Eliminate 'login' all together?

How do I eliminate customers having to login or create an account. I downloaded the 'checkout without account' mod but it still gives the customer the option to login. Is there any way to eliminate having to login and just have a shipping info page where the customer can provide basic shipping information without having to join the website or give out some of the needless information that it page asks for?

hockley:

... or give out some of the needless information ...

Remember that you are conducting a business, accepting commercial transactions with customers, taking their money, and dealing with sensitive data transfers.

Having this data stored has several purposes:

1. The data is legal proof that someone of a stated identity and address has transacted business with you. This is required for legal contractual and tax purposes. (In the UK, Distance Selling Regulations require such data to be captured - otherwise you are breaking the law.)

2. The contact details enable you to contact the customer in the event that there is a problem with their order.

3. The archive of activity (past purchases, how they were paid for, where the goods were delivered to), are - in my opinion - essential for the orderly and responsible conducting of business. If there is ever a dispute about delivery, returns, refunds, non-payment etc. it's nice to know that ZC has kept all the details - and both YOU and the CUSTOMER can see these records.

With COWOA installed, you can implement this change which will completely bypass the login option. You will then need to remove the login link from your header and also change some of the wording here and there. It sounds like you might also be looking for a single-page checkout. You can search the Free Software Add Ons section for mods related to that. You will probably find though that a lot of the same information is requested because, as Fairestcape rightly stated, the information is important.

Yes, COWOA is an option for "faster" checkout...

... but much of the same info is going to be asked for.

There is a lot of evidence to show that online shops with the most streamlined checkout procedures do in fact perform better than shops where the process is more cumbersome.

I do agree that if the process is made more slick, it will have a beneficial effect on sales.

On one of our stores, we use fast and easy checkout and (so far) have seen a 6% increase in concluded orders.

Thanks for the responses,
I know the information is important, some of the information it asks for such as birth date I think is needless. I don't see a need to have to create an account either, I just want to make it as simple as possible.

Okay well information such as that can be needless. I got the impression from your first post you were wanting to ask hardly anything. Take a look in Admin -> Config -> Customer Details.

ZenCart BADLY needs this.
If, as I am, using PayPal Standard Payment, Paypal has all the info needed to satisfy legal requirements, Shipping Address, return to shop site etc, Automatic invoicing, customer records and even stock control. (correct me if I'm wrong)
Not that I am that keen on the fees they charge, but its a easy way to get started.
Most customers already have a PayPal account so all they need to do, and most importantly,WANT to do is enter their email address and buy the product. And the CC payment alternative is also on the SINGLE PAGE.
The ZenCart checkout process is a pain in the ########. I hate it ! Its going to drive customers away !
If using PayPal, why does ZenCart need to display any checkout pages at all? PayPal IS a shopping cart facility no?
All zenCart needs to do is keep track of inventory, by sending API info to and receiving confirmations from PayPal.
As it is, I could perhaps make all my items non-purchasable and include code for the PayPal button . ZenCart would not keep track of stock etc but I could do this w PayPal, but then would need to manually disable out of stock listings.
Am I Wrong or am I wrong??

You're right about some things, and wrong about others.

No, PayPal isn't a shopping cart - it's a payment processor.

I'd challenge the statement that 'most customers' already have a PayPal account, but it does depend on what you're selling, and to whom.

If you're going to disable the stock tracking in Zencart, why use it at all? A straight HTML site with PayPal buttons would work as well.

The Fast and Easy Checkout mod works well and speeds up the process.

Eventually, there will be a stable COWOA mod that does what you want to do - or maybe you could write one?

Simple Solution,
use paypal express checkout....
that way they are not required to type in ANY info....

your problem solved

remoteone:

ZenCart BADLY needs this.
If, as I am, using PayPal Standard Payment, Paypal has all the info needed to satisfy legal requirements, Shipping Address, return to shop site etc, Automatic invoicing, customer records and even stock control. (correct me if I'm wrong)
Not that I am that keen on the fees they charge, but its a easy way to get started.
Most customers already have a PayPal account so all they need to do, and most importantly,WANT to do is enter their email address and buy the product. And the CC payment alternative is also on the SINGLE PAGE.
The ZenCart checkout process is a pain in the ########. I hate it ! Its going to drive customers away !
If using PayPal, why does ZenCart need to display any checkout pages at all? PayPal IS a shopping cart facility no?
All zenCart needs to do is keep track of inventory, by sending API info to and receiving confirmations from PayPal.
As it is, I could perhaps make all my items non-purchasable and include code for the PayPal button . ZenCart would not keep track of stock etc but I could do this w PayPal, but then would need to manually disable out of stock listings.
Am I Wrong or am I wrong??

Hmmm,
But I was lead to believe that PayPal Express does not offer customers the option to pay by CreditCard instead of paypal account ? That, and not the fact that I could not get the Paypal Express cart to work, is the reason I'm not using Express.
And I think PayPal Express checkout only skips one page anyway... not exactly a "one-page-checkout" !.
I mean, look how many steps someone needs to go through just to "buy" a free download, which incidentally, are also not working .
I better stop winging tho' as I am going to need some help with getting the Downloads to work, Ill need to be nice....better check the forum.
:cry::cry::cry:

NO WAY was that 7 minutes !

Hmmm,
But I was lead to believe that PayPal Express does not offer customers the option to pay by CreditCard instead of paypal account ? That, and not the fact that I could not get the Paypal Express cart to work, is the reason I'm not using Express.
And I think PayPal Express checkout only skips one page anyway... not exactly a "one-page-checkout" !.
I mean, look how many steps someone needs to go through just to "buy" a free download, which incidentally, are also not working.
Theres 5 pages the customer needs to click thru.

1. Login
2. Shipping Method
3. Payment Method
   4..Review Order
4. Order Complete.
   Man there only needs to be one page , 2 pages maybe if you want to collect email/login info, surely ?
   I better stop winging tho' as I am going to need some help with getting the Downloads to work, Ill need to be nice....better check the forum.
   :cry::cry::cry:

Yeah your right stevesh,
PayPal isn't a shopping cart, and your also right about "not everyone has a paypal account" thats why I dont use the PayPal Express module.

• and I could just use straight HTML site with PayPal buttons... but I wanted a Shopping Cart.
  I'll try the Fast and Easy Checkout
  Cheers