Online Business Question - Contact?

[pospoer]

I know there are many businesses now that operate totally online and only through digital means such as websites, blogs, forums, etc. However, how important is it to have a form of live contact?

I am currently employed at a company that is transitioning from an ebay market store to a full-on website with its own shopping carts and everything else. It will still be rather small, though, and our staff is only around 5 people at the moment (we will hire more as needed).

Do you get by just providing an email address or do you provide a phone or voicemail number as well? Just curious.

[Evan]

I've run an ebay shop and now do a blog.

For both I've only used on line - email and blog. Had quite good relationships via both.

If it was for high priced items my guess is people would want a human voice on tap as well. Also if the relationship was on going vs one-off sales.

So, my answer (perahps annoyingly) is: it depends.

[Blaine Moore]

Originally Posted by pospoer

However, how important is it to have a form of live contact? [...] Do you get by just providing an email address or do you provide a phone or voicemail number as well? Just curious.

I don't know how you will plan on accepting money from your customers, but if you get a merchant account through Visa or Mastercard, they require that you have a valid and working phone number and postal address on your site.

For my postal address, I use a PO Box, and for a phone number I use a skype-in number that goes directly to voicemail unless I am sitting at my computer at the time they call.

[phil.anders9]

Originally Posted by Blaine Moore

I don't know how you will plan on accepting money from your customers, but if you get a merchant account through Visa or Mastercard, they require that you have a valid and working phone number and postal address on your site.

That's exactly what I was thinking. It sounds like it might be a paypal-only store, though?... A few clients I've had in the past have done pretty well operating only like that.

The other point here I'll underscore is that I think a good advanced voicemail service is a nice middle ground between 100% "live service" and only e-communication. With automated voicemail you can receive orders by phone, too, if you set it up like that, and deal with customer service more promptly.

Plus, customers seem to like the security of a phone number -- the company I'm currently working for starting using gotvmail a month ago and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The combination of an 800 number and professional automated answering (with extensions, etc) makes the company seem a lot larger than it really is...(makes their pockets seem deeper, too)

But, it all depends on your particular business model and how you'll be operating.