[elevatedastalt]

They will never _become_ your customers if you don't give them a chance to pay you.

Websites that put a cart online with a checkout process manage to get "customers" just fine. If you think you want to give everyone a custom quote then don't complain when people ask for one.

[mbesto]

> Websites that put a cart online with a checkout process manage to get "customers" just fine.

Actually this is a funny point to bring up - believe it or not, there are legitimate situations in which a potential customer requires that they speak to someone or they will simply ignore the company. So as a software provider, it's absolutely true that you may indeed miss out on potential revenue if you dont have an established channel that isn't a "simple online cart".

[TeMPOraL]

> there are legitimate situations in which a potential customer requires that they speak to someone or they will simply ignore the company.

That's a good point. There are a lot of those, and a significant fraction is about some information critical to the customer, that is not present or not entirely obvious on the site. Things like:

- Are you double-plus sure that when I order a violet widget, I get a violet widget? The UI isn't inspiring confidence, and there's a deadline, so unless I can be certain, I'll go with the more expensive vendor whose site is more clear on that.

- There's bunch of bank holidays and stuffs coming up in the next couple days; I need to be sure you'll send the package tomorrow at the latest, or it'll hit a weekend and then a holiday and it'll arrive late, by which time it'll be worthless for me.

Etc.

I've abandoned plenty of carts due to inability to clarify things like that, and I've many times significantly overpaid just to deal with a vendor or system where I don't need to ask for clarification in the first place.

Still, here's the thing: in each case, I had enough information already that I knew I want to buy. I knew the costs and delivery estimates and exact models/parameters. Without all those information, I wouldn't be calling to clarify - I wouldn't consider buying in the first place.

[elevatedastalt]

Completely agreed. A good solution allows low-friction transactions to happen very easily, while keeping the option open for more deliberation.

But from your previous comments, although you are singing praises for the custom solution, you actually find it annoying when people use it?

[tjoff]

There are legitimate situations for sure!

Price is not one of them.