If you haven’t looked at selling online before, it may feel daunting to jump into it in the middle of this crisis. The Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network developed a good list of questions to ask when you’re choosing which service to work with:
- How long has your online sales platform been in use?
- How many farmers are you currently working with?
- What will it cost my farm to use your platform? What is your fee structure?
- I’m ready to start selling products right now. What does it take to get started? Is there a wait because of the current increase in demand for online sales platform services?
- How will your online sales platform integrate with my current website?
- What is the process for entering the products that I have to sell?
- How do I update my product list and pricing?
- Will I be able to set inventory limits so that I don’t oversell products?
- How does the customer interface work? Is your platform easy to use on a Smartphone?
- How do customers pay for products?
- Are credit and debit card fees charged to customers?
- Can customers pay by check or cash on delivery?
- Can customers pay with EBT?
- Is there a way for me offer customers discounts, coupons, and promotions?
- How long does it take for customer payments to deposit into my farm’s bank account?
- How is sales tax handled on your platform?
- Is it possible to integrate your platform with my accounting software?
- Is it possible to create pack lists directly from your sales platform? How about labels?
- Does your platform offer any suggestions for delivery routes based on orders?
- What kind of IT support does your company provide?
- How is my farm’s sales data used and/or shared?
- What happens to my farm’s sales data if I stop using your platform?
- What other features does your platform offer that I should know about?
