It pays to be web design-conscious

Secretary for the LRMTA, Gerald Paine, said butchers were always looking to increase sales and using the internet to sell meat was an interesting area of expansion in the trade.

David Miles, director of MetaVisia UK, a web design and e-commerce solutions company presented the facts to the audience. He said questions arising from the presentation centred on packaging, delivering meat and how to price products.

"The general feeling was that per kilo was preferable but that the problem then was not knowing what the exact weight would be until the order was processed. In other words, a customer might order and pay for 2kg of meat via the website, but once it was cut to order it might end up being 2.1kg. I explained there were ways in which you could pre-authorise a customer's credit card for an approximate value at the time the order was submitted, and then confirm the actual amount once the precise cost was known."

He said butchers who were uncertain about selling on the internet would still benefit from a well presented company website.

"People expect to see a website as part of a business today, if you don't have one it's a bit like not having a telephone number."

Paine, said the event was one of two annual conferences organised by the LRMTA.

He added: "Certainly some of our members sell on the internet and of course we are talking about ordering significant amounts of quality cuts on-line. Most members who were seriously thinking about website design would have been inspired by the talk. They were assured that it was a good way forward and there are possibilities there."

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