By Tom Polanski

eBrand Media has several e-tailers who sell high priced items through their websites.  It occurred to me the other day that there is one feature that really could benefit to our clients that is missing from the tens of thousands of sites we’ve visited; a “Start Negotiating” button placed under the “Buy Now” button for hard to sell items.  Why this capability hasn’t been developed yet, I don’t know.  I think that there may be tremendous upside to the development and testing of such a feature.  I imagine that a button of this type would not only reduce shopping cart abandons but enhance the shopping process for the end-user.

This feature could be included with every item or with select items.  Once the button is clicked it would link to Live Chat or to a java scripted facsimile.  The e-commerce store could set certain price parameters that would be acceptable for the item.  And the negotiation could be conducted in an incremental “negotiate and retreat process” with predetermined floor price.

America is one of the few countries where one walks into the store and pays the listed price.  Hopefully, the item is on sale, and if not, then typically we’ll shop for a better price.  But few of us will negotiate.

Maybe, some how, we’ve been taught that negotiation is un-American or déclassé’.  Could it be that even though we’re brought up in a country where rugged individualism is valued, we’re afraid of confrontation?  Perhaps we’ve been too rich and busy.

However, America and the economy are changing.  The economy is going south, which means that every dollar is increasingly significant, and many of today’s immigrants arrive or have already arrived from countries where negotiation is the norm.  We negotiate cars and houses, I say negotiate everything within reason (except my fees) and have some fun.  As my Mom used to say, “Closed mouths don’t get fed”.

What are your thoughts about a “Start Negotiating” or “Make an Offer” button (where appropriate) as an added feature to select e-commerce sites offering high priced items?  I look forward to reading them.