Websites without company details

[estwig]

Look I don't wanna feel like I 'm picking on you, sorry.

Business is about having an open mind.

 

[david9108]

That's the problem mate.

"the intention was only ever to talk about my situation."

Seriously are you reading the same thread? What exactly has got under your skin?? You know nothing about my business, i was making comment about MY business and you seem to have got on some soap box about it. Don't hurt yourself when you fall off.

 

[FireFleur]

It is horses for courses. I probably wouldn't buy a car online (I do use the web for research along with selection of potential sellers), unless I was really happy with the security of the seller, and so it goes down from there really.

Banks stating with the introduction of IF and Egg have really started going down this route, and Natwest decided to go for those who want a branch and more contact, they never off shored their customer telephone support, for example.

Hot Tubs, well I am probably going to go down to a showroom, unless the online deal is significantly less, and then say it was a good price at 500 quid, I would checkout the length of time the business had been trading online, and if anyone had problems.

Before buying I would research the hottub, and there I would prefer responses via email from an initial web form, rather than phone. To close the deal I might phone, but I would judge more on the emails and if there was problem there then I might phone, if I still have questions or want to see exactly what I am buying then off to the showroom. So, yes having the full suite of contact for hottub selling makes sense.

But, if I am buying computer parts, I want the site to work for me, and not have to get on the phone, and computer parts can be more than a hottub, but I know that area better, so a combination of cost and how familiar one is with the item perhaps.

 

[Big Pete]

Put a phone number and fax number on your site and just watch the junk calls you will get..

same as the address asking for trouble,

no need customers can ask for them by email . putting such info out to the whole world is not a wise move ,

your email only needs to be on there and within weeks your on the spam radar ..

not worth it.

Banks dont give addresses they learnt the hassle way

 

[estwig]

Seriously are you reading the same thread? What exactly has got under your skin?? You know nothing about my business, i was making comment about MY business and you seem to have got on some soap box about it. Don't hurt yourself when you fall off.

Ok, sorry mate.

my bad.

 

[movietub]

I am trying to make a point that all types of business model work, those with phone numbers and those without. Just because one type works for you, doesn't make the other type wrong.

Not sure how you two ended up at odds with one another!

But in respect of the above quote; I can't think of any business that stands better chance of success by not offering contact details than one that does.

Thats not to say it's impossible to make money without doing it, just that there is no real point in not doing it.

There is a bloke in new york that sells snowballs each year when it snows (clears a patch of snow from the pavement, places snowballs on the dry bit, stands in the snow holding a sign offering to sell snow). He actually manages to sell quite a few! Technically his business model works. But realistically he could be making more money doing something different.

 

[movietub]

It is horses for courses. I probably wouldn't buy a car online (I do use the web for research along with selection of potential sellers), unless I was really happy with the security of the seller, and so it goes down from there really.

Banks stating with the introduction of IF and Egg have really started going down this route, and Natwest decided to go for those who want a branch and more contact, they never off shored their customer telephone support, for example.

Hot Tubs, well I am probably going to go down to a showroom, unless the online deal is significantly less, and then say it was a good price at 500 quid, I would checkout the length of time the business had been trading online, and if anyone had problems.

Before buying I would research the hottub, and there I would prefer responses via email from an initial web form, rather than phone. To close the deal I might phone, but I would judge more on the emails and if there was problem there then I might phone, if I still have questions or want to see exactly what I am buying then off to the showroom. So, yes having the full suite of contact for hottub selling makes sense.

But, if I am buying computer parts, I want the site to work for me, and not have to get on the phone, and computer parts can be more than a hottub, but I know that area better, so a combination of cost and how familiar one is with the item perhaps.

Sorry, still can't agree!

There is no instance I can think of where its a long term good idea for any non-famous company to not make contact details a priority.

There is no cost issue or impact whatsoever. Contact and openess appeal to a huge number of people. This leads to extra sales which will fund the extra work. In most cases extra sales also lead to bigger discount, more efficiency etc and potentially lower prices too!

 

[Big Pete]

Sorry, still can't agree!

There is no instance I can think of where its a long term good idea for any non-famous company to not make contact details a priority.

There is no cost issue or impact whatsoever. Contact and openess appeal to a huge number of people. This leads to extra sales which will fund the extra work. In most cases extra sales also lead to bigger discount, more efficiency etc and potentially lower prices too!

I beg to differ ..


A company that sells online only , you will get the ones who will want to save postage costs by saying well look can i pick it up , i will be there at 5pm 5.30 comes no show so you wait , 6pm they arrive obviously they like to chat time you get done 7pm..

saved him 10 quid cost you 20 quid in time ,and a nagging from the Mrs !!!!

not worth it

Thats just 1 instance..

 

[movietub]

I beg to differ ..


A company that sells online only , you will get the ones who will want to save postage costs by saying well look can i pick it up , i will be there at 5pm 5.30 comes no show so you wait , 6pm they arrive obviously they like to chat time you get done 7pm..

saved him 10 quid cost you 20 quid in time ,and a nagging from the Mrs !!!!

not worth it

Thats just 1 instance..

Come on! That situation relies upon the customer being a nob, and also living within driving distance, and also turning up late and chatting for an hour! It's possible, but only in the same way that no business strategy is worth risking because the business could get shut down by being struck by lighting twice. In short, hardly a concrete reason to not do it.

Even if the above did happen to us once a week, I can still safely say that the extra revenue generated from making contact easy, would more than cover the odd £20 time waster.

On a seperate note customers are free to collect from us. 2 years ago we opened up our premesis to the public in order to offset the costs of the premesis and put us in a position to undercut our competitors by doing so. Now we can offer the very service you describe, whilst effectively costing us less than not doing so. Working round these sorts of problems and turning them into an opportunity is a key part of running a business.

 

[Big Pete]

Come on! That situation relies upon the customer being a nob, and also living within driving distance, and also turning up late and chatting for an hour! It's possible, but only in the same way that no business strategy is worth risking because the business could get shut down by being struck by lighting twice. In short, hardly a concrete reason to not do it.

Even if the above did happen to us once a week, I can still safely say that the extra revenue generated from making contact easy, would more than cover the odd £20 time waster.

On a seperate note customers are free to collect from us. 2 years ago we opened up our premesis to the public in order to offset the costs of the premesis and put us in a position to undercut our competitors by doing so. Now we can offer the very service you describe, whilst effectively costing us less than not doing so. Working round these sorts of problems and turning them into an opportunity is a key part of running a business.

If customers know you live in say , Southend On Sea ,Essex. and they live in Southend itself , are they not going to try and collect to save postage .
So its not a internet mail order anymore suddenly your a retailler with a trade counter etc etc,
so a very sound reason NOT to add , not because of any scams but the business is set up for pure ,take the order box it send it, no side tracking..

 

[movietub]

If customers know you live in say , Southend On Sea ,Essex. and they live in Southend itself , are they not going to try and collect to save postage .
So its not a internet mail order anymore suddenly your a retailler with a trade counter etc etc,
so a very sound reason NOT to add , not because of any scams but the business is set up for pure ,take the order box it send it, no side tracking..

That makes no sense, you are judging the overall pros and cons of adding contact details by only looking at one downside.

Only a tiny % of your potential customers are going to live anywhere near you. And only a small % of that number would ask to collect anyway.

And you can always tell them there are no counter sales. You would only be losing a sale you won't get as it is anyway. But you would still be gaining all the extra sales from people that won't buy if they don't think the website is open enough in case they need to return an item etc.

Besides, if enough people in southend wanted to collect to cause you a problem then you would know there is enough local demand to open a trade counter.

Overall, how do you figure you would lose?

 

[Big Pete]

That makes no sense, you are judging the overall pros and cons of adding contact details by only looking at one downside.

Only a tiny % of your potential customers are going to live anywhere near you. And only a small % of that number would ask to collect anyway.

And you can always tell them there are no counter sales. You would only be losing a sale you won't get as it is anyway. But you would still be gaining all the extra sales from people that won't buy if they don't think the website is open enough in case they need to return an item etc.

Besides, if enough people in southend wanted to collect to cause you a problem then you would know there is enough local demand to open a trade counter.

Overall, how do you figure you would lose?

Its not for me to say as i dont retail anymore as such..

i just pointed out 2 reasons why a internet business would not want to give details out.. like you say if they had a retail position with ample parking then sure it could be added , makes sense to me as well.

BUT !! There is loads who maybe could not retail , due to planning restrictions space or parking etc etc..

Not there dodgy just have set up online to save costs by just concentrating on buying right and selling right , with minimum overheads ,

 

[movietub]

Its not for me to say as i dont retail anymore as such..

i just pointed out 2 reasons why a internet business would not want to give details out.. like you say if they had a retail position with ample parking then sure it could be added , makes sense to me as well.

BUT !! There is loads who maybe could not retail , due to planning restrictions space or parking etc etc..

Not there dodgy just have set up online to save costs by just concentrating on buying right and selling right , with minimum overheads ,

I'm still not understanding your view on this.

Even if you cannot retail directly, no premesis, no wish to meet your customer ever, you can still pick up more sales by adding clear contact details than you will ever lose money by the occasional time waster who wants to collect.

And it doesn't matter if you sell physical products or services either. And if your website provides an online service, then contact info still makes sense. You will benefit from hearing from the people that can't figure out the website, this allows you to improve it. Contact with your potential customers is invaluable. As is the reasurance you can give to a cautious customer.

Quite aside from all of that. If people who love in Southend can't work out from your website that you are based in Southend yourself, then you are breaking the law.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

HI

I need a bit of rant here. One of my biggest bugbears is websites where the website owner doesn't include the company details, or business owner details.

You click "about us" and you find out lots of information about "magical invented company" with nothing there actually telling you who it is that you are dealing with. Then they say "contact us" for more information and it takes you to a web enquiry form.

Why do customers even entertain dealing with a business that hides itself like this. If they're doing this when they're in the selling phase, what the heck are they going to be like when something goes wrong.

It's a serious question, because the parcel and courier industries are flooded with websites like this..... Pay money and they'll sort your delivery. But they won't tell you who they are????

I don't understand how customers can be this gullible? Why would they deal with a complete unknown entity for the sake of saving 50P?

For me it's purely security. I do not want my private address and details plastered all over the web. If a genuine client wants to know my details, then I'll happily E-mail them everything. My invoices also include full contact details.

I also only include a web form as E-mail is a preferred method of communication for me as a copywriter. It makes the process far better and far more straightforward if the clients correspondence is stored as E-mails which I can refer back to as I write. There's a lot more information to use compared to taking brief notes during a phone call. I do of course arrange phone calls if the client still prefers that.

Overall I still have a lot of clients to help, so if someone gets completely put off by the lack of details (where they even refuse to send me an E-mail for clarification) then they can go elsewhere.

Edit: I do include my full name on my site and a personal approach, which may help.

 

[SillyJokes]

I've been trading online for 10 years and have clear contact details.

Yes, customers sometimes want to pick up from the warehouse, not a problem when they order online first, other than that, they can't. You put a system in place to handle it.

yes, we get sales calls, telephone spam, email spam like you wouldn't believe, but all that is just part of the cost of running an online retail business properly.

We also get phonecalls ending, "I just wanted to check there was a real person behind the site," or ,"It's so nice to talk to someone," - we got the sale we would have lost.

I frequently get praise emails saying something along the lines of, "I thought I was taking a risk ordering with you but the goods turned up next day, fantastic," which is both alarming and gratifying.

People need every bit of trust they can muster from a site which they have never heard of before, no matter that it's been around for 10 years.

Contact details - an absolute must. - but we don't work from home and have offices and a warehouse which is secure

Why do people buy from sites with less? Because some people really would rather save 50p and I would wager very few are ecommerce savvy to any degree whatsoever.