Can shopping cart registration be made optional?

I'm new to eCommerce and I'm trying to find my way around. I had VirtueMart installed on my website which requires the customer to register/have cookies enabled to place an item in their cart and purchase. I'm loosing customers because of the registration process and wanted to know if it was possible to "move" the registration to the end of the checkout and also make it optional. I don't know a lot of the computer lingo but I'm great with step by step instructions if they're available. I'm wondering if I should just go with the Pay Pal Buttons...
Thanks for your help!

This feature is normally called something like 'Guest Checkout' where users can check out anonymously. I don't know enough about VirtueMart to know if it has that feature so I really can't help you there. This is a pretty common thing for shopping carts so you might want to do a search on VirtueMarts forum area or create a tech support ticket requesting this feature.

Goodluck!
-Sherri

There are carts that allow for 'quick' checkout. I agree that the easier it is for a customer to buy, the better. My cart of choice CS-cart allows a 1 page checkout process but not all carts will allow this. In any case some information must be collected in order to fulfill an order such as name, billing and shipping information. If a customer has to register in order to buy, you are putting an obstacle in the way of your sale.

i can say about myself that i'm not buying from the stores which force registration

I can understand the ease of use of the one page checkout and the guest checkout option, but registration can be a useful tool for store owners. For example if you sell subscription products, paid newsletters, paid access to webpages or have online classes. Still, most carts do support the guest checkout and should allow the merchant to choose if they use it or not.

Thanks to all of you for your help! I will check out CS-cart! I think that registration is important too, but I'd like to give my customers the option.
I was all over the VirtueMart forums, but there weren't any responses to the questions. I'm so glad I found this forum! I really appreciate everyones help!
Thanks again!:)

Yes. Guest checkout is important. We believe it's a vital part to a higher converting checkout process. In addition, a one-page checkout is also recommended. The less thinking a customer does during checkout the more likely they will convert.

*snipped by moderator*

Good luck with your store!

Michael Levine
President
*snip*

Since Virtue Mart is an osCommerce Joomla combo i would be 90% certain that you have this option by default from your admin to allow guest checkout. Its an open source community forum so make sure you have searched all over on "guest checkout" and "registration" topics. if you dont see any, then just wait a few days to see if some one comments on your question. ALSO...in the mean time try to provide some comment or help to another posted questions. They like to see that you can help and not just ask on the open source forums ;-)

CRE Loaded is another cart which has this option.

I agree with earlier posts, as an online shopper I generally walk away from shops that insist on 'registration' prior to buying. We use a simple technique that creates a user account behind the scenes using information collected during checkout.

This allows the shopper to log in on their next visit to retrieve their billing information automatically, rather than typing it all in again.