A Bermudian furniture family is looking to expand its online shopping business on the Island.Dan Mayne, owner of the online home furnishing store, Much More Furniture, and the great nephew of Bill Mayne, of Mayne’s Furniture, is not only looking to sell home furnishings to Bermuda residents through his website, but is also working with two Front Street retailers to help them set up their own online shopping sites.Dan, a computer programmer by trade, runs his business out of Kingston, Ontario, where he resides. Much More Furniture sells furniture online in Bermuda and throughout the Caribbean, and frequently advertises in newspapers here.From living room and bedroom furniture to entertainment centres, accessories and area rugs, the site ships directly to Bermuda and accepts Bermuda-based credit cards.Dan developed the site allowing customers to view, zoom and alter an inventory of 16,000 products to their liking.“The site is very intense and has the ability to zoom in on products, customise a piece of furniture and calculate cost and shipping and all the customised extras,” said Richard Mayne, Dan’s father, who does product procurement for the company.The system has worked so well for them that they are now packaging a framework of their programme and selling it to local shops looking to offer their customers an online option.“You can create a hybrid store by having a (computer) kiosk in a brick-and-mortar store,” said Richard. “It allows the retailer to show customers their full range of products.”Two local retail companies on Front Street have already made the commitment to purchase the system, and while he won’t divulge which stores yet, he stated Mayne’s isn’t one of them.He added that North American companies like the bulk store, Costco, and electronics dealer BestBuy, utilise this model.“These companies thrive on that,” he said. “Their online site has a lot more than what’s shown in their [physical] stores. We’re very cognisant of what is going on in Bermuda in regards to online shopping versus shopping locally.“Bermudians are avid shoppers whether it be online or in a store. When people say there is limited choice in Bermuda, this may be one way around that.”Richard added that while local retailers may be reluctant to go online, he believes it’s a way to show everything they have to offer.“Local retailers may have been reluctant to go online because of the initial cost and not really understanding the power of the Internet,” he said. “We carry 16,000 products, a brick-and-mortar store can’t carry that amount of product and can’t really show all they have to offer.”Much More Furniture, said Richard, is also looking to open a physical space here in Bermuda within the next six months.“That is definitely in the cards and we are excited about it,” he said. “It’s a bit premature to say when, but ultimately it will provide employment in Bermuda.”Retailers interested in learning more about Much More Furniture’s website system, contact customerservice[AT]muchmorefurniture.com