E-commerce on the Half Shell

How a Virginia-man turned a hobby into a home-based business by turning to the Internet. Fresh Oysters from the waters of the Chesapeake to your table anywhere in the US within 24 hours. He put his business on the web and found a clientele beyond his primary buyers of seafood warehouses and distributors. The web connected the company with the consumer, eliminating the middle man.

(PRWEB) March 17, 2004 --Nestled along Virginias rural Eastern Shore, Richard Cantwells office is cut straight from a Norman Rockwell painting: Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and between the two waters, towns and villages dotted with Colonial and Victorian architecture. It is here that Cantwell launched his second career, as a grower of designer oysters, the kind you will not taste in the typical restaurant. As a matter of fact, through Cantwells web site, http://www.oystersonline.com, these delicacies of the deep are available in areas that are not on a first name basis with fresh seafood. People in the Midwest or Southwest have placed orders online and had fresh oysters on their table in 24 hours. Oysters stay in the water until the order is confirmed," says Cantwell. Orders are paid for before theyre processed and shipped. Going online has been absolutely no risk."

That combination of speed and convenience, for customers and merchants alike, is among the reason online sales are expected to reach $65-billion this year. Cantwell took his business online in 2000; his son-in-law built the web site and hosts it with AIT (http://www.ait.com), a North Carolina-based company that specializes in hosting sites for small and medium sized businesses. I wanted a company that was sensitive to Internet newcomers, that would be responsive to any problems, and that provides an easy process of getting the site online quickly," said Bob Ugiansky. The clincher was the ability to host a secure form (to facilitate credit card transactions) without having to go through a lengthy and expensive process of applying for a secure certificate." Such certificates can cost in excess of $300; through AIT, Ugiansky got a secure form at no extra cost.

Niche products, like Cantwells gourmet oysters, are the next wave of Internet commerce. Its estimated that of the 5-to-6 million small businesses in the U.S., barely one-third have the tools to make sales online. Even people who dont buy online use the Internet for research purposes, comparing vendors and prices in searching for the best deal," said Kirk deViere, Chief Operations Officer at AIT. Companies without a web presence run the risk of isolating themselves in the digital marketplace, and many dont understand that the overhead is nominal, about the price of a good dinner."
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Contact: Alex Lekas
                 VP / Corp. Comm.
                 910-321-1247
                 alekas@ait.com