Creating Community

The emergence of "local foods" and "slow foods" movements hints at a potentially larger need in the "food life" of American society. It may be a result of individuals' isolation. It could come from the nostalgia of recalling days when people had personal relationships with a wide support system of family, friends, and merchants. Regardless of the driver, people are increasingly interested in relating to community and the Internet offers some opportunities.

What does that have to do with your business? You may be in a position to either build-up a local community (geographic) or to build a new community based on interest. Further development online gives you a chance to enhance that, and enhance brand equity and personal customer service at the same time.

If you have a Web site, why not include those activities on a community bulletin board or calendar of events (especially if nobody else is doing it already).  Plus, having information about your community tied to your online presence helps you put a "place" to your "face" in cyberspace.

Take an timeout and look at other food retailers online, view their sites, and look at their products. Think about how what they have to offer might fit in with your goals.

For a glance at how several producers of specialty and food product retailers have incorporated e-commerce, go to our learning module e-Commerce as a Strategy for Improving Business Vitality: Lessons Learned from Rural Businesses.