The National e-Commerce Extension Initiative
Southern Rural Development Center
Marketing Food Speciality Products Online
National e-Commerce Extension Initiative
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General Overview
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Facilitator Information
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Self-Paced Lesson
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  menu_item Introduction
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  menu_item Starting Line
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  menu_item E and Goal Setting
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  menu_item IT Definition
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  menu_item Current Use of E
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  menu_item E and Management
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  menu_item E and Human Resources
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  menu_item Food is Different
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  menu_item Critical Elements
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  menu_item Branding and E
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  menu_item E and Relationships
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  menu_item Figuring Your E Fit
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  menu_item Processing E
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  menu_item Continuing Your Journey
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  menu_item E and Cost/ Benefit
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  menu_item Finish Line
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Go Forward
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The assessment should have helped you:
  • Determine what tools you will need.
  • Illustrate any problems with the e adoption..
  • Understand training needs.
  • Contribute to a simple cost / benefit analysis.
Before we begin to add the e remember:

Food IS different

It is an "emotional" product for a consumer that involves a high level of trust.  Online sales of food products bring unique challenges, such as quality signals, dealing in bulk and perishable items.
Food is the purchase that the consumer has the closest level of interaction with and buys the most frequently. It carries all kinds of signals and nuances from our culture, history, health status and desires - and sustains our very life. Consumers are increasingly interested in knowing "the story" of e timeouttheir food. Because of these emotional variables, retail exchanges in the food market involve a critical level of trust between buyer and seller.  When we selling food directly using the Internet, some unique challenges arise: 

  • How do you tell the consumer how fresh that fruit is? They can’t smell it. 

  • How do you deliver products that are by nature bulky and perishable? The trust relationship is even more critical here.

Take an the e timeout to read about postal regulations for perishables.




Go Forward
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Web site and all contents © Copyright SRDC 2009, All rights reserved.
CSREES These materials were developed as part of the Southern Rural Development Center’s National e-Commerce Extension Initiative. They are based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Award No. 2005-45064-03212

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Southern Rural Development Center.