Set up 5 Different WooCommerce Customer Login Options

Online business, undeniably, is booming. And guess what? When talking about e-commerce stores on WordPress sites, over 80% of users think about WooCommerce. This plugin has become the standard among WordPress-based shop systems, from SMB to large businesses.

WooCommerce comes as a free and open-source plugin for WordPress with easy to use features that help set up and maximize your online store.

There are many factors in creating a successful WooCommerce shop. Some businesses focus on the product image design while others increase visibility with SEO.

You need to take care of many details while developing your online shop, but have you ever paid attention to the login page? Since it would affect the user experience directly, you shouldn’t forget to present a friendly one.

Luckily, you have more than one login option to choose from, depending on the type of store you’re offering. Today, we’ll introduce you to 5 different kinds of WooCommerce login and how to create each of them with ease.

Types of WooCommerce Login

When discussing WooCommerce login, it’s not only about entering usernames and passwords to make purchases but users sometimes can access the shop via a special access link. Here are 5 typical WooCommerce login methods you can consider:

#1 Guest checkout

Guest checkout enables shoppers to purchase from your store without logging into an account. Since customers’ information is applied to one order only, they won’t be able to reuse it in the next shopping time.

This process, on one hand, boosts the conversion rate as users find it easy to buy a product. However, it might cause some problems:

Difficult to review, modify, or track orders
Prevent users from reordering products. Without the order history, they have to go to the store, look for the products again.
Unable to save the consumer buying behavior data. As a consequence, you can’t build an effective marketing strategy or even reward loyal customers.
Take the customer service team a lot of time to assist shoppers with their orders

In fact, this checkout method doesn’t apply to every store. When selecting the guest checkout option, make sure you aim to target new customers rather than retaining those who have made purchases.

#2 Check out with user accounts

In contract to Guest Checkout, the standard checkout process in public stores requires users to fill in their credential information for future reuse. It saves their time from providing this information whenever returning to your store.

This checkout solution best fits WooCommerce stores selling handmade, personal care, or houseware products. Customers will tend to be loyal and buy the same goods for a long time.

With a saved account, they can quickly reorder their desired products without browsing the store and adding items to their cart again. Customers can also store their shipping or payment information.

It’s also easier to handle the return or refund process. You don’t have to go through the hassle of contacting via emails, contact forms, or social media. All a user needs to do is log in to his account and leave a customer service request.

What’s more, if you’re offering memberships, bookings, courses, groups, or digital downloads, using account checkout is a must. It allows users to manage everything from the same place: checking the order history, managing bookings, etc.

#3 Social login

Users sometimes find it annoying to register or enter checkout information which might lead to customer leaks. That’s why WooCommerce Social Login comes in handy.

WooCommerce social login makes it easy and secure for consumers to log into your site using social accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, PayPal, Disqus, Yahoo, or VK. They don’t have to spend time creating a new user account.

There are a few reasons for applying this login method to your WooCommerce store:

Users don’t have to create and remember new usernames and passwords.
It helps improve security and increase trust by using social sign-in.
You can increase the conversion rates since almost all people own at least a social account.

#4 Private store and products

Not all products are accessible to every customer. Some stores provide high-end and premium products for specific customers only. Take a digital product store as an example. Everybody can buy most ebooks and courses. However, not all of them are able to view and buy certain goods like a new publication from a best-selling author without the right permission.

Shop owners often restrict access to their products or stores via user roles and whitelisted accounts.

You can also password protect individual products, a product category, or the entire store so that only authorized customers can make purchases. This is a product example before and after being password protected:

ppwp-woocommerce-product-page

ppwp-password-protected-woocommerce-product

#5 Auto-login links

Last but not least, customers are able to log in by clicking on a special URL without entering usernames or passwords. Not only don’t they have to remember credential information but it also increases order security.

Auto-login links are perfect to create a private WooCommerce store. You can offer premium or customer-specific products that are available to certain buyers.

You can make use of auto-login links to grant customers access to password protected products. Instead of having to enter passwords, clients can click the access link allowing them to view the product. This method is the choice for websites selling premium content using WooCommerce.

How to Set up Login Options in WooCommerce Stores

Depending on the login method, there are different solutions you can take to set up logins in your WooCommerce stores. You can either use WooCommerce default options or install a third-party plugin.