ThriveCart lets you choose how little or how much information about a customer you collect at the checkout.
The least amount of information will be the customer’s email address, but you can choose to collect details like their name, business name, address (with variations), phone number, and even custom information.
All of this is easily managed from within the ThriveCart checkout fields editor when creating or editing your checkout design.
Simply click the ‘contact information’ element on your checkout to view and manage the ThriveCart checkout fields where the email address is shown. In the left-hand menu, you can enable different fields and options to achieve full checkout customization.
Available fields in checkout
All fields, when enabled, are mandatory and require the customer to fill them out in checkout unless they are named “(Optional)” in editor.
The only fields that can be set as optional include:
- Phone number – only when set to “Enabled (Optional)”
- Business Name – only when set to “Enabled (Optional)”
- Additional Business info – only when set to “Enabled (Optional)”
- VAT validation field – If your business is located in the UK or an EU country, and you have sales taxes enabled on your product, you will have the option to enable the VAT validation field. When enabled, this is an optional field that customers can use to enter their VAT ID and zero-rate VAT (remove it) from their transaction. See more on VAT validation in this guide.
- Opt-in checkbox (this checkbox can be enabled in your checkout, but due to the nature of it being for customers to opt-in to email marketing, it is always optional)
Mandatory Fields (when enabled, and the “required” option is chosen)
- Email address (required, cannot be removed)
- Confirm email address – when enabled, this adds a secondary field for the customer to enter their email address in an additional time
- Full Name
- First name + Last name as separate fields (Autoresponders and other integrations often detail a specific way they wish to receive customer information. Double check with your integration, but First + Last is often the safest choice)
- Business Name
- Additional Business info
- Phone number (“Contact number”)
- Address
- Country only
- Country + zip post code only
- Abbreviated (Country + State/Province + Zip)
- Full address
- If you have sales taxes enabled on your product, the Country + Zip is required at minimum in order to calculate sales taxes based on the customer’s location
- Custom Fields, when set, are mandatory fields
- Your Terms and Conditions checkbox can be enabled here as well, and is always mandatory to ensure customers agree before placing an order
- Your Refund Policy checkbox must be agreed to similar to the T&C’s
* Note: When enabling the “Business Name” field, you will then have the option to enable the “Additional Business Info” field. When enabled as either optional or required, an additional field will become available to add a custom label to that field:
As you add elements to the checkout, you will see different options appear, such as being able to set the order of fields. For example, you may wish to have the customer enter their email address before their name, leading to a higher opportunity of email collection as part of cart abandonment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Q: Can I reorder the checkout fields to improve email collection?
- A: You can adjust the order of the name and email fields in the checkout editor. Placing the email field first can increase email collection and help reduce cart abandonment.
You can also adjust the location of the country dropdown, from the top of the address list to the bottom of the address list. Everything else is set in place.
- A: You can adjust the order of the name and email fields in the checkout editor. Placing the email field first can increase email collection and help reduce cart abandonment.
- Q: Is there a limit to the number of fields I can add?
- A: Yes and No. You can enable as many of the available fields as needed for your customer information form, and can add an additional 4 custom fields, allowing greater control over checkout customization to fit your business needs.
- Q: How do I optimize my checkout for higher email collection?
- A: Ensure the email field is prominent and consider placing it before other fields. Using your checkout customization options and adjusting the customer information form order can significantly improve email collection.
- Q: Why can’t I disable the address?
- A: If you have sales taxes enabled on your product, than the customer country and zip is required at minimum. In some places, the state will be required as well in order to drill down into state/provincial tax rates.
- Q: Where can I see the information that the customer entered at checkout?
- A: The customer profile will include the customer’s name and address, while the invoice will include any name, VAT ID, and address details. You can see custom fields when clicking the “invoice” button from the transactions page. These details are also all included in transaction CSV exports.