November 2, 2023, 8:44 a.m. |
Reading time: 5 minutes
If you have found a specific product online that the web shops you frequently use do not carry, then you may want to make a one-off purchase as a guest. Theoretically, there is something to be said for it – but also against it. TECHBOOK has dealt with the topic.
It’s the same thing with customer accounts (as with loyalty programs in general). They mean certain advantages for buyers, but ultimately they serve a purpose for retailers: customer loyalty. This is the reason why most online shops require their users to register as a permanent customer. In principle, there must be a “purchase as a guest” option (with a few exceptions*) – this is what the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stipulates based on a recent decision. But at least in many cases it is presented well hidden. TECHBOOK weighs up for you how useful it actually is to look for it.
Advantages of online purchases (for the customer)
The practical advantage of completing an online purchase as a guest is obvious. Because it is obviously quicker to simply throw a product into the shopping cart and buy it directly than to go through the hassle of creating a customer account.
In addition, less data is required when purchasing as a guest. Anyone who registers as a customer must provide various information that is supposedly relevant to creating an account, which is also stored for a certain period of time – and can also be viewed by virtually every retailer employee. For a one-time sale, name, email and delivery address as well as payment information are generally sufficient. Information on consumer behavior, as gained in a long-term customer-dealer relationship, is missing from the guest purchase model.
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But you shouldn’t fool yourself. The data due when purchasing online as a guest – even if there are few of them – is also archived. More about this is on the Dealer association website to read. This is justified under tax law. “However, this data must be separated for operational access. Access by customers or the addition of further data by those responsible must therefore be excluded.”
Disadvantages of online purchases
Without a customer account, buyers find it difficult or impossible to track their order. This means you don’t know when or whether items that have already been paid for will arrive.
Testimonial: Bad personal experience purchasing online as a guest
This is exactly what happened to our author. She found a special wine that she had been looking for for a long time in an Italian online shop. You don’t need a customer account for a one-time purchase – she thought. But unfortunately the bottle, which was not very cheap due to the (at least promised) transport from Sicily, never arrived. Of course, by the time she realized this, the tab on her smartphone in which she had completed the order had long since been closed; I waited in vain for a confirmation email. So what was this shop called again? “Luckily I was able to understand that because I paid via PayPal. But it now means having to get in touch with the dealer in a complicated way, and it doesn’t exactly make the waiting time for my order any shorter.” It would definitely have been easier with a customer account. You might have ordered something again and even received a small discount.
Another disadvantage might be that customers do not receive offers or recommendations tailored to their interests. Of course, this is a side effect of the conscious decision not to reveal any or as little personal information as possible.
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Equivalent treatment for customer account and guest purchases
There shouldn’t actually be any disadvantages for making purchases as a guest. This is what is stated in the above-mentioned resolution (written out: “Resolution of the Conference of Independent Federal and State Data Protection Supervisory Authorities“) to read. Accordingly, the “ordering effort and access to these options (…) must correspond to those of a current customer account and technical organizational measures must be taken that ensure an appropriate level of data protection”. Only in this way are both options equal and this is the rule.
Online purchases as a guest make sense, don’t they?
For those who fear for their personal data, it is probably clear: the less you have to reveal about yourself, the better, and therefore online purchases as a guest are probably the preferred option.
In addition, it depends on the individual case whether an online purchase as a guest makes sense or not. If you know that it is a trustworthy provider or you don’t necessarily need the order in a timely manner, then you can generally accept poorer traceability. Even at the risk of having to deal with a dealer who may be difficult to reach and demand your goods (at worst with legal advice). And yet it is probably the dealers who appear less reputable that you would rather not register as a customer with.
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In which cases guest purchases are not possible
* In certain exceptions, online purchases as a guest are not possible. “For example, it may be necessary for specialist retailers to only allow orders via customer accounts in order to fulfill contracts,” explains the dealer association. The exception can also apply to B2B shops (stands for business-to-business), i.e. to business relationships between different companies. Here too, the “principle of data minimization must be adhered to,” says the publication. This means, for example, deleting customer accounts and associated data if their holders have been inactive for a while.