Ordering direct from the factory is great, even from big online retailers like B+H or Freestyle, over here in Aus we've got Cheapshotsau on fleabay, he's cheapest most of the time once you take shipping into account.
But don't forget how many people around the world don't order online, not just us westerners here. And how many film-shooters who would never have heard of Ferrania, there's a whole lot more of us than the tiny percentage who come to APUG.
Think of the people who shoot what they shoot, whether they usually order online or not, and they run out of film while shooting out and about one day. See a local camera shop, go in to buy a roll to finish off the day. There's Ferrania, on the shelf in the fridge.
"What's that, I've never heard of them in my life?".
"That's Film Ferrania, they're new. We don't have any Kodak slide film any more but these guys are making it, and Fuji is hard to get here because the local distributors charge too much. If you want negative film, they make that too, or you can buy Kodak or Fuji, but who knows how much longer that will be available", says the well-informed shopkeeper.
OK, I'm not a playwright. But my point is that yes, it's fun, easy, and cheap ordering over the internet if you know where to go and what to look for. If you've never heard of it, you'll never hear of it, because you'll go back to the same online retailers and type 'velvia' or 'ektar' into the search box and buy what you always buy. Getting rolls onto the shelves at corner shops is the best way to get exposure, and when starting from nothing exposure is better than 'just sales'.