Impersonal e-commerce doesn’t always cut it

(Cited From eMarketer.com)

Despite Americans’ widespread adoption of e-commerce, sometimes there is no replacement for the personal touch.

According to an August 2009 survey conducted by Harris Interactive for human-assisted shopping site IMshopping, 77% of US Internet users who made an online purchase in the past six months would be interested in help from a real person before buying certain things on the Web.

Those who wanted human help were most likely to be interested in purchasing real estate (56%), automobiles (54%) and insurance (51%).

Though a majority of online shoppers reported a desire for help at least some of the time, 82% of respondents said they had not been able to get that assistance in the past. And more than one-half of that group said it had affected their purchase decision negatively—at least some of the time.

“No level of automation can replace the human touch,” said Prashant Nedungadi, CEO and founder of IMshopping. “The results indicate that shoppers still want real people to help them purchase products, even in a digital setting,”

Some e-tailers provide help via click-to-call or click-to-chat services, which allow online shoppers to interact with customer service reps in real time. (For more information, see “How Helpful Is Live Chat?”)

Harris and IMshopping found that overall, 74% of US adult Internet users had made an online purchase in the past six months. The most common Web purchases were items less likely to require human assistance before buying, such as clothing (44%), books (38%), music (28%), health and beauty products (28%) and travel-related goods (28%).

eMarketer estimates 69.7% of US Internet users ages 14 and older will be online buyers in 2009, rising to 74.2% in 2013. Higher usage of services that allow shoppers to interact with real people during the e-commerce process could provide the reassurance that some Web users need to boost penetration.

Synapse just launched a new website for Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling and for CORE, Center of Recovery.

The Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating and/or providing cost-effective, quality assistance for all individuals in the State of Louisiana who may be affected by gambling problems.

The organization further promotes the development of more educational programs and professional resources for problem gambling assistance.

www.helpforgambling.org

CORE, Center of Recovery, is a place of help and hope for problem gamblers and their families. CORE was conceived in 1998 with the sole purpose of providing treatment for those whose lives have been adversely affected by gambling.

www.centerofrecovery.org

Synapse Multimedia will attend the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Show in Las Vegas, NV from April 18-23, 2009.

Having a “Live Chat” on your site is a very good way to help your potential customers either make a selection, find out more information about a product or help them in any way they need. This option can help tremendously with e-commerce websites… Find out more about “The Synapse Website Usher” which provides many features to help clients while they are on your site, as well as provide useful data and stats for your business. Synapse Website Usher

Synapse just launched a new website for Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea was formed in February, 2009 by a group of lawyers who had practiced together for many years in a large, well established law firm. Nine partners from the Shreveport office and eight from the New Orleans office of the firm, many listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and Super Lawyers®, most with AV® ratings, found common ground in their dedication to high standards of professionalism and in the quality of service they deliver to their clients.

www.bradleyfirm.com

Synapse just launched a new website for O’Brien Energy Company, implementing our new Synapse Content Management System (CMS).

O’Brien Energy Company is a leading independent oil and gas exploration and production company with offices in Shreveport, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; and Denver, Colorado. O’Brien currently operates more than 200 wells in Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

The company focuses on acquisition and development-driven programs, aggressively exploiting proved reserves and exploring new fields that have significant upside potential. Since its inception in 1997, O’Brien Energy Company has been dedicated to helping generate fuel America needs, maximizing profits for our investors, and remaining responsible stewards of the lands on which we operate.

www.obrienenergyco.com

Need help editing your images for your website? Photos coming up to big? Not a Photoshop Pro? There is a solution, www.Picnik.com offers a free online photo editing application that provides many useful tools for editing photos for your websites without registration! You can also upgrade to Premium for more available features. This is the easiest solution we have found for editing your pictures. It works on Mac and PC, let’s you re-size the images, upload from social networking sites, change colors, adjsut brightness, saturation, rotate, flip, format your files and many more!!! If you are looking for an easy photo editor Picnik is definitely the best bet!!!

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Synapse just launched a new website for J Frazier Service Company. J. Frazier Service Company is owned and operated by John S. Frazier a multi-line property & casualty adjuster since 1990. Based in North West Louisiana the company is strategically placed to operate in Louisiana, East Texas, South Arkansas and Western Mississippi. The company strives to provide quality service in all assignments based on industry best practice. Our goal is to provide the required service as per the directions we receive, on time and within budget.

www.jfrazier.net