flexibility to apply guest checkout options to chosen products.
Both instant checkout tools provide a tailored experience, ensuring your store caters to various customer preferences and shopping scenarios.
How Do I Collect Customer Data For Email Marketing When WooCommerce Guest Checkout Is Enabled?
It is natural to be concerned about the fact that guest checkout will reduce your chances of getting potential customer contacts for email marketing and promotions in the future.
One way to handle this is to use an email marketing tool that integrates with WooCommerce and allows you to collect customer data with a content checkbox on the checkout page.
We recommend the following plugin:
- Mail Mint
This is an email marketing automation plugin in WordPress that integrates beautifully with WooCommerce. Using Mail Mint, you may enable a custom content checkbox on your WooCommerce checkout form. During guest checkout, whoever checks that box, his/her contact information will be added to your desired Mail Mint list. Then you may set up email automation workflows or send exclusive email campaigns to this list.
Check out Mail Mint now!
Conclusion
Enabling WooCommerce guest checkout is definitely a good approach when it comes to online stores with tons of customers placing orders from time to time. You want to convert as many potential buyers as possible and certainly don’t want to lose any prospects due to cart abandonment.
So go ahead, and try using guest checkout. It may help you get a significant growth in sales.
Plus, try out the plugins recommended for targeted guest checkout and email marketing. They will help you optimize your store’s performance even more.
Cheers.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can guest checkout increase sales?
Yes, guest checkout can increase sales by reducing cart abandonment. It streamlines the buying process, making it faster and more convenient for customers, especially those looking for a quick purchase.
2. Is guest checkout secure?
Absolutely. Guest checkout is just as secure as regular account-based transactions. It still uses the same security measures to protect customer data and payment information.
3. Will I lose valuable customer data with guest checkout?
Not necessarily. While guest checkout means less data collection upfront, you can still gather essential information like email addresses for future marketing, with customer consent.
As recommended in this article, you may use Mail Mint to get consent form the buyer to add him to your mailing list and run promotional marketing campaigns in the future.
4. Can I offer both guest and account-based checkouts?
Yes, you can offer both options. This approach caters to both one-time buyers and returning customers who prefer to have an account.
5. How does guest checkout affect customer loyalty?
Guest checkout can positively impact customer loyalty by offering a hassle-free shopping experience. It shows that you value your customers’ time and preferences, which can encourage repeat business.
However, we will always encourage enabling both guest checkout and account creation on the checkout page to ensure you have a chance of getting more customer data for marketing purposes.
