on big farm mobile harvest market scroll

New players are constantly entering the online sales marketplace for farmers, often with major venture capital backing and claims of disrupting the conventional retail model. It also means more expense - in packaging, shipping fees, and time - so make careful estimates of these costs before choosing to go this route.

You do nothave to be willing to ship your products in order to make online sales, though if you are willing to ship to far-away buyers this certainly opens up new venues. Over the past decade many options have emerged that allow farmers to sell their products online. You still need to brand your product, clearly articulate why anyone should buy from you, choose appropriate pricing, know your target customer and figure out how they will find out about your farm. Selling online does not absolve you of any of the standard marketing advice. Online sales are not a marketing strategy, but rather a sales channel. Courtesy of Kelly Christensen Perrin / Quarry Brook Farms. There are myriad options to explore, from a personal online store to a collective online farmers’ market.Īdam Perrin of Quarry Brook Farms, an Eat From Farms customer, counts his sheep.

Of course, Eat From Farms is not the only online sales option. It did require hours of work to set up - photographing my products, writing a description for each one, entering all the quantities and pricing information - but I did all that during the winter “down time,” and my online store now requires very little maintenance.Ĭombined with my self-serve on-farm store, it has completely replaced my farmers’ market sales. He convinced me to give it a try, and it has proved a fantastic addition to my marketing toolbelt. George is the force behind Eat From Farms, a farmer-friendly online store platform. That winter, I met George Duggan at a grazing conference. I knew I was missing an opportunity to sell to the neighbors in my rural community who wanted to buy from me, but didn’t often make it to the farmer’s market where I was selling.

There are myriad options to explore, from a personal online store to a collective online farmers’ market.įour years ago, I was using a common mix of marketing channels for my small diversified farm: a farmers’ market and restaurant accounts, along with direct sales of whole and half animals.

On big farm mobile harvest market scroll