Confirm email only required if no payment?

Hi,

Joomla login system won't allow the login of a user account that hasn't been confirmed yet. So in that respect, the confirmation has to be done before the checkout can proceed.
However, the alternative is to activate the "guest" mode in your checkout.
There is a setting to let the customer choose between registration and guest mode, and there is another setting to propose guests to register after their checkout. You can find these settings near the bottom of the checkout tab in the HikaShop configuration.