Personal Shoppers Go Virtual

Some of your favorite retailers have stepped up their game offering an online platform where with one click you can talk live to a salesperson. NBC's Dan Scheneman reports.

(NBC News) — Americans spent almost $11 billion on Cyber Monday this year, buying products sight unseen, hoping what was purchased is what shows up at the door.

Now some of your favorite retailers have stepped up their game offering an online platform where with one click you can talk live to a salesperson.

Go Instore connects online shoppers with real humans to help them look for everything from diamonds to electronics.

“If there’s someone who has expertise that is relevant to the product that you’re looking at, we simply surface a call to action a button that appears on the web page,” explains cofounder Andre Hordagoda.

Within seconds, a product expert responds.

Almost half of U.S. shoppers say they’ve spent more money based solely on a personal experience, with 86 percent of those surveyed saying a personalized experience has some impact on what they purchase, and because the shopper has a “hands-on” experience with the product the rate of return drops significantly.

Read more here.