HOTHOTHOT.COM provides the global customer with the widest assortment and best quality specialty hot sauces available at the most competitive prices, as well as a unique selection of high-quality specialty foods, kitchen and grilling accessories, gifts and music.
HOTHOTHOT.COM is committed to providing its customers and business partners with not only the best, but also the fastest and friendliest customer service; an innovative and highly-skilled management and employee team; financial soundness; and social responsibility in all its transactions.
One commitment to our external and internal customers will always be reflected in our one desire: to provide only the very best for the best.
The Management and Employees of HotHotHot.com
CHAPTER 1
THE COMPANY
Company Characteristics
1. HOTHOTHOT.COM is the first hot sauce-only retail store on the Internet.
2. HOTHOTHOT.COM is one of the very first Internet companies to make consistent profits since its inception more than five years ago.
3. HOTHOTHOT.COM has an extremely loyal, highly educated customer base. The current customer base of 10,000 is expected to grow to 500,000 by 2004.
4. HOTHOTHOT.COM offers more than 100 brands of hot sauce and salsa via the Internet, and ships merchandise to more than 43 countries.
5. HOTHOTHOT.COM is one of only a handful of few companies that has successfully launched its own brands. The company is able to ensure prompt delivery of its products because of its in-house manufacturing. A sale has never been lost due to technical problems at the manufacturing level.
6. HOTHOTHOT.COM receives 100 e-mails daily, and an average of 10,000 hits per day.
7. HOTHOTHOT.COM has received global recognition from more than 100 publications, 5 internationally broadcast television programs. Additionally, the company has been profiled in more than 22 textbooks on marketing on the World Wide Web.
8. PC Magazine has rated HOTHOTHOT.COM as one of the "Top 100 Web Sites" for four consecutive years.
Company Summary
HOTHOTHOT.COM was formed and domiciled in Los Angeles, California. More than 100 brands of hot sauces and salsas are marketed and sold to price-conscious, quality-sensitive consumers via the HOTHOTHOT.COM Web site.
HOTHOTHOT.COM was conceived as an Internet retailer store, and has delivered hot sauces and salsas exclusively in this manner since 1994. It has carved out a niche for itself in a highly competitive world of specialty food products, particularly in the sauce category.
HOTHOTHOT.COM has an exclusive agreement with Quality Foods, a Los Angeles-based company that manufactures, warehouses and ships hot sauces and other specialty foods to various retail outlets. As a result of its exclusive agreement with Quality Foods, HOTHOTHOT.COM is not forced to rely heavily on other suppliers for raw materials or finished goods, making it possible for the company to honor its commitment for prompt delivery and 100% customer satisfaction.
HOTHOTHOT.COM's sales growth is expected to be staggering in the next few years. During its first year, the company received an average of 500 hits per day; today, the Web site receives about 10,000 hits per day, reflecting an annual growth rate of 125%. When it was first established, HOTHOTHOT.COM delivered products only within the U.S.; today, products are delivered to more than 43 countries.
The company's customer base is expected to expand to more countries in the next 3-5 years. In addition, HOTHOTHOT.COM is negotiating for warehousing facilities in Europe, Australia and Asia.
The management team at HOTHOTHOT.COM has more than 100 years of combined direct marketing, merchandising and management experience. It is this level of expertise and experience that has made HOTHOTHOT.COM the subject of print and television reports.
HOTHOTHOT.COM has captured market share and improved its profitability through the use of affiliates, which are expected to grow from the current 1000 level to 50,000 in four years. It will continue to use its exclusive agreements with Quality Foods, to maintain or reduce its manufacturing costs, while ensuring continued prompt delivery and complete customer satisfaction. The company also plans to double the number of HOTHOTHOT.COM branded products within the next two years. Other specialty foods, cookbooks and ethnic foods and spices will compliment the company's core product line of hot sauces and salsas.
