Do customers need to log in before placing an order or adding items to their shopping cart?

Before checking out (i.e., placing an order), customers must create an account. This is an e-commerce best practice and helps ensure you are able to contact the customer in the event of a problem with their order. It also ensures the customer will be able to check their order status online.

However, the Pulse Commerce system also supports Guest Checkout. Guest Checkout is for those customers who are not interested in becoming a Registered User, Guest Checkout gives them the ability to check out without requiring a Login ID or Password.

Enabling Guest Checkout will depend on your business needs. In most cases, allowing Guest Checkout is recommended. Some customers may not wish to register an account, and requiring account registration may cause these customers to abandon their shopping cart.

Pulse Commerce supports four different display options:

1. (Default) Customers may browse for products, view all product data, and add products to their shopping cart without logging in.
   
   
2. Customers may browse for products, view most product data but cannot see the product price or add products to their shopping cart without logging in.
   
   
3. Customers are required to log in before browsing or viewing products.
   
   
4. Customers are required to log in before browsing or viewing the homepage or site.
   
   

The first two display options are controlled by this setting:

• Settings > General Settings > Display Settings > Display Product Price When Customer Logged in Only
  
   

The last two display options require additional configurations. Reach out to your Pulse Commerce Account Manager for more information.