Stephen and Debbie Chin, proprietors of the online shopping website redpeppermall.com, with goods in their office at the Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Technology, Old Hope Road, St. Andrew. - Photo by Ross Sheil

Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter

With consumers increasingly shopping online, one husband-and-wife team has caught on, supplying Jamaican products to a hungry overseas markets.

Redpeppermall.com, run by 41-year-old Stephen Chin and his wife Debbie, 40, sells mainly food products, but also anything from souvenirs to books. While they do not supply Jamaican customers, since locally issued credit cards do not have adequate anti-fraud precautions, they are planning several ventures for the local market.

Make-up of customer base

Mrs. Chin said surveys of their customer base revealed 40 per cent are from a Jamaican background, including 10 per cent serving in the United States military, with bun and cheese possibly reaching as far as combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. The bulk of the customers remain non-Jamaican, boosted by the tourist trade which brought over three million visitors last year, many of whom develop a taste for local products, believes Mr. Chin.

"One woman bought two cases of Ting and when we rang her back, she said that she and her husband had been on holiday in St.Kitts," added Mrs. Chin. "Her husband tried Ting and loved the flavour, loved the grapefruit and so she was buying them for his birthday."

Based at the Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Technology on Old Hope Road, St. Andrew, the business began two years ago, conducting research and testing the market, and is still to begin advertising or marketing. In the United States, Mr. Chin worked in the telecommunications industry while his wife had her own Internet start-up. She believes her experience could be replicated in Jamaica.

In Jamaica, Customs can delay orders while e-readiness at the postal services is in its planning stages. However, Red Pepper Mall also sends stock to North American customers via an office staffed by two employees in Atlanta, Georgia, with another location being scouted in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Milti-tasking operation

Running an online business entails more than posting information and waiting for customers, said Mrs. Chin. The site has to be continually updated, with 22-year-old Shonari Gow hired as another pair of hands in what is a multi-tasking operation.

There is also the need to keep up with global competition and make sure that when a potential customer types in keywords, such as 'Blue Mountain Coffee', their website is featured prominently in the search results.

"We want to be like the Amazon of the Caribbean!" said Mrs. Chin, setting her sights on the world's No. 1 player in the online shopping market.

ross.sheil@gleanerjm.com