The Internet Four Years Later: 

 Where To From Here? 



DAVID BROCK 



While writing this article, I 

 was reflecting upon my 

 grandfather's purchase of a 

 state-of-the-art fax machine in the 

 late 1980s. It seemed that every- 

 one else was buying one, so it was 

 the right thing to do. Not know- 

 ing how it worked or why exactly, 

 he bought it. This relatively expen- 

 sive machine eventually became a 

 mediocre photocopier. Others, of 

 course, were very successful in the 

 adoption of fax technology, to the 

 point that today it comprises as 

 much as twenty-five percent of all of 

 our communications, primarily in 

 the form of purchase orders, solicita- 

 tions, confirmation letters, or re- 

 ports. 



The Internet and email appear 

 to be following a similar trend. 

 There exist many early adopters, 

 who may or may not make the 

 best use of the technology, and the 

 market followers who still have not 

 considered it a necessity to con- 

 duct business and communications 

 using the tools of the Internet. 

 This evolution to electronic tech- 

 nology will continue, as email and 

 electronic communications, due to 

 their efficiency, play an increasing 

 role in our everyday work habits 

 and practices. On any given day, 

 up to fifty percent of our daily 

 communication comes via email or 

 through the use of a supplier's or 

 other company's website. 



Statistics tell us that up to 

 twenty-five percent of the overall 

 work force now use the Internet 

 (primarily email and data gather- 

 ing) every day. Increasingly, Wal- 

 Mart, Home Depot, and even 



small companies are requiring elec- 

 tronic data processing for business. 

 While still in its infancy, e-com- 

 mcrce sites now take in thousands 

 of dollars of horticultural sales every 

 day. In all areas of horticulture, 

 many more are considering the effi- 

 ciencies of the technology to stream- 

 line operations, increase availability 

 (on the web, you're always "open"), 

 and provide timely customer support 

 and services. 



Data gathering is perhaps the 

 most useful by-product of the 

 Internet's explosive evolution. Grow- 

 ers can find details about most of 

 the latest varieties ([www.provenwin- 

 ners.com], [www.ecke.com), [www.fis- 

 cherUSA.com], to name a few), news 

 and editorial, ([www. greenhouse- 

 biz. com]), the latest in product of- 

 ferings and specifications ([www.horti- 

 culture.com/TLC], [www.fiillersystem. 

 com], [www.jhc.com]), as well as 

 MSDS and regulatory knowledge 

 ([www.usda.gov], [www.epa.gov]). 

 There are now hundreds of 

 websites, primarily at the universi- 

 ties and Cooperative Extension 

 sites (a complete listing is at 

 [www.horti-culture.com]), which 

 give growers immediate access to 

 knowledge about growing as well. 

 And more websites allow for or- 

 dering directly on-line, passing the 

 burden of order entry to the cus- 

 tomer, eliminating duplication, er- 

 rors, and paperwork. 



From a retail perspective, the 

 traditional garden center will con- 

 tinue to be the primary outlet for 

 sales (along with mass merchandis- 

 ers, of course). In my opinion, 

 consumers will want to see, feel. 



and experience the actual products 

 they purchase for home gardening, 

 as they always have. The Internet 

 offers one advantage, though- 

 timely, integrated, and always-on 

 information about a given plant's 

 color, habit, culture, etc. And for 

 those items that are easily ship- 

 pable, virtual retail stores are pop- 

 ping up every^vhere on the Internet 

 ([www.garden.com], [www. selective- 

 gardener. com] , [www.germania- 

 seed.com]). Attempting to put a 

 local garden center on the web, 

 however is a bit trickier — do you 

 really want a customer from Cali- 

 fornia when you only cater to the 

 Loudon area? Aside from useful in- 

 formation such as hours of opera- 

 tion, directions and general infor- 

 mation, will a local customer really 

 want to conduct business with you 

 on-line when you're only a stone's 

 throw away? Probably not. Still, if 

 one thinks about the Internet as a 

 new media Yellow Pages, having a 

 listing or one-page "ad" is worthy 

 of consideration. 



Eventually, all of us will be 

 more seamlessly integrated into 

 each other's businesses, offering 

 real-time plant availability, end-of- 

 season specials, distributor hard 

 good availability, and order place- 

 ment and review, along with on- 

 line registration for events 

 (www.sgcts.org). If nothing else, 

 growers should consider an 

 Internet connection to gain knowl- 

 edge and information and for us- 

 ing email because these are timely 

 and efficient tools. Having your 

 own web page or website is not 

 necessary for many, but will even- 



AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1999 



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