Website Helps Small Farmers Sell

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #5, Page #21

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Selling pasture-raised meat and other farm produce online is a whole lot easier with GrazeCart, an e-commerce platform developed by farmers to help manage marketing, customer relations, order taking, inventory and fulfillment on their own farm.
“We were trying to keep track of several thousand customers and 50 drop off locations for weekly deliveries, all on different schedules,” recalls Blaine Hitzfield, Seven Sons Farms. “That led to developing GrazeCart. We went through 4 different iterations, but after about 2 years, we resolved the most frustrating pain points.”
The Hitzfields shared what they were doing with others. “We had a waiting list of people who said, ‘If you develop it, we will buy it,’” says Hitzfield. “At the beginning of 2020, we had 200 licensed users in the U.S. and Canada. During the pandemic, we grew to 450 licensed users. Most are small producers like we were 10 years ago.”
GrazeCart addresses a wide variety of needs, from developing a branded website to setting up and operating an online store to fulfillment and inventory management. Each area focuses on problems Seven Sons Farms faced, such as ensuring your website is compatible with all mobile platforms.
In addition to the software, GrazeCart offers support and counseling. Online classes cover shipping, internet marketing and developing a marketing strategy that works for an individual farm. In-depth courses are available for a lifetime fee of $1,500.
Whether looking for assistance with an existing farm-to-market business or considering starting one, the Learn section on the GrazeCart website is worth a visit. It is filled with blog posts, podcasts, tutorials and more. While some are geared toward using the software, others simply offer good business advice. Much of the information offered is free, as is a weekly newsletter.
Prospective GrazeCart users can sign up for a free 14-day trial. After that, the price is based on the number of orders (in increments of 200) received at the user’s online store each month. As a result, the cost per order goes down as business increases within each bracket of 200. The starting price is $124 per month and stays the same for up to 200 orders. At 401 orders, the price is $274 and stays at that level through 600 orders.
The Hitzfields have grown their operation from selling excess eggs at the farm door to an 8-figure business. Unlike other service providers, they actually use GrazeCart in their own business daily.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, GrazeCart, 15718 Aboite Rd, Roanoke, Ind. 46783 (ph 877 620-1977; www.grazecart.com).

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Website Helps Small Farmers Sell COMPUTERS Selling pasture-raised meat and other farm produce online is a whole lot easier with GrazeCart an e-commerce platform developed by farmers to help manage marketing customer relations order taking inventory and fulfillment on their own farm “We were trying to keep track of several thousand customers and 50 drop off locations for weekly deliveries all on different schedules ” recalls Blaine Hitzfield Seven Sons Farms “That led to developing GrazeCart We went through 4 different iterations but after about 2 years we resolved the most frustrating pain points ” The Hitzfields shared what they were doing with others “We had a waiting list of people who said ‘If you develop it we will buy it ’” says Hitzfield “At the beginning of 2020 we had 200 licensed users in the U S and Canada During the pandemic we grew to 450 licensed users Most are small producers like we were 10 years ago ” GrazeCart addresses a wide variety of needs from developing a branded website to setting up and operating an online store to fulfillment and inventory management Each area focuses on problems Seven Sons Farms faced such as ensuring your website is compatible with all mobile platforms In addition to the software GrazeCart offers support and counseling Online classes cover shipping internet marketing and developing a marketing strategy that works for an individual farm In-depth courses are available for a lifetime fee of $1 500 Whether looking for assistance with an existing farm-to-market business or considering starting one the Learn section on the GrazeCart website is worth a visit It is filled with blog posts podcasts tutorials and more While some are geared toward using the software others simply offer good business advice Much of the information offered is free as is a weekly newsletter Prospective GrazeCart users can sign up for a free 14-day trial After that the price is based on the number of orders in increments of 200 received at the user’s online store each month As a result the cost per order goes down as business increases within each bracket of 200 The starting price is $124 per month and stays the same for up to 200 orders At 401 orders the price is $274 and stays at that level through 600 orders The Hitzfields have grown their operation from selling excess eggs at the farm door to an 8-figure business Unlike other service providers they actually use GrazeCart in their own business daily Contact: FARM SHOW Followup GrazeCart 15718 Aboite Rd Roanoke Ind 46783 ph 877 620-1977; www grazecart com

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