Member Avatar for MktgRob

Could anyone provide insight into at what price point you would stop selling through an e-commerce site and move to a face to face, consultative sales model? I have a client who is eager to have an e-commerce offering but I am pretty certain their price points or their business model for implementing their products is conducive to an e-commerce application.

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Short answer: there isn’t a single “cut‑off” price. The real decision comes from unit economics and sales complexity — how much time, customization, shipping/risk and support each transaction requires versus the margin available. For ’s client that means looking beyond list price to the full cost of serving a buyer and the buyer’s need for hand‑holding.

A simple, practical evaluation:

  1. Classify the product by complexity (standard SKU vs bespoke/configured vs installation/onsite).
  2. Build the unit economics: average order value (AOV), gross margin, and all incremental e‑commerce costs (payment fees, platform, shipping, returns, fraud, support).
  3. Estimate realistic online conversion and customer acquisition cost (CAC).
  4. Compare expected monthly orders to the volume needed to cover fixed e‑commerce costs.

Use this formula as a quick check:

AverageContributionPerOrder = AOV * GrossMargin - AvgVariableCostPerOrder
MonthlyBreakEvenOrders = FixedMonthlyEcomCosts / AverageContributionPerOrder

If expected orders < MonthlyBreakEvenOrders, a pure online checkout is hard to justify.

Practical hybrid options (middle ground between pure e‑commerce and full consultative selling): publish product specs and prices for straightforward SKUs, offer “Request a Quote” or “Book a Consultation” for configurable/high‑ticket items, add an online configurator, enable live chat or video demos, and capture leads for offline follow‑up. These let the site generate qualified leads while avoiding bad fits for immediate checkout. This aligns with points raised by and while keeping the multi‑channel approach mentioned.

Pilot small, measure: conversion rate, CAC, AOV, return rate, support contacts per order and time‑to‑close. Run a 60–90 day test on a subset of SKUs; if CAC consistently exceeds contribution per order or support overhead/sales complexity is high, favor consultative selling with web lead capture.

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Member Avatar for jay 11

Could anyone provide insight into at what price point you would stop selling through an e-commerce site and move to a face to face, consultative sales model? I have a client who is eager to have an e-commerce offering but I am pretty certain their price points or their business model for implementing their products is conducive to an e-commerce application.

Good question. I think it mostly depends on the product or service and target audience. Would the client be selling a high-priced tangible item or are they looking to promote a service?

There's no reason they couldn't do both. But if your gut is telling you that they are probably not going to convert many online sales, than it might be better to just go with an online application. Maybe also look at what their competitors are doing?

Member Avatar for jgand

I guess it would depend on what your selling and if people find value in the product and they can see the value just from what is shown on the net. Depending on the product or service it would determine if its worth a try. My personal opinion is you try to sell everything through as many channels as you can.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

I had a feeling it would be a case of the what is being sold and to whom, I just wanted to get some input from neutral parties. Thanks.

Member Avatar for AirForceOne

Right, I do think it all depends on what products you want to sell online. If only they are reasonable, they would be acceptable. As all known that we could be anything online, from house to nails. :)

Member Avatar for MktgRob

Thanks to all.

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