Compatibility:

Customer registration on your store: WebSite X5 Pro from version 14.

Choice of purchase mode: WebSite X5 Pro from version 17.

With WebSite X5 you can optimize your online store so to allow Customers to register before they place the order. Thanks to the registration, Customers can:

  1. save their billing details for future orders;
  2. save the data referred to the last payment method they used, so not to have to enter them again for future orders; 
  3. access a locked page where they can view the history of the orders they have placed.


The simple and guided steps to do these 3 things are:


How to set up automatic user registration

The first thing to do is setting up your website so that you can manage user registration.

  • In Step 1 – Website settings click on Access Management.
  • Open the Settings section and select Automatic Registration as the Registration Mode.


How to configure the online store

Now, you can start working on your online store, adding the goods you want to offer and setting up all the necessary steps.


#tip - For more information on how to set up an online store, see: How to create a e-commerce.


While you are working at your e-commerce, you will have to select some options:  

  • Go to the E-commerce window and open the Sending Order section: select the Send data to the database option as the Sending Order method.
  • Still in the E-commerce window, open the Customer Details section and choose the Purchase with mandatory user registration option as Purchase Mode.


By following these steps, you will configure your website so that orders are saved in the database and customers can register when they are in the online store. Alternatively, you can select  the User can choose whether to register option,  so your customers are free to choose whether to register or not in your online store before finalizing purchase.


#tip - Database and project export. If you decide to export your website using the Webspace offered by WebSite X5, you don't have to do anything: the database and server connection parameters are already integrated. If, on the other hand, you choose another Provider, you will need to report them manually. Please see: How to export your website using a Hosting Service different from the one included with WebSite X5. 


Allow saving of payment method

With what you've done up to this point, you've achieved the first goal: making sure that your registered Customers' billing and shipping information is stored so that they no longer have to re-enter it when they place a new order.


You can add an extra piece and make sure that the credentials used for payment are also stored securely so that they can be re-entered later. This option is technically called vaulting and is available if you use PayPal Commerce Platform. To activate it, you need to proceed as follows:

  • Go to Step 1 - Website Settings > Shopping Cart and open the Order Management section
  • In the Payment Type List section, click on Add so access the Payment Type window.
  • Open the Type section and click to activate the Pay Now option: select 'PayPal Commerce Platform' from the Payment Type list. 
#tip - To proceed, you need to connect your PayPal account if you haven't already. For more information, see: How to activate and use the PayPal Commerce Platform payment method
  • Now define the Payment method preferences: click on Settings and, in the following window, activate the Allow saving of payment method option. 


How to present and sell your goods

When you have set up your online store engine, you need to work on the web pages where customers can see your goods and buy them. There are 3 ways to do this:

  1. Use the Product Search Page and the Product Page, which are automatically generated by WebSite X5: in this way your customers will be able to perform a search on your catalog and access to a precise description of each product (see: What's the Product Search page and how to use it and What's the product page and how to use it).
  2. Use the Product Catalog Object: add it to a page and use all the options that are available to create product cards with pictures, descriptions, prices and buy now buttons (see: How to work with the Product Catalog Object).
  3. Create a page for each product manually, adding text, pictures, galleries, videos, etc. When you add the Buy now button, you can start from a picture, caption or button that has been created with the Hover Button and Animated Button optional objects, for example. In any case, you must use the Add to Cart option to link the page to the online store, and specify the product that can be purchased on that page.


How to let customers view their orders

The last step is to create a page where your customers can view a list of all the orders they have made. This is very easily done with the User Orders Object. Remember that this object will display the orders made by the customer who has logged in, so it is a good idea to add the object to a locked page, which needs a password to open it:

  • Go to Step 3 – Sitemap Creation, select the page you want to lock and click on Locked page.
  • When you are in the Locked Page window, select the Set this page as locked option, click to tick Automatic Registration and then confirm your choice: all the visitors who register with your online store will be able to see this page.
  • Double-click on the locked page to go to the Page Creation.
  • Use the drop-down menu to display the objects in the Data Visualization category: select the User Orders object and drag it into the page layout table so that it will be added to the page.


#tip - If you can’t find the User Orders object, click on the Management button to go to the Object Management window and install it.