How to Add a Guest User Reminder for Account Creation After WooCommerce Purchase

If you’re running an eCommerce website on WooCommerce, you know that user accounts can significantly enhance the shopping experience. They allow customers to track their orders, speed up the checkout process, and keep their details saved for future purchases. However, some customers may opt to checkout as guests, bypassing account creation, which means they miss out on these benefits.

To encourage guest users to create an account after making a purchase, you can use a simple solution by displaying a reminder notice on the “Thank You” page after they complete their order. This reminder invites them to create an account and offers a direct link for account registration.

In this article, we will walk you through the process of adding a reminder message for guest users to create an account, using a small code snippet in your theme’s functions.php file. This method only targets guest users, ensuring that logged-in customers don’t see the reminder.

The Code to Add the Reminder

Add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file or in a custom plugin:

add_action('woocommerce_thankyou', 'gcr_show_guest_reminder_notice');

function gcr_show_guest_reminder_notice($order_id) {
    if (is_user_logged_in()) {
        return; // Logged-in users don't need the reminder
    }

    $order = wc_get_order($order_id);
    if (!$order) return;

    $email = $order->get_billing_email();

    // Show a notice with a registration prompt
    echo '<div class="woocommerce-message" style="margin-top:20px;">
        <p><strong>Thank you for your purchase!</strong></p>
        <p>Would you like to create an account to track your orders and speed up checkout in the future?</p>
        <a href="' . esc_url(wp_registration_url()) . '?email=' . urlencode($email) . '" class="button">Create an Account</a>
    </div>';
}

How This Code Works

1. Hooking into the woocommerce_thankyou action:
   The woocommerce_thankyou hook fires when the customer is redirected to the “Thank You” page after completing their order. This is the ideal place to display a reminder for guest users.
2. Checking if the user is logged in:
   The first condition checks if the user is logged in. If the user is logged in, the function simply returns, ensuring that the reminder message is only shown to guests.
3. Retrieving the order details:
   We fetch the order using wc_get_order() and get the billing email to pre-fill it in the registration URL. This will help streamline the process for users by auto-filling their email during registration.
4. Displaying the reminder message:
   If the user is not logged in, a styled message is displayed with a prompt to create an account. A registration link is provided, where the email is passed via the URL as a query parameter, making it easier for the guest user to sign up.

Why This is Useful

• Encourages Account Creation:
  This method helps increase the likelihood of guest users creating an account, which can enhance their shopping experience by enabling them to track orders and streamline future purchases.
• Improves Customer Retention:
  Offering a smoother user experience by suggesting account creation may lead to better customer retention as users will be able to quickly check out next time.
• Helps with Marketing and User Data:
  Having more registered users means more valuable customer data for you. You can use this data for better-targeted marketing, promotions, and follow-up communications.

How to Customize the Message

You can customize the message that appears on the “Thank You” page by editing the HTML inside the echo statement. Here are a few customizations you might consider:

• Change the Call to Action:
  You can modify the text inside the <a> tag to say something different, like “Sign up for faster checkout” or “Join now for exclusive offers.”
• Add Custom Styles:
  You can further customize the appearance by adding CSS styles inside the echo statement or in your theme’s stylesheet. For example, you can change the color of the button, the text, or even add an icon next to the call-to-action.
• Redirect to a Specific Page After Registration:
  If you want the user to be redirected to a specific page after account creation, you can modify the URL in the registration link to include a redirect parameter like this: esc_url(wp_registration_url()) . '?email=' . urlencode($email) . '&redirect_to=' . urlencode($redirect_url)

Conclusion

This simple solution provides an excellent way to encourage guest users to create accounts on your WooCommerce store, enhancing their experience and boosting customer retention. By customizing this code, you can ensure a seamless transition from guest checkout to registered user, making future purchases even easier for your customers.

If you’re looking to add this functionality to your site, simply follow the steps above, and you’ll be able to prompt your guest users with the reminder and link to create an account on their “Thank You” page.