Journal
Guest checkout and account walls in Georgian online shops
Account walls protect a wish-list and lose a first order. In a market that still uses cash on delivery, the wall is often the louder exit.
21 July 2026
Many catalogs we walk still require an account before payment. The reason is understandable: a wish-list, a repeat order, a VAT invoice. The cost shows up in the first-time path. A visitor who arrived from a shared link, phone in one hand, is asked for a password they did not plan to invent.
In Georgia this sits beside another habit: cash on delivery. A buyer who is not sure about the parcel is even less sure about creating an account. The chart then shows a drop at “create account” that owners describe as “people do not like our prices.” Sometimes prices are the cause. Often the wall is earlier.
A Conversion Path Review does not order you to remove accounts. Returning buyers who already have one should stay visible in the drawing. What we ask is that guest and account paths are not blended into one checkout step. If you can offer guest payment, the live walk should complete an order without a password. If you cannot, the written reading will say the wall is a chosen constraint, not a mystery.
WhatsApp will still close sales that never enter checkout. That is a parallel path. Name it, so the site is not blamed for orders it never saw.