Central Distributors, out of Des Moines, Iowa, is a case in point. This family-owned wholesaler of floor coverings has carved out its niche on the Internet, using it not only for selling, but for sourcing and research as well.

Scott has been involved in the family business for over 20 years. He spent his youth working in the stores and learning the products. Although he earned a degree in engineering, he decided to return to the family business because he enjoyed working closely with his family.

Most business owners are so focused on their business that they hardly notice their kids growing up. Returning to work for the company as an adult gave Scott the opportunity to develop a close relationship with his father.

Scott, who now has two children of his own, feels that working with his father was one of the greatest rewards of staying with the family business. Although his dad has since passed away, his mother still works half days, and stays actively involved.

"We started on the web in January 2001 with 5 pages of information. From that, it has expanded tremendously, in direct response to what our customers are requesting. I see us taking it from being information only to having both information and online ordering capability."

The key challenge so far has been training their customers to use the web site to find answers to common questions or to do basic research. Scott hopes that as customers learn to make the website their first stop, his sales team will be freed up to use its time more effectively taking care of the customers orders - rather than being tied up on the phone, fielding the same questions over and over again.

"When a customer calls and asks us for information that´s available on our web page, our answer is not to provide them with the information, but to let them know that we have a web page. If they have web access, we guide them to the web page and tell them where on the page they can find the information. We get them comfortable with using the site, and rather than giving them the answer, we let the site give them the answer."

Rather than allowing web designers or computer consultants to shape their site, Scott relies heavily on the input of the end users. After all, if the site isn´t addressing his customers´ needs, it´s worthless to them.

"What we´re finding, in conversations with our customers, is that they want access to information. We´re constantly updating it based on the feedback we get from our customers. We do our best to try and include all customer suggestions, and once we´ve made a change or improvement, we announce it to our customers."

Scott is convinced that the time saved by using the Internet is reason enough to invest in the technology.

"I had a phone meeting with a manufacturer, and while we spoke, I was able to look at his web site. He was able to help answer my questions by letting me know where to find the information on his site. It was beneficial because we had a picture that we could both look at, and just like we do with our own customers, he was able to tell me where things were on the site so that I could find them later on, on my own."

"That Internet access saved the manufacturer´s rep the time and expense of flying in to meet with me because he could give his presentation to me over the phone, using the web site. In 40 minutes, he was able to do what might otherwise have taken a day or more."

"The saying used to be `if you have time, drive, if you don´t, fly.´ Now, it´s become `if you have time, fly, if you don´t, use the Internet!´"

Another important aspect of the Central Distributors site is its list of products discontinued by the manufacturers. It´s an added element that makes Central Distributors unique in their industry, and has proved to be profitable for them.

"There are two philosophies about discontinued products. The first philosophy is, as soon as it´s announced that it´s being discontinued, you make it fly out the door and get whatever cash you can for it. The other philosophy is that you hold on to it until somebody wants it."

"The latter is the philosophy my father had, and I have to admit, over the years I´ve moved away from that to a great extent. I believe that there´s always something newer or better or finer that is available, and what´s old stays old. So we try to move our merchandise, but it´s difficult. We´re in an industry where our customers have displays of our product, and once those samples are pulled out of those displays, there´s nothing for them to see!"

"Through the Internet, we´re attempting to marry these two philosophies. We´re making discontinued lines available to all of our customers as well as other distributors across the nation. They know they can come on our web page and, rather than calling us, they can search to see if we have that product. Then, they can call us and we can move the item."

"When you consider that we´re generally selling at a loss, by having that availability on the web page, we´ve increased our margin significantly. That has been the most successful part of our web presence."

It´s also a matter of good customer service. Scott knows that when an item is discontinued and is no longer available from the manufacturer, a supplier can very easily say to your customer `it´s just not available,´ but he prefers to go the extra mile to keep these items available to his customers.

Scott feels that the flooring industry has been slow to acknowledge the potential of the Internet.

"At a recent industry event in Las Vegas, I had an opportunity to sit on a panel with other distributors. The audience was comprised of retailers, distributors and manufacturers. It was a 90-minute meeting, and it was 55 minutes into that meeting before anyone even said the word `Internet.´ And the person who said it was me!"

"There are a few who are embracing the Internet, but there are many more that don´t know how it can help them, so they´re not jumping into it. If it became an avenue that was profitable and easily justified on a balance sheet, then I´m sure everyone would jump right in. Right now, it´s still a gray area."

"It´s not a profitable venture for us yet, but I don´t think we can wait until it becomes profitable, because by then, we´ll be too far behind."

Moving forward, however, Scott sees that trend as one that´s changing.

"It´s a wave that´s moving down the line of distribution. If you had asked us two or three years ago how many of our retailers had Internet access at their stores, it would have been in the single digits. We´re in the double digits now, but we are by no means all the way there. It´ll come."

"The manufactures are grasping it and running with it. We (the distributors) realize that we need to be online and are trying to catch up. Our retailers are probably the next in line to grasp the benefits of the Internet and what they can gain by using it."

"The one group that really isn´t using the Internet at all is the professional installers. There´s so much information available to them about what products are out there and how best to use them, and yet so few of them are Internet savvy."

Scott´s #1 business goal for Central Distributors is, of course, to remain a profitable and competitive company. How does he feel the Internet can help?

"I look at the Internet, for us, as an educational tool for our customers. The more we can do with the Internet and with our web site, the more time we can spend running the business without interruption, and the better off we are. We want to be known not only as a source of supply, but a source of information."

"We want customers to be able to check availability and order online rather than go through our order desk. If they place an order with us, we have to transcribe it from the phone to the computer. There´s a potential for errors there. If we can get them to place their own orders, we know that it´s being entered correctly. And when they place their own order, it´s immediately in our system. Not `in a few minutes,´ or `when I´m done entering this other order.´ It´s in there right away."

"We want to be available to them when they want us, and that availability is vastly expanded by the Internet."