opening e-commerce on a sales platform can help diversify an agricultural activity and boost sales in a context that is sometimes difficult for some farms. However, there are a few tips you can follow to avoid failure and increase your chances of success online. Here is what you may find useful before you start.
Equip yourself while limiting costs
Since it is sometimes vital to save money, there are solutions to equip yourself at a reduced cost. The first option is to use classified ads platforms for the sale of used agricultural equipment. Not only will this save you from buying a new machine, but it will also contribute to a general sustainable development effort. To buy a used farm tractor, for example, just go to a website like Agriaffaires and select the type of machine you are looking for. Many filters allow you to refine the results. Among them we find:
- The model ;
- The year of manufacture;
- The price ;
- The localisation.
The second option is to call on a Cuma (cooperation in the use of agricultural equipment). These organizations can advise and allow a group purchase in exchange for a membership fee needed to become a member. If sharing a gear is not a problem for you, the Cuma can give you access to used equipment in good condition.
Choose the right online sales platform
In order to successfully launch and maintain your e-business online, it is essential to use an adequate and properly configured online sales platform. It is therefore an important choice. However, it is not enough to have a suitable platform. It will then be necessary to select the necessary and optimal functionalities for an agricultural e-business. If you are unsure, also consider community platforms. In exchange for managing the technical aspects, they will make a margin on your sales. For a sale of agricultural equipment, Agriaffaires allows you to buy a used agricultural tractor.
Then, the choice of products to sell online will also be a crucial factor. It’s up to you to determine the number of products that corresponds to the diversity of production as well as to your online ambitions.
Get support from an SEO agency (SEO)
For an e-business, SEO is a crucial and essential step. It is this that will allow your site or your platform to stand out and benefit from better visibility. In fact, search engine optimization (or optimization for search engines in French) improves the position of a site in the results of user searches. A good SEO is a guarantee of being among the first positions and therefore of benefiting from a number of visits much higher than the sites which are lower on the page, and on the following pages. you have an example/case study on anime AnimeSprout.
The work of SEO will therefore revolve around all the content that e-business has. Whether it’s the home page, product sheets or descriptions of different product categories, every element counts. This is why using a specialized agency can boost your online sales.
Organize your logistics well
Logistics is a part of your e-business that is crucial for its success. Indeed, for you, good management of the space provided for preparing the packages (labeling, packaging, weighing, etc.) is absolutely necessary, otherwise your productivity will be greatly reduced. For your customers, logistics will influence the smooth running of the shipment of parcels as well as their transport duration. If everything is well prepared, the customer will have a better chance of receiving their order on time and in good condition, and therefore of being satisfied.
For many e-businesses, logistics is a weak point. Stand out and make it a strong point!
Learn about the different steps
Creating an e-business cannot be improvised. There are a series of administrative steps to follow in order to have a legal and suitable online point of sale. First of all, you should know that using an online sales platform (marketplace) or a dedicated website is very different. For this last solution, the administrative and legal procedures are relatively numerous since they consist in:
- Reserve a domain name through a registrar;
- Write GTC (general conditions of sale);
- Display the legal notices on the site;
- Create a personal data processing register;
- Respect intellectual property;
- Respect consumer law (for non-professional clients).
Since going through the creation of a page or an account on an online sales platform is the simplest method and the one that requires the least investment in terms of time and money, it is is the one we recommend at first.
Use social networks
Faced with the power of social networks, the agricultural sector is no exception to the rule. Indeed, for an e-business, the different platforms offer features that can complement SEO as well as online sales. On Facebook, it will be a question of creating a page for your e-business and filling in the various fields used to inform the user of the type of business and the various contacts. Subsequently, you will have to post a few messages from time to time to keep the space active and by giving some news such as sales, new products … Through this, it is also possible to respond to requests and questions via the tool set up by this social network like kissanime.
Through Instagram, the idea is to bring your e-business to life and give it real personality. Posting photos of your farm or of the products sold serves to reach a new target and to stand out from other players in this sector who have probably not ventured onto this social network.
