Casual Flings are Serious Business

It's hard to imagine that changing a simple button on a website could increase sales revenue by $300 million... 

In the early noughties, an E-commerce site (rumoured to be Best Buy) had a simple form where shoppers were prompted to either 'log in' or 'register' to complete their purchase. However, the business were puzzled that shoppers would happily fill their cart to brim, make their way to check out and... 

Poof! Vanish into thin air. 

A thousand full shopping carts alone in a digital ghost town. 

I'm not looking for a relationship

The purchasing form seemed simple and innocent enough, but it turns out, first-time shoppers do, in fact, mind registering. When they have set out to buy something, they want to do just that. By forcing them into a relationship, the site was actually pushing them away. 

Even repeat customers weren't any happier. If they couldn't remember thier login information, they had to go through the rigmarole of resetting their details when all they wanted was a casual shopping fling. 

What the business had to do was be more of a friend-with-benefits rather than a soulmate. By adding a button saying 'checkout as guest', the customers were back, throwing themselves at the site, purchasing everything.

No commitment, no pressure, just a clear path to completing their purchase. 

Dare to be trivial - small details often hold the keys to big changes. We often think a complex problem requires a complex solution. When in some cases, it just needs an extra button.