Finally Getting Zenned!

[brushwoodnursery]

I've been looking at Zen Cart for a couple of years and asked a few questions a while back to be sure this would be my solution. I even operated a tiny store on the side using Zen to be sure. Well, now I'm sure! Tired of waiting for Harald and the Gang to do something, anything, anything at all.....
Anyway, there are some basic needs up front that I see haven't come out in a release yet. Loads of things are included by default (thanks, folks!) and it looks like everything else for my particular store can be had in the Add Ons (my thanks to you folks, too!). However, I need advice on the cleanest checkout modifications available in order to really bring this platform up to its best potential. I absolutely require a seamless purchase without account feature and a reduced number of steps to checkout. I'd prefer if there was an integrated solution for this (single add on). There seem to be several choices and I may not have ferreted them all out yet.

[brushwoodnursery]

Well, plenty of views on this thread but nobody willing or able to respond? To me this is absolutely essential to modern e-commerce and no new site should be launched that requires registration. Similarly, no site should be launched that has more than a couple of pages to checkout.
My current store is as close to this as I can get for my needs but just not good enough. I want to make it happen with Zen.

Did I ask at a bad time?

[Kim]

Welcome to Zen Cart, but you will need to do some customization since registration is required at this time.

A search of the forum should yield all sorts of conversations relating to such.

[stevesh]

As Kim mentioned, if purchase without account is absolutely essential, you'll be disappointed with the current version of Zencart.

You probably didn't get much response because there are, indeed, many threads discussing this, with Zenners seemingly divided into two camps:

1. I can't possibly be successful in ecommerce if I require registration.

2. It's no big deal, and registration's effect on cart abandonment is vastly overestimated.

(I'm in #2.) I won't bother with all the arguments, pro and con.

There are a couple of mods which purport to eliminate the registration requirement, but I believe all they do is trick the visitor into thinking he didn't create an account, and they don't seem all that stable, although others swear by them.

There is a one-page checkout mod, but I don't think it works very well.

[brushwoodnursery]

Thanks for your input, folks. I guess I'm in #1. I've just read study after study indicating it's one of those things. The actual number varies. The last one said something like 12% of abandonment was due to required registration.
I look at it as part of an overall attack on abandonment with usability, incentives and customer confidence and comfort all being important. When I built the last version of my store, it was very good. Now, 3 years later it's just good because the user expectation has gone up. That includes continuing mods until last year. I want to make my next store outstanding.
I'm working on building a customer experience that goes from one rabid fan/customer telling their friend right through that friend becoming a rabid fan/customer. It takes more than just an awesome store but it will help and I intend to do it.

"Open up the bottom of that funnel and money pours through!"