Americans shopping online miss the personalized experience of visiting a brick and mortal store, according to a recent survey by Harris Interactive.
The survey found that nearly 4 in 5 online shoppers (77%), who have purchased items online in the past 6 months, would like to get help from a real person before making certain online purchases.
The survey, commissioned by IMShopping, was based on a sample of 2,274 adults, ages 18 and older.
I smell an affiliate opportunity here. Live chat shopping advice coupled with an affiliate-powered comparison shopping site?
More details at http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRWeb/release/19701.html.
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If only I could figure out what to chew prior to sniffing!
Maybe you should make a perfume version of Wine Library TV and you can review/describe perfumes and have affiliate links for all of them.
I get no enjoyment out of brick and mortar shopping – the convenience online is the big treat for me, and I rarely run into a situation where my typical sizes don’t feel right when ordering online.
I was helping my wife buy perfume for her girl friend in Germany today, and she asked me: “is there any way to figure out how it actually smells”?
There will be some things that the online will never be able to convey even if there is a real person (to help) on the other side of the line. Just thinking aloud.
I think there will always be two groups- the old school storefront shoppers, and the new age online set. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options, but isn’t that the case with almost everything?
As much as I love shopping online, it is nice to have the instant satisfaction of knowing something fits right or matches exactly. The convenience of online shopping usually always outweighs the ‘fun factor’ for me though.
@RingRevenue:
I always wondered why unique phone extensions for affiliates never caught on more. I liked when MYAP was doing it years ago.
Where’s the phone number?
In some ways, affiliate marketing over the years has not done it’s best to make it easy for the customer and advertiser to connect. Affiliates for years have required that advertisers remove their toll-free phone numbers from their landing pages because they weren’t able earn commissions when a sale closed over the phone – cutting out the human interaction that many consumers are looking for and ultimately costing advertisers sales.
Many of us are like Shawn, we live online and are comfortable purchasing online most of the time. But often, when it comes to those more expensive or complex purchases, we want live human interaction. “Can you ship it by Tuesday? What colors to you have it in? What’s the return policy? etc.”
Making it easy for the consumer often means giving them choices and now with the pay-per-call technology that many of the leading affiliate networks are rolling out, they will not only have more choices available on the advertisers site, but affiliates can start promoting advertiser phone numbers on their landing pages, coupons, search results, etc. – earning affiliate commissions when a consumer calls the number.
Shopping online can be a lot of fun and ease because you don’t have to go out of your house. It is good to do shopping online if you are certain with the things that you are going to buy. However, if you are having doubt of the items that you want to purchase, a word from someone who is an expert is advisable. Online shopping website must have a virtual representative that will help their customers decide on the things they want to buy.
@Promotional Products:
I mostly shop online for a number of reasons, and one is that brick and mortar salespeople are (a) usually not helpful to me and (b) annoying and pushy when buying computer stuff, electronics, etc with their extended warranties.
But also, I can typically buy cheaper online and save time.
Then again, I guess people that work online are largely among the 23% that don’t have a need for hand holding.
This is the second post about this topic and I find it rather interesting. Don’t consumers buy online in order to avoid salespeople and to compare prices better? They need to make up there mind, do they want the ease of use that online shopping provides or the assurance that a salesperson or clerk can provide while checking out? Additionally, I think that if your site is properly set up and information is easy to understand that the customer will feel secure about their purchase.
Yep, this goes hand in hand with the recent studies by Harvard Business Review (on what customers really want), and Bold Software (on the use of LiveChat). Here are the links to them:
http://hbdm.harvardbusiness.org/email/archive/dailystat.php?date=082109
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007235
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