Since 1991 Plant Delights Nursery has operated a successful international mail-order business selling perennials through a "wild and crazy print catalog." In 1997 the company went online. Plant Delights owner and president Tony Avent discusses the impact the Web site has had on the company's sales and provides some insight as to what growers should consider if planning to start a Web site.

Q. How long has your Web site been operating?

A. Our Web site was launched in 1997. Honestly, when we first started, I had no idea how to set up a Web site and computer lingo seemed truly foreign. We were approached by many Web designers and finally settled on one who had done another nearby nursery. We basically told the Web master to use his best judgment and copy the other nursery. After the first season, we sat down with the Web master and gave him a list of changes and feature additions that we wished to have on the site.

One of the most time-consuming parts of the Web site for us is the updates and links. It is important to update a site regularly to give customers a reason to return.

Linking [electronic means of putting the electronic address of another person or business on your site] is an important key to a good Web site, since it brings customers from other sites and reciprocates with others. I don't really understand how all this link stuff works, but we locate other sites that we think would be of interest to our customers and give their Internet URLs to our Web master and just like magic, there they are. The more links to your Web site, the higher your site will appear in some search engines.

Q. Has the business generated by the Web site had a positive or negative impact on your catalog business?

A. Internet business costs far less per customer than other types of orders. All the information is streamlined into an online form instead of phone time and mistakes and illegible handwriting. Remember how easy it is to hire a competent pleasant voice for your phones?

In 1997, 1.5 percent of our business was on the Internet. In 1998, that jumped to 6.5 percent, and in 1999 to 14 percent. So far, in 2000, it is running around 30 percent.

If anything, the Web site has increased requests for our printed catalog, as we received over 10,000 catalog requests from our Web site in 1999. Just like books will never disappear, neither will printed catalogs.

One of the great things about the Web site is the ability to show large numbers of color photos without the accompanying printing costs. While our printed catalog has only 165 color photos, the online catalog has nearly four times that many.

Items in short supply can be listed online instead of in the printed catalog. If we have 50 of an item that sells out quickly or simply would not be economical to include in the printed catalog, it is easily added to our online catalog. When supplies are exhausted, the items can simply be clicked out. This eliminates the 'sorry we are sold out' phone responses that is heard far too often in our business.

Conversely, when an item is back in stock after the catalog has gone to press, it is simply put back on the Web site.

Q. Did you have any specific goals in mind when you set up the Web site?

A. No, I didn't know enough to have goals, but that has surely changed. In 1999, our site registered just under 4 million hits. This number has effectively doubled every year and is on course to do the same this year.

Our goal with the Web site is now to provide our customers with great information, access to little-known resources, quality plant material and great customer service.

Q. Could you eventually see your Web sales surpassing catalog sales? Any predictions on how long this might take to occur?

A. Yes, it will be close this year. Our 1999 sales were 14 percent online, 40 percent onsite open house, and 46 percent catalog. Our preliminary figures show online and catalog sales for this year to be equal at 30 percent. It is critical to remember, however, that each depends on the other ... at least in our case. Without the catalog publicizing the Web site, the sales would be far less. Keep in mind that some of our former catalog or phone customers have simply switched over to the Web site as a means of convenience.

Q. Is there anything different in regards to product mix, container sizes, services, etc., that you offer on the Web site that you don't offer in the catalog?

A. Our sizes are the same, since regardless of how the order arrives, we are still doing mail order. Growers who are not set up for mail order will truly experience a culture shock when they attempt to make the transformation. Don't make the mistake of seeing all that potential money and diving into something that you aren't set up to do.

As for offerings, our online plant listings are nearly doubled from our printed catalog. The online catalog also contains far more information than is available in our printed catalog including article reprints and expedition logs from our plant exploration trips.

Q. Is there anything you had to do differently in the way you handle and ship online orders from the way you handle catalog orders?

A. No, other than realize that the Internet generation is one of instant gratification, so they want their answers and their plants yesterday.

Q. In setting up the Web site, what was the most difficult part of that process?

A. Simply setting aside the time to monitor the Web site process, update it regularly and learn about the Web. A Web site is just like a display garden. A good one is a great selling tool, but a poorly maintained one speaks volumes about your business. Obviously, finding a good Web master, communicating your business philosophy and establishing a good rapport is essential.

Q. How are you drawing people to your Web site?

A. We have brought most of our traffic so far through links and site promotions. If you have a Web site, you should have that site displayed everywhere -- key rings, catalogs, handouts, at trade shows, in advertisements, everywhere. Since I do a good bit of lecturing, we use every opportunity to promote the site. Remember, getting customers there once is easy. When they get there, you must provide a reason for them to come back.

This year, we are working with a ranking service to help our site get ranked higher for certain key words. These key words are determined by studying the monthly reports from our Web master who lets us know how each customer has found our site. If your company is ranked high in a search engine for words that no one searches for, then you haven't accomplished much.

Q. How often and what kind of changes do you make to the Web site to keep the contents fresh?

A. The first couple of years, changes were scarce, but now we try to add something new every week or two, both new plants as well as nursery updates. This year, we have started a Top 20 ranking of our best-selling plants. Eventually we want to make this interactive, so if customers don't see their favorite plant in the Top 20, they will be motivated to call friends and encourage them to order these favorites. Perhaps this could generate itself into an online contest.

Q. If you were to offer growers any advice about setting up a Web site, what would that be?

A. Get to know your enemy -- and for many nurserymen, the Internet is just that. You will have to visit many Web sites and take ideas that you like from each. For me the key is to make the site simple, quick and easy to use. This may sound easy, but I probably leave about 60 percent of the Web sites that I try before they finish loading for one of these reasons.

Forget large photos, color backgrounds and other things that slow down the site, especially on your opening page. People using the Internet are usually in a hurry.

Have your staff critique your site. Employees often see things that you are too closely involved to notice.

Finally, don't change the focus of your business simply because the Internet is there. As I mentioned earlier, this is going to cost many nurseries a lot of money. I am already seeing wholesale nurseries trying to do mail order, which is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

If you have geared all of your production, delivery, accounting systems and customer service systems toward wholesale, you need to run as fast as you can from mail order. The Internet is a tool to use in your type of business, not a reason to change your business.

© 2000 Branch-Smith Publishing