Computer-savvy consumers can now order pizza, figure out why household appliance stop or choose a plastic surgeon without ever leaving the comfort of their own terminals, thanks to local businesses going on line. 

Local businesses are making their presence known on the Internet by offering discounts, selling products and advertising on line. 

By doing so, San Mateo County businesses aren’t just drawing more local customers. They are expanding their customer bases well beyond the cities they do business in.  

Thanks to posting its inventory list on line, The Candy Company in Burlingame recently sent a $100 worth of Jelly Belly jelly beans to a new customer in Switzerland. And by showcasing artwork on line, The Gallery in Burlingame is attracting customers across the country. 

San Carlos Assistant City manager Brian Moura, who has coordinated the city’s on-line web presence, has also helped local businesses get online. He said drumming up business is the point. 

"Most of these are relatively small businesses and they’re using the Internet as a way to get customers outside their normal marketing area," Moura said. "These businesses are small enough that they probably never got customers outside the area and certainly not overseas." 

Local businesses are using a variety of methods to reach those customers. 

Some of the promotions are especially unique. 

Looking for a plastic surgeon, or tune-up for your face? Peninsula Maxillofacial Surgery—a facial and jaw surgery center with branches in South San Francisco, Burlingame and San Carlos—uses the Internet to show off before and after pictures of surgeries involving everything from sporting injuries to cosmetic surgery. The surgery center also posts information about procedures, such as face and eye lifts, so patients know what they’re in for. 

API Appliance Parts, which is headquartered in San Carlos, has set up an on-line appliance repair shop so customers can diagnose their own appliances’ problems—and then order parts over the computer. 

The on-line repair shop asks customers a list of questions, such as the brand of appliance that needs fixing and what it’s doing wrong. The computer repair shop will then help customers sift through a lit of possible causes behind the appliance’s problem. Once the source of the problem is identified, customers can order parts needed to fix it, without ever having to do so much as pick up a phone. 

"The idea behind this is that customers can better reach us and we can reach them," said Tom English, API’s vice-president of operations. 

Other promotions are designed to lure customers with convenience. 

[Waiter.Com], a [San Jose]-based company, has helped restaurants throughout San Mateo County, including Round Table Pizza in Burlingame and Le Boulanger in San Mateo and San Carlos, post menus on-line – meaning diners can order take-out without ever leaving the comfort of their computers. 

Overnight guests can now make reservations at the Villa Hotel in San Mateo using a computer. And businesses such as Great Earth vitamins in San Mateo are offering special discounts to computer users. 

On-line experiments seem to be working for local businesses. 

For example, about 900 people have visited API Appliance Part’s on-line repair shop since it was established two months ago, English said. And The Candy Company fills about an order a week for far-away customers. 

Cheryl Enright, who owns The Candy Company, said she decided to go on line even though she is not completely computer literate herself. 

In fact, she’s still baffled how the customer in Switzerland found her candy store. "I haven’t a clue how they found us," she said.