The e-commerce revolution is about to make new waves in the Caribbean market this spring with eKalaloo.com, the world’s "global connection to the Caribbean."
On May 1, eKalaloo.com is to begin putting those hard-to-get indigenous Caribbean products at the fingertips of computer owners worldwide.
eKalaloo.com is the Internet division of Kalaloo LLC, a Maryland-based company formed by native Caribbean entrepreneurs. It was designed to use the Internet as a means to educate the world on the culture, products and services of the region, and to expand the reach of Caribbean specialty items in the global marketplace.
"We see this website as the new way for the world to do business with the Caribbean," said eKalaloo.com founder and managing member, John Engerman.
Engerman, a native Virgin Islander, also said, "When visitors visit the Caribbean, they purchase the islands’ indigenous products, only to discover that there is no venue to replenish that supply once they return to their homes."
eKalaloo.com is offering Caribbean writers, artists, artisans, chefs, bakers, jewelers, hotel owners and others an opportunity to showcase and sell their products and services to the world, without having to incur the cost of designing, developing, maintaining, and marketing their own e-commerce websites.
eKalaloo.com will provide full-service business-to-consumer e-commerce over the World Wide Web and will specialize in marketing a broad range of Caribbean products and services to both retail consumers and trade customers, according to Engerman.
"eKalaloo.com is the perfect vehicle to do this, while helping to generate additional revenues for the Caribbean economy," he said. "Our 24-hour global village will provide consumers with easy and direct access to Caribbean commodities and will change the way Caribbean entrepreneurs sell their products in the 21st Century."
Representatives from eKalaloo.com will be in the Virgin Islands March 5-10 to conduct information sessions on how to showcase and sell products and services on eKalaloo.com. The sessions will be sponsored by the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The sessions will be held March 7 on St. Thomas, March 8 on St. John, and March 9 on St. Croix. Venues will be announced. For more information, call toll free 1-877-KALALOO (1-877-525-2566).
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