The direct-to-consumer (DTC) farming market is growing. As more customers seek high-quality and ethically-raised foods, many family farms are cutting out the middleman and finding success running their own DTC farm businesses.
But getting started in DTC meat sales isn’t as easy as buying a couple of freezers, setting up a website, and waiting for the cash to roll in. To find long-term success and see your business grow, you need the right tools.
In this article, we’ll break down the basic elements you need for DTC sales and give you specific recommendations for tools you can use to take your business to the next level.
Many farmers we talk to have done some DTC sales at a farmers market or other event, but have no idea how to scale that up into a business.
If you’re thinking of selling directly to customers, here are the core components you need:
In addition to software and hardware, there are aspects like cold storage and processing to consider.
If you’re feeling intimidated, remember: You don’t need to invest in expensive, commercial-grade solutions right off the bat. Start small with farm-specific tools. Then, when you’re more comfortable with DTC sales, you’ll know what kind of investments will make the most impact.
When we talk about farm e-commerce or DTC sales, there are multiple ways to do it. Generally speaking, you have three options:
In our experience, an all-in-one solution is your best, most cost-effective way to sell directly to customers. It also gives you complete control over your website and marketing, which is essential for sharing your unique personality and expertise with the world.
Looking for specific recommendations for handy DTC farming tools? Here are our recommendations.
If you’re tracking your inventory on spreadsheets, you’re doing more work than you need to. Also, you can’t run a DTC farm business by guessing what’s in your freezer.
A solid inventory management system is the foundation of DTC sales because it lets you move away from old-school (and intimidating) methods (e.g., selling a quarter or half cow) and start selling by specific cuts.
Farm-specific inventory tools allow you to track sales of items that have shared inventory inputs, too. In other words, if you sell ground beef eight different ways, you can still generate consolidated pick lists and track sales for “ground beef” as a whole, regardless of how it was sold.
Here are our recommended inventory tools:
Which tool is best largely depends on what you want out of it. Tend and Farmbrite are designed less for DTC sales and more for farm management as a whole (though they can plug into other e-commerce solutions).
GrazeCart is an all-in-one solution built for farm store sales, specifically meat and dairy. Either way, your first step to DTC success is to get away from pen and paper or spreadsheets.
Local farmers don’t just compete with other farmers, but with grocery stores and big-name meat subscriptions like ButcherBox. To stand out from the competition, you need to learn how to capture customers’ attention and bring them back for more.
The good news? You don’t have to be a marketing expert or spend thousands to get results. You just need to do some small things consistently.
Here are some useful tools to improve your marketing:
Your inventory and e-commerce software also play a major role in your marketing, since you can use customers’ purchase history to create targeted ads. For example, you might send out a 15% offer for a steak sampler pack to customers who’ve purchased any beef products in the last six months.
If you sell in person or a mix of in person and online, you need a reliable point of sale solution. POS systems do more than simply process payments — they also track inventory, manage vendors, track employee hours, and manage other aspects of your business.
There are many POS solutions out there, but not all are built for food sales. Here are a few options we recommend:
The best part of a modern POS system is it creates a consolidated inventory across your physical and online stores. This way, your customers (and your employees) have an accurate view of what’s in stock, regardless of where they buy from you.
Selling your goods online is a great way to reach more customers — but how you get your delicious food into customers’ hands is vital for finding long-term success.
Until recently, many farmers asked customers to go to a processor to pick up their order. But this is asking a lot of your customers, not to mention you’re letting a meat processor act as the customer service for your business. In-store pickups are a step up, but still a pain for many people.
Finding a reliable cold shipping partner is a must to create a shopping experience on par with anything a corporate competitor can offer.
Some e-commerce platforms, including Grazecart, have connections with reliable shipping partners — but if you prefer to do it yourself, here are a few tools to make it easier:
While not a tool per se, investing in packaging that looks great and keeps your food fresh is also highly recommended.
Related Read: How To Ship Meat: 5 Mistakes To Avoid
Family farms like GrazeCart founder’s Seven Sons are finding long-term success by cutting out the middleman and selling directly to customers. But many farmers are intimidated to get started, worried that they need a massive tech stack and a dedicated IT person to keep things running.
We’re here to tell you it’s easier than you think. With the right technology, you can get help managing the logistics and reducing data entry so you can focus more on your passion and your customers.
GrazeCart simplifies selling fresh meat and dairy, giving you everything you need to run a modern, profitable farm business without dozens of complex or disconnected tools. With advanced inventory management, helpful sales reports, built-in marketing, a no-code website builder, and cost-effective shipping partnerships, GrazeCart is created to grow with your business.
Schedule a demo with our experts today to see how GrazeCart makes it easy to start selling straight to customers.