Shopping Cart Abandonment Solved!

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Imagine yourself at the local Sears carrying a shopping basket down the aisles looking for the perfect gift for your sweetheart.

You come to a great-looking watch in the jewelry department.

You know she'll love the design, but you also know she has a curious allergy to white gold.

So you call over a sales assistant to ask what the bevel surround is made out of. She reassures you it's platinum, so you cheerfully purchase the watch, smiling as you wander away to have it gift-wrapped.

Can You Do This Online?
Take the same scenario online and imagine you have the same simple question. Now what? You'll most likely abandon your shopping cart and leave the store because you can't imagine spending that amount of money without knowing whether your sweetie will break out in hives.

Online shopping cart abandonment is blamed on everything from fear of using credit cards on the Web to privacy concerns.

However, my theory is not enough information is readily available.

If customers have questions about a product or a service, e-commerce merchants often expect them to find answers in the Web site FAQ or to search out the site's toll-free number. This can be a ridiculous process on sites that don't want to be bothered with expensive phone calls so hide the number by leaving it off the shopping cart pages.

Is Live Chat All That?
Many online merchants use HumanClick's live chat service. This Java-based solution allows visitors to communicate in real time with customer service representatives on the Web. Visitors can leave a message if no one is available.

My problem with HumanClick is multifaceted.

First, the free version of HumanClick allows third-party advertising and cookies, which raises privacy concerns.

Second, page load times are noticeably longer on many sites using HumanClick. I know of a large development company that stopped using the HumanClick service because of page load delays and privacy concerns.

Third, HumanClick is unavailable to Mac users because it requires an executable file download to add some software to the desktop machine. Mac machines can't run PC executable software without an emulator program that hogs memory.

Finally, Java-based chat is slow to load and can be testy if used on a nonstandard operating system.

Call in Now
Other solutions exist that address online sales, including CallSite from NetDive.com.

CallSite offers a hosted service for a setup fee of $99 (U.S.) and a monthly service fee of $99. The software costs $995.

This service uses voice-over-IP, which allows parties to communicate by speaking into their computers. It also allows text-based live chat.

There are multiple options in this arena to allow customer service; however, most require software for the desktop, third-party advertising, cookies from unwanted sources, or are expensive. They also require real-time monitoring of visitor traffic.

Many online merchants don't want to devote customer service representatives to fickle shoppers who abandon online shopping carts at rates as high as 90 percent at some e-commerce sites.

If there were a simple way to answer customer questions online, those shopping carts would rarely be abandoned.

So what's an online, small-business operator to do?

Rose Among Thorns
I've found an answer to this thorny question from Callbutton. Customers click a button and get a pop-up screen asking for their names and phone numbers so a representative can call them.

Customers receive a polite response to assure them they will be contacted how and when they'd like by someone who can answer their questions. No nasty telephone trees or automated callbacks, but a person from the jewelry department who knows platinum from white gold.

Callbutton has established what it calls a privacy wall, which protects your visitor from third-party tracking, cookies and advertising.

You now have the name and phone number of a prime valuable customer ready to buy who wants to hear from you.

From the customer's viewpoint, this is simple, responsive and satisfying. From the seller's position, it is one of the most powerful e-commerce tools to be announced on the Web this year.

Turn -- or Keep -- Your Fortunes
The powerful tracking and reporting functions that come as part of the package with this simple button could help turn around the fortunes of major online retailers.

Callbutton's price is low, about $1.50 per customer contact. You can have calls routed anywhere and be assured of making the sale to that customer who otherwise might have clicked out of your e-store.

Most so-called CRM solutions are expensive, robotic and depersonalizing. Callbutton offers the reporting and tracking tools available in those complex CRM solutions with two major differences: Your customers get their questions answered and you make the sale. It's installed on your page with a short line of HTML code and you don't invest the tens of thousands of dollars required of major corporations for their ineffective software.

Now comes the bonus: the upsell while the customer is on the phone with you. This prospect has requested your contact, has an interest in more of what you sell and is qualified for your services. It's the right time to upsell.

I've signed up for the Callbutton service and can't imagine how I got along without it. It's priced for the small business and cleverly solves a difficult issue for business owners and their customers.

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Valentine, Mike Banks - (2001, April 18) Shopping Cart Abandonment Solved! - workz.com