Giving away business

I just had a not-atypical experience… I saw a review of a nice little item that I thought would be a great gift idea for a friend.

I went to the site, decided that it was what I wanted, and I clicked on the “order” button.

THe order page consisted of a phone number, and a pair of credit card icons, with instructions to call to place my order.

I closed the window, and told myself that maybe I’d go back later, although I know I won’t. If there’d been an online order page (like I expected), I’d have probably ordered it.

Why?

An order page runs 24 x 7. I can see at a glance that I’ve actually ordered the right size and color. I get email confirmations that I can track. If I get interrupted, I can come back and finish the order a few minutes later.

I don’t get any of that with a phone order, typically.

Setting up a basic shopping cart is pretty simple; if you don’t want the bother or expense of doing it on your own site, there are tons of places like Yahoo that will handle your purchases for you with a little bit of online setup.

Not doing it is just giving away business.
[tags]Online Selling, E-Commerce[/tags]