Customer Registration has long been a hot topic in the online retail industry. Customers constantly call for instant transactions, but the drawn out registration process often puts them off and results in a lost sale for the retailer. However, the registration process is essential in gathering prime data that allows marketers to build a true picture of their customers as well as gathering hot leads.

So how can online retailers make this registration process successful, without causing shoppers to drop out of the cycle? Firstly, not all leads are equal, meaning that the value of each and every consumer is entirely different and brands need to be educated that the focus should be on quality, not quantity. Essentially, it goes back to the old sales analogy. The online purchase process is  at its simplest just a funnel, and the more people you put in at the top, the more leads that will come out, but you must scrutinise the quality of those leads. It’s far better to secure and retain five loyal, committed brand advocates with guaranteed inbox deliverability than ten short-term customers attracted by a temporary offer. A double opted-in prospect, or one that adds you to their safe senders list, will be more valuable in the long run is this will offer guaranteed deliverability - although it may mean fewer sign-ups overall.

In terms of managing the process, brands should always be flexible about how the registration process operates – depending on its position, product and target audience. For example, some customers may prefer vouchers as a reward for opting into e-Newsletters, yet some might prefer free delivery in return for signing up to regular communication. The process will be successful if it can adapt to consumer needs. Many retailers make the mistake of actually obstructing the buying process with, for example, an attempt to glean added insight. You wouldn’t place a researcher between an in-store shopper and a till assistant, so don’t lumber into the online buying process unless actually facilitating the registration. If consumers want a quick fix purchase, then brands should be brave enough to allow that. Then, once the purchase has been made, the retailer is in a far better position to request additional information.

‘Persuasion architecture’ allows the retailer to look closely at the effectiveness of each stage of the registration process. It allows the retailer to examine factors such as ‘when’ and ‘why’ shoppers drop out of the cycle. It also allows for quantitative measurement, such as the number of drop-offs, alongside qualitative feedback from consumers such as, ‘I wish that annoying page wasn’t there’, or ‘why do I have to input my home telephone number?’ Ultimately, the most meaningful stats are those that allow you to establish how much each customer is worth and how much it costs to recruit them – but these other metrics can ensure that you test, learn and refine the online registration process to drive maximum ROI. This researching phase will then, in turn, lead customers back to purchase points and encourage them to remain in the cycle.

Retailers must also maintain contact with those who may be researching products before purchasing to ensure future visits will result in a sale. This can be done by establishing how your shoppers can reach their purchase points by tracking their movements through the web - this is the holy grail of online retail. Historically media placement companies, with tracking tags across a number of websites, are best to derive this insight. But the rush to get a real handle on this has sparked off a buying frenzy, as the internet giants rush to buy up the sites that will help them track the consumer journey. AOL tried unsuccessfully last year to buy ‘Tradedoubler’ and recently settled with another network titan, ‘buy.at’. Google has beaten Microsoft in successfully purchasing DoubleClick for $3.1bn and Microsoft has since purchased the Rapt Advertising network. One of the networks offering this service is AOL’s Advertising.com. Using the ‘Lead back’ process they target users who abandon their shopping baskets with secondary messaging after they leave your website. These types of service will have a dramatic effect on online retail and marketing over the next year or so, as online sites try to create a pool of data from a number of sites and follow the consumer journey more closely.

Once you have this knowledge, the big choice is how openly you use it. Whilst it can be effective to say to a consumer ‘we noticed you didn’t buy those train tickets to Brussels, how about a cheap flight?’, it can also cross the line between informed and intrusive. Whether you use this information covertly or overtly should depend on the brand, product and customer – but retailers should proceed with caution if they want to maintain enduring consumer relationships.

Customer registration is very important to any online retailer’s marketing strategy. The data that is collected through this process often has the potential to drive sales through the roof, but this process can also put prospects off completing a purchase. The registration process should be as short as possible, yet pose incisive questions that provide the marketer with valuable strategic information not just information for its own sake.

Author: Garry

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