Online opportunities: A quantitative content analysis benchmark study of online retail plant sales

Abstract

Online, direct selling (ODS) has become the leading way that people acquire goods, withAmazon (Seattle, WA)being the largest online vendor in the United States. This study sought to determine if horticultural businesses were engaging in ODS with Amazon, ebay, and other websites. Researchers examined the ODS activity of 498 businesses using quantitative content analysismethods, and found that 93 horticultural industry businesses were conducting some form of ODS through their websites, but only four offered products on Amazon. Results indicate thatODSremains an untapped marketplace for the horticultural industry, particularly for small, rural businesses.