Online Grocery Market
By
April Y. Pennington
Family-owned and operated since 1930, Santoni's Super
Market is historic--but it's no dinosaur when it comes to
technology. As the dotcom bust claimed online grocers in 2001,
Robert Santoni Sr., 61, and Rob Santoni Jr., 40, added online
orders, letting MyWebGrocer.com handle back-end services. "We
already had the infrastructure in place with procedures and
vehicles delivering phone-in and faxed orders," says Santoni
Jr. "Adding this was a natural next step."
Santoni's found a customer base beyond its immediate
Baltimore area, says Santoni Jr. The number of web orders increased
50 percent each year for the first three years, and each order now
averages about $100. The store's internet orders compose 1
percent of total sales, which are projected to top $16 million this
year. Other local grocers eventually added online orders, but
Santoni's volume never waned. Says Santoni Jr., "We're
a single store; we can react at a moment's notice."