THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512090442
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
The orders came from all over the country: $30,000 worth in a little less than a month for Smithfield hams, bacon and other porky specialties.
The Basse's Choice Plantation foods catalog has rung up electronic purchases from more than 600 America Online subscribers since it joined the on-line network in early November. And there are still a couple of weeks left in the Christmas shopping season.
``We've been pleasantly surprised,'' says Alan Monette, head of the Smithfield-based enterprise.
Across the country, 'tis the season for shopping - and not just at malls and by mail-order catalog. Hundreds of retailers are pushing their wares electronically for the first time this year: through the worldwide Internet network and on-line services like AOL.
In Hampton Roads, electronic retailing is dominated by specialty-foods purveyors. Like most of their on-line brethren elsewhere, these electronic pioneers are mostly small businesses.
Big retailers are late to the electronic scene because they haven't been nimble enough to assemble on-line presences. They've also been less willing to gamble on the security of electronic credit-card transactions.
It's not as if they're missing much.
On-line sales, as a percentage of total receipts, are paltry even for small retailers. Few are covering the costs of their electronic ventures.
Still, experiences like Monette's are encouraging merchandisers to keep tiptoeing into the new medium.
``There's no way to guess if this will will bring us a lot of business or a little business,'' says Rowena Fullinwider, owner of Rowena's Inc., a Norfolk specialty-foods maker. ``We just felt it was very important to do this as quickly as possible.''
Rowena's Internet site went up Nov. 29. It also has a presence in a fine-foods ``cybermall.''
Fullinwider said Rowena's is and will continue to be primarily a wholesaler of its products, which range from carrot jam to almond pound cake. Specialty-food and gift stores are her main customers. The Internet presence is mainly intended to ``get our name out,'' she said.
Others have grander designs.
The cyberspace granddaddy among local food purveyors is The Virginia Diner in Wakefield. It has had a presence on the Internet and on on-line services since early 1994.
So far, its electronic sales are minor.
``It's not enough to buy a Ferrari, that's for sure,'' says Billy Galloway III, who helps operate the family-owned business, which also includes a restaurant and a mail-order catalog.
Nevertheless, on-line orders are increasing, particularly from overseas, he says. The Virginia Diner has electronic customers for its peanuts as far away as Japan, even though shipping costs to that country often exceed the price of the merchandise.
The biggest problem with selling in cyberspace, Galloway says, is getting noticed. People who browse the Internet are bombarded with navigational choices.
``The trick for us is finding that little hole in the wall where you can be easily located,'' he says.
At least one local food merchandiser is pushing electronic sales less this year than last. He's Peter Coe, owner of Taste Unlimited, the Virginia Beach-based chain of specialty-foods stores.
Coe says he wasn't prepared for the amount of time it takes to keep an Internet site fresh, and has let his site go stale in recent months. Because of that, he didn't even list the site in Taste Unlimited's holiday catalog this year.
He's not happy about having let the site slip.
``I wouldn't open a store in a new location that isn't beautifully presented,'' Coe says. ``It's my New Year's resolution to go forward with this Internet thing. I think we could do a lot more with it.''
Smithfield Farms of Virginia Inc., which through a catalog sells food products ranging from hams to smoked turkeys, is more typical of local on-line retailers. It added a presence on the Internet about a year ago.
``We've gotten a lot of catalog requests and a few orders,'' says secretary Jacqueline Swan. ``They say it's an up-and-coming thing,'' she says of the Internet, ``but I think it's something that's going to have to catch on.''
Down the road at Basse's Choice Plantation, Monette is hopeful.
Someday, he says, he may sell more Gwaltney of Smithfield hams through cyberspace than through mail-order catalogs.
``We just need to perfect our outreach,'' he says. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Basse's Choice Plantation and Smithfield Foods Inc. have set up
``HamNet,'' a shopping spot. Basse's Choice also has a presence on
the America Online network.
by CNB