Let’s face it: Driving 30 minutes or more down the road to visit your farm and stock up on meat isn’t the most convenient option for customers. If they’re short on time or gas, they’re likely to rely on the local grocery store instead — even if the quality and taste of your farm-fresh goods are superior.
So, how can you make it easier for customers to choose your farm store? The answer is local delivery.
In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of delivering goods directly to customers and share six tips to help you craft an effective and profitable local delivery strategy.
Let’s get started.
Feel like your farm store sales have hit a plateau? Local delivery might be the game-changer you’re looking for.
Let’s look at the main benefits of offering local delivery from your farm:
In short, launching a farm delivery service can help you appeal to more customers and make more sales.
Now, let’s dive into the how behind this strategy.
Shipping perishable goods like meat can be complicated. On their journey from your farm to a customer’s front door, your products are vulnerable to bumps in the road, temperature fluctuations, and pests.
The FDA regulates perishable shipping and food safety at the federal level, and its website contains several small business resources to help you make a health and safety plan for your farm delivery business.
For example, you’re required to regularly clean delivery vehicles, ensure your drivers have proper food safety training, and use adequate refrigeration and insulation.
Your state and local authorities may have additional guidelines and permit requirements, so make sure you’re compliant before making your first delivery.
Since your goods aren’t going far, you can likely opt for cost-effective packaging and insulation materials like regular cardboard and ice packs.
Related Read: Insulated Box Liners: 4 Best Options for Shipping Meat
One of the biggest mistakes farmers make when adopting a local delivery strategy is starting too big. While it’s tempting to say yes to every potential sale, overextending your delivery zone will make it nearly impossible to maintain quality control and turn a profit.
That’s why we recommend starting small. A 30-mile radius is a good rule of thumb for your first delivery zone. This will limit the amount of time your products spend on the road — reducing the need for heavy-duty packaging and insulation.
Plus, this smaller delivery zone means less time spent and fuel used, increasing the likelihood of profitability on your first few orders.
Setting up a delivery zone and planning a route might sound intimidating, but your farm e-commerce tool should make it easy. You can map out the areas or list zip codes where you’re willing to deliver, allowing customers to check whether their address is eligible.
As your delivery business grows, you can expand your delivery area and add location-specific pricing to account for increased insulation and fuel costs.
Now, it’s time to work out the logistics of your local delivery strategy. Specifically, you need to decide whether you’ll handle delivery yourself or outsource to a third-party shipping provider.
For example, FedEx offers packaging solutions and refrigerated trucks guaranteed to keep products between 35 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit. This outsourced approach is simple and scalable, allowing you to expand your delivery zone without having to plan routes and budget for fuel.
The alternative is to use your own vehicles and drivers to handle deliveries. This option gives you full control over your deliveries — from when packages arrive to how your drivers interact with customers.
However, in-house delivery can be expensive. Along with fuel and maintenance costs, you’ll lose a farmhand on delivery days — which can be a major burden during busy planting and harvesting periods.
Pro tip: Looking for another option? Consider offering curbside pickup. With this business model, you’ll pick a centralized location, load up a truck with preorders, and make one stop where customers can come and retrieve their products.
Setting prices is one of the most challenging parts of launching a local delivery business.
If your prices are too low to outweigh your cost of goods sold (COGS) and delivery expenses, you’ll never turn a profit. If your add-on delivery fees are too high, customers will load up their carts but never click the “purchase” button.
How can you strike the right balance? Factor your delivery costs into your product sticker prices and charge a small delivery fee.
For example, if you charge $8/pound for beef in your farm store, you might charge $9.50 online and $5 for delivery. This approach prevents sticker shock while ensuring healthy profit margins.
Transparency is essential for building trust with your online customers, so make sure your website calculates and clearly displays their order total.
Does building a website and managing online sales sound like a technology nightmare? There’s good news: You don’t have to do it alone.
Look for an all-in-one farm e-commerce platform that includes:
Having the right tools from day one of your delivery operations will help you create an excellent online shopping experience, handle orders smoothly, and ensure on-time, accurate deliveries.
What’s the number one factor in your delivery business’ profitability? Your customers’ average order size.
If customers only place small orders, you might end up spending more than you make on delivery logistics — making it impossible to turn a profit.
That’s why we recommend adopting strategies to increase your average online cart size. Here are our top tips:
Setting up these promotions might sound like a heavy marketing lift, but your farm e-commerce platform should make it a breeze.
Related Read: Grassroots Marketing for Farms: 5 Ways To Reach Customers
Ready to make your first online sale? We’re here to help.
GrazeCart is an all-in-one e-commerce platform designed to help farmers like you embrace the power of online sales. With GrazeCart, you can build a custom website, make online sales, and fulfill orders for pickup and delivery.
Plus, our powerful inventory management features, marketing tools, and in-depth reporting and analytics can help you grow your customer base and bottom line.
See GrazeCart in action by starting your free two-week trial today.