Family Island farmers may be closer to getting some of their retail issues solved, with government launching an online availability pilot program in Andros to determine its success before taking it throughout The Bahamas.

"The farmers had problems marketing their produce and making contact with the buyers," said Edison Key, executive chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC). "BAIC has a program in North Andros to assist with the marketing of produce.

"If this initiative is successful in North Andros, it will be repeated in other islands." His statements came at last week's first Business Outlook conference for Andros. The program is centered around a listing of all registered farmers in Andros being placed on a web site, where buyers can have access to information on what each farmer grows. Added to this, farmers are able to place their available produce information on a web site for sale.

The first employer to start using the new electronic payroll system created by the Bahamas Automated Clearing House (BACH) could go live as early as next week.

Brian Smith, business manager of Bahamas Automated Clearing House (BACH), said that his organization had been working with four institutions over the new system which will put an end to employees have to queue up in bank to cash the wage checks.

And the new system will mean that employers will now be able to pay wages into any bank account rather than workers having to have the same bank account as their bosses.

 

An organizer of the Bahamas Automated Clearing House (BACH) is expecting positive responses to the expansion of online bill payment, asserting it's a service that may come online even before the three month deadline.

"That will come in the future, within three months for sure and maybe sooner," Brian Smith, BACH's business manager, told Guardian Business. "But we definitely plan to do online payment within the next three months.

"I think once people see what it can do for them, they'll wonder how we ever lived without them."

For one, he said it'll change the business of hand delivering checks completely, with the ability to credit accounts being made available with the expansion of online bill payment. The launch of the highly-anticipated BACH is set to go live January 22, following several months of delay.

Market analysts report a boom in online sales throughout the nation. Reported growth rates are at 27.4% for buying online which is six times higher than average growth rates of retail sales. US e-commerce sales total $130 billion in 2009.

Merchants are also finding that less savvy consumers start their shopping online, browse research and compare products, but do not necessarily buy online. Bargain shoppers place an even higher priority on web research in today's recession.

Online shopping continues to grow in popularity every year. Shopping this holiday season has shifted from over crowded malls and brick-and-mortar stores to online retailers.