A customer account is a login section where the customer has order history, saved addresses, invoices, an overview of complaints, and sometimes loyalty points. It brings benefits to both sides – a faster repeat purchase for the customer, and better data and the ability to build a relationship for the company. The fundamental rule, however, is that registration must not be a condition of purchase. Mandatory registration before an order is one of the most common causes of cart abandonment, because on a first purchase the customer doesn't want to create an account with an unfamiliar store. A proven solution is checkout without registration, with an offer to create an account with one click once the order is complete, when the details are already filled in. For accounts, deletion on request and retention periods also need to be resolved.
See also: Checkout optimisation, Abandoned cart, Data subject rights.
