Guest Checkout for Web Sales

Enabling Guest Checkout for online sales means that the patron:
  • Can buy online and add items (tickets, gift certificates/passes, donations) to their cart
  • Begin the checkout process
  • The web sales process will ask them if they want to:
    • Log in to a previously created account using their email/password. This attaches the cart to an existing full profile patron.
    • Create a new Account which will ask the user to supply all information - and create a new full profile patron
    • do a Guest Checkout which will use the data requirements on the right side of the mandatory data window. If the patron enters:
      • Only this minimum data and no Password, a Limited Profile Patron is created during guest checkout and an employee may need to subsequently find and merge them (if its a duplicate), or capture more data later. A guest checkout cannot log back in online and see their prior purchases
      • All the information and a Password, then a full profile patron will be created. By providing the password, the patron will be able to log in online and review prior purchases.

 

Guest Checkout Options are Based on Cart Contents

If the Web Checkout limited profile is set, you can restrict when the Limited Profile option is available based on the contents of the cart. The choices are any one or more of:

  • Tickets - if only tickets are in the cart, the patron can do limited profile checkout

    Do not set this option if you are selling live streaming events (see note below)

  • Donations - if only donations are in the cart, the patron can do limited profile checkout
  • Pass/Gift Certificate - if only Passes/Gift Certificaes are in the cart, the patron can do limited profile checkout
  • If Multiple items are checked, then the patron can check out using limited profile if only those checked items are in the cart. Eg if Donations and tickets are checked, then the patron can use limited profile if a donation and/or ticket are in the cart, but not if a pass is in the cart

 

What the Patron Sees Online at checkout

If the Limited Profile Patron feature is enabled in System Preferences -> Mandatory Data, the following will apply during checkout:

  • Patron still has the option of logging in to an existing account to see prior purchases
  • Otherwise, a new patron will always be created if they choose the quick checkout process and provide their name & email (at minimum), and other data you deem mandatory
  • Theatre Manager always verifies the email address.
    • If the email address already exists in the database, this 'new' patron will be added to the existing household.
    • If the email does not exist, a brand new household will be created.
    A patron who checks a shopping cart out online as a Limited Profile Patron has no login credentials.
    • Ordinarily, this means they cannot log in and see past purchase history.
    • However, if they visit the web site and ask for their password to be emailed, they can log in with their email and password and purchase again. If they do that, they will be required to complete the patron information that they did not complete the first time (thereby becoming a full profile patron),
    • If they never log in and simply buy again (they don't ask for their password), they will have to provide their name each time they checkout.
    If limited profile is used, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that all events be set to require print at home - so that the customer is emailed their tickets.
    DO NOT USE limited profile for tickets if the event delivery is live streaming (a this time). If the patron has a full account and buys the streamed event using limited profile and the same email address, this will cause the streamed event to be inaccessible.

    This is because the patron who logs in using the email, always logs into the main account, but they cannot see events in the limited profile patron.

  • At the box office, 'Limited Profile Patrons' are indicated on the patron list using a new icon. If you edit the patron contact card for one of those patrons at the box office, you will then have to complete the missing information before the data can be saved.
  • You should implement a data management policy to find and merge 'Limited Profile Patrons' on an ongoing basis if you allow the feature. This is because several records are created for the same patron if they never log in, but use the same email.
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