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I believe that signing into a site can be a big barrier to users so prefere e-commerce sites that offer guest access.
The question is should wishlists be a guest feature or do the business advantages enforcing the user to sign up outweigh the potential increases in profits.
Does anyone have any research or views on this?
I think it's safe to say that asking a user to sign in/up is a barrier. Whether the wish list you envision is worth the effort depends on what the feature does for the user.
I assume you want to provide the user with this feature to let him keep track of products he might consider buying. But this could also extend to letting him show this list to others so they can buy thing for him or as a way of recommending products to others.
In the scenarios above it's likely that the user wants to be able to access this wish list at a later time to view it or make changes. If this requires him to actively identify himself, I'd say that makes sense.
The key is to not ask the user for more than what is needed to access this wish list. I would be happy to enter my email address and choose a password, but entering more information about myself would seem pointless and unnecessary in context of using the wish list.
I always appreciate sites and services that don't ask me for more than what is needed for the actions I'm about to take, but unfortunately there are very few that do that.
No, the user should not be forced to login in order to use a wishlist-feature in an e-commerce website. Instead, take this opportunity to provide the user with a feature. Every time the user adds an item to his wishlist, you are given an opportunity to connect with the user. E.G.:
You have added {n} products to your wishlist. In order to retrieve your wishlist at a later time, please feel free to e-mail this wishlist to yourself, or sign up (it only takes a minute!) to access your wishlist from anywhere.
Reasons why I feel this is a more friendly way of communicating:
Alternatively, you could choose, much like how the stackexchange network does it, to allow users to sign in with Facebook, Google, et cetera, in order to sign up. If, at any point in the future, you require more information from them, you can simply ask for it.
Arguments against such a feature (wishlist for people who are not signed in) could be that business people tend to want to know their potential customers. The point is that there are a lot of people just shopping and comparing, taking away that feature from them might scare them off, whereas offering that feature might compel them to stick around.
You may not require a user to sign in, but you definitely should identify user somehow. At least until you're absolutely sure he or she will never some again to change a wishlist.
You may prompt for an e-mail, etc, so it will always be the same wishlist. And absence of the some kind of linking between a user and a wishlist may confuse your users.
Moreover, you should be able to link a user with a wishlist (if any) as soon as he or she will decide to sign up (or sign in).
So, give user some identity (like a random key) or ask him or her for an e-mail (preferred, because you will be able to send notifications, etc and link wishlist with an account later):
How about prompting the user to sign up only when he leaves the site? By saying, we can see you have shortlisted few items..do you want us to save it for you - Yes save it should lead to sign up?
i think you should be able to browse wish without having to sign up because you might not have an email or password and it is a headache trying to set one up. the wbsite should be like ebay, ebay is accessible even if you do not have a password. another reason is if you have kids they might log on to the website and can easily buy items however if you do not sign up and just browse then kids cant do anything unless they know your acount settings. i have experienced once when my 5 year old niece went onto wish and couldnt help herself, she saw some dolls she liked and didnt mean to buy them, next thing i know most of my money from my wish acount has vanished and i cant even get it back, a few weeks later i have nearly 20 packages on my doorstep. this is why you should be able to browse without a password or email.
I don't have research but here is one user's feedback.
I went to a site and was forced to register in order to continue. I chose to leave and not register. Each time you put barriers in front of your users you will lose a percentage of them. Do not require anything until absolutely necessary (such as a purchase).
As a side note I think that this should against the laws. Imagine if in any shop you go on the street, you have to give the shop your personal info, otherwise you can't enter.
