One more reason to buy online – less “Dealer Direct Contact”

Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch blogged today on his latest experiences with buying cars online. He recently bought one via CarsDirect, which I haven’t yet tried out myself because

• I do not buy new automobiles on a regular basis, since they tend to be expensive, and
• I do not live in the US, and CarsDirect does not (yet?) cater to us European buyers.

So, why do I write about Michael Arrington’s new car? Good question, answer follows:

Michael writes that he hates the hassle of negotiating a car’s price and possible upgrades with a car dealer, that he wants to limit the time he has to spend with a car dealer to an absolute minimum – and CarsDirect helps him with that.

And there it is, one of the most overlooked reasons why shoppers prefer to browse and buy online: they feel better without direct contact to a salesperson!

And this not only when shopping for products like condoms or Viagra that few people like to carry through a supermarket, where all those snoopy neighbours are lingering about.

I can relate to that. And if you are running a shopping website, you should keep that in mind, too. Do not be intrusive, try not to up-sell too obviously, because people don’t like that, and they find other ways to get what they want.

Like Michael Arrington did when he bought his new car.