Available Tuesday 11th October 2016.
We are pleased to announce 2 significant new features available in the checkout process:
Guest Checkout Modification
Let's buyers go through the checkout as one-off guests, whilst still allowing other regular users to track and manage their orders. This often suits buyers who are making one-time purchases and do not want to be subscribed to a site in any way. If they decide to make future purchases then they can re-use the same email address as many times as they wish. This is different to the normal checkout process which gives a message saying the email address has already been used therefore forcing the user to go through password recovery to be able to proceed.
Key Changes & Differences In The Checkout Process:
1. Captcha verification field removed from registration (applies to both checkout processes, we now use a hidden and more robust security method)
2. The same email address can be used during repeat guest checkouts without the need for a password
3. "New User" emails are suppressed, which removes any reference to passwords being used, but order confirmation emails are still sent out. Passwords are now automatically hashed out in emails.
4. Guests can only post testimonials if allowed via a new site setting in Site Setup>Web Display Elements>Guests can post testimonials?
From an Admin perspective, the buyer is stored in the database as a part-approved user, accessible via Manage Users, and It is possible to turn the guest buyer into a registered user by setting their status to approved. All orders from guest buyers will be added into Order Manager as normal.
Changing The Text On The Checkout Registration Page
You can amend the checkout registration page text to refer to it being a Guest checkout via the system page checkout_fast_reg in Page Manager. You can amend the text which normally says Track & Manage Your Orders plus the text underneath via the site definitions FAST_CHECKOUT_SIGNUP_ASWELL and FAST_CHECKOUT_SIGNUP_ASWELL_SUB in Set Site Definitions.
Postcode Lookup (UK Only)
Allows buyers to enter their postcode and street number to automatically populate their address details and therefore save time and reduce inaccuracies. This is a paid service provided by external providers typically costing 2p per lookup (lower charges apply based on large volumes or monthly subscriptions).
To use this facility you will need to sign up with either https://ideal-postcodes.co.uk/ (recommended to get started using their bulk purchase plan with email notifications when you get low) or https://getaddress.io/ (requires a monthly subscription, but gives better value for higher volumes).
Implementing Postcode Lookup
1. Sign up with your chosen provider to obtain an API key
2. Enter the key in Site Setup>Delivery>Address Finder/Postcode Lookup Adaptor (in REC+ this will be found in Connect)
3. Test it works on your site.
Postcode Lookup using Google Places Autocomplete
This is a good alternative for postcode lookup and not limited to the UK.
To set it up:
Go to Admin > Connect > Delivery > Google Maps API
Site Settings > Delivery > Address Finder / Postcode Lookup > Adapter > Google Maps Javascript API
New Definition: GOOGLE_MAPS_LOOKUP_LABEL
Important: This feature requires that API Accounts > Allow using CSRF Tokens as API Access Tokens is enabled so that it can lookup up the ISO2 Code that Google returns to us
User Home Screen Change
You can now hide the Display Name field when a registered user logs into their home page and edits their account. (Reminder: The Display Name is a nickname that users can set for themselves which then appears on testimonials or reviews).
Testimonials Changes
Users can now add testimonials at the top of the page, rather than having to scroll to the bottom. By default, 100 testimonials are now shown on a page before needing to scroll to the next page. This value can be changed via Site Setup>Web Display Elements>Number of testimonials to show per page.