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Hi Rachel, 
 
Coming from a company that specialises in “abandoned ecommerce cart follow up calls”, I found it very interesting to hear your (somewhat opposite!) point of view. And I took it as a great opportunity to express my perspective on the subject. 
 
I agree to some extent that consumers may feel that an immediate phone call is a bit invasive, if they simply added a few items to a cart. I know that I wouldn’t like to be called up if this was the case, as it is very common with small, simple, self service type sectors, such as retail, that visitors are price comparing or browsing between offers, and not making a significant commitment to the enquiry. However, not all online purchases are that simple, and this is why there is a high requirement for a more personalised means of communication and support between online and offline channels. 
 
The fact is that a lot more thought and careful consideration goes into the process of following up abandoned shopping carts with a phone call and the clients that we work with are in industries where customer service plays a hugely significant part. Ones where customers are committing to high value, high risk transactions, which often require a greater amount of customer support or personal help, something that is almost impossible to receive online, but I will touch upon this later. 
 
Next, I would say that I think you need realise how companies are able to follow up abandoned online orders by phone. At Leadcall, we only put our clients in contact with their online customers if they have actually gone as far into the process as to supply some contact information. In my opinion, if I have committed to providing a company with personal contact details, out of my own choice, whether it be through a past registration, or real-time entry at the checkout stage, I have got to be fully prepared that there is a possibility I may be contacted at some point, through whichever means of communication I have specified to that company. Therefore if somebody contacts me by telephone, I have to respect and appreciate the fact that I have given that company permission and consent to do so.  
 
Leadcall works predominantly within the Insurance and Travel sectors, where the higher value, more complex purchases exist. Within these markets, businesses are suffering from abominable shopping cart abandonment rates with as little as 2% of online visitors converting to customers. This is because it isn’t as simple to service yourself online within these kinds of industries. You can’t simply add an insurance quote or holiday package to your basket, and away you go. Consumers have to go through a significantly longer process, where they regularly face lots of questions, which then cause concerns and confusion, which then lead to the demand for more personal assistance, in order for them to feel secure and satisfied with their purchase.  
 
So, if a customer ventures deep into the checkout process for say a car insurance quote, or a family holiday, and even began to enter their details, but for some reason or other, experienced a problem, or left the website without completing. Why would it be so bad if the company recognised that the customer was experiencing online problems live, and proceeded to offer them well-informed, personal help and assistance over the phone, free of charge and free of effort? 
 
From our experience, feedback on warm follow up calls has been truly positive, and customers from a variety of industries have commented on how impressed they were by the fact that company representatives took the time to contact them, as soon as they were faced with an issue, and were able to assist with the process immediately and address the right problems straight away, due to the fact that they already had the customers info, and were well aware of what the customer was enquiring about.  
 
And just to give you an idea of the benefits for business, our clients are experiencing typical online conversion rates of 25-40%, out of the helpful follow up calls they make to the hundreds of customers who abandoned online. Some of our clients have even managed to increase their online conversions by up to 500%, generating thousands of revenue in recovered sales, and even wider revenue through personal up-selling and cross-selling opportunities over the phone, something that no virtual application could make possible. 
 
In sectors where online transaction values and checkout processes are more transparent and straightforward, such as retail, we are still in a careful process of examination as to whether abandoned cart follow up calls would be well received and positively accepted. However, times are changing, technology is changing, and innovation in online communication and customer engagement is something that e-tailer’s need to actively address in order to succeed with the rapid, fierce competition out there. And I think in the next few years, the fuddy duddy’s of the online realm will realise that this is where the future of ecommerce lies.  

Hi Kimberley, 
 
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your insight and opinions on remarketing follow up calls. While I found your response to be interesting, I'm still not sold that a follow up call is appropriate in B2C transactions, at least at this time. (You don't indicate if your service is primarily B2B or B2C in nature.)  
 
You mentioned that your service follows up with calls for "high value, high risk" transactions. High value I understand to mean having a sizable price tag--but high risk I need clarification on. Risk as in they might leave and purchase from your competition after abandoning a cart on your site? That's every online transaction. This is another point where I think it matters whether you serve the B2B or B2C markets. B2B lends itself well to a follow up call for an abandoned transaction. 
 
Also, you brought up an argument that I've heard before: if a shopper has given the company his/her phone number (either in the past or during the current transaction), the company has the right to follow up with the shopper about an abandoned cart. Some would even go so far as to say that supplying a phone number at any point during the process is consent to be targeted with abandoned cart follow up calls. I disagree. As a consumer, just because I provide my number during checkout (presumably for shipping purposes) doesn't mean that I want you to or will be amenable to a follow up phone call. 
 
I think this is a slippery slope in B2C transactions of any kind. (Please note that I think follow up calls on abandoned carts in a purely B2B scenario are a great way to recover lost sales.) Consumers are wary of companies that appear to be breaching their privacy. There's a reason that we have CAN-SPAM laws and the national "Do Not Call" list. In a purely B2C ecommerce situation, I think that companies need to find other ways to remarket for abandoned carts or risk alienating their customers over the long term. If such calls become the "future of ecommerce" I also expect to see legislation that supports the consumer's right to opt out of such communications. I know that I would, regardless of the value of the transaction. 
 
Cheers! 
Rachel