Expand your Wallet Share with Farm Partnerships
Why your Farm Should Partner with Local Businesses
Farm partnerships give your business the opportunity to offer local Buyers complementary products in a single purchase experience - making your Farm store more attractive for customers. Add value to your own products and expand your wallet share with premium bundle boxes, specialty add-ons or seasonal product additions to your store. Local partnerships allow you to build loyalty within the community and increase your margins, while expanding your reach to new audiences.
Read: How Value-Added Products Can Increase your Average Order Value
How to Form a Farm Partnership
Build relationships with local businesses in your community that align with your goals and values. If their offerings are a natural complement, then your products can be paired together to increase the added-value of available purchase options for Buyers. Meet other producers at local Markets, Co-ops and Agricultural Extension programs. Explore and discuss building Subscription boxes with complementary high-value product pairings that appeal to Buyers of both producers. For example, if you run a beef operation, you can partner with a produce Farm to create a weekly dinner box, alternating different cuts with vegetable pairings each week.
Reach out to other local vendors that sell products which could be offered as an “Add-on” to your existing Subscriptions. Eggs, Dairy, Honey and Flowers are some of the most popular add-on purchases. Value-added products, too, from local shops that sell goat milk soap, tallow balm, pies, preserves, spices, have also proven to be a valuable addition to Bundle Boxes. Many successful Farms use Barn2Door’s an “Unlock” feature that gates access these products to existing Subscription buyers; this tactic makes the Add-on products more exclusive, compelling Subscription sign-ups and increasing overall order value.
Partner with local influencers for social media collaborations. Find local Facebook and Next Door groups, and bloggers who can share recipes featuring your products with a redirect to your shop. You may also consider hosting a Bundle Box giveaway with a popular account based on social media shares or email sign-ups. Offer incentives for people who found you from another account, and were one of the first 25 people who signed up for your email list with a unique Promo Code (e.g. BECKYS_25_INSIDERS_ONLY). Reward followers who tag you in their food posts, or tag their friends under your photos.
How to Leverage Local Partnerships
Discuss with potential partners how you can offer Buyers a premium Bundle Box featuring both your products. Successful Farms utilize boxes and Subscriptions to pack high-demand bundles together. Marketing your boxes as high-demand bundles, such as a ready-to-go Meal Kit (dinner, breakfast or grill) or a charcuterie box (parties, events) that entice Buyers. Make it easy for a customer to purchase everything they need in one place, including a recipe and cooking instructions (ideally from a local chef), versus trying to figure it out on their own.
Offer product pairings as a recurring Subscription to make ordering and fulfillments easy for your Buyers, and to expand your wallet share for your Farm. Market these premium offerings as a convenient purchase option that will be delivered consistently with a one-time sign-up (Subscription).
Partner with local businesses to offer pick-up zones across your community. Many Farmers choose to offer pick-up options at local businesses, churches and schools to make it more convenient for Buyers’ in their local loop. In addition to making fulfillments more convenient, you can also spur more foot-traffic for other local businesses in your community. Anyone who frequents those local businesses will be exposed to your brand, increasing your market awareness. This is essentially free advertising for your Farm, and can help attract new Buyers to the business hosting the pick-up as well.
Add-ons to your product offerings are a key way to leverage partnerships. Partner with Farms to offer 3rd party products in your store, such as flowers or local honey. These can be great add-ons to gift boxes or Subscription boxes, which can be routinely delivered with your existing orders. During specific seasons, Successful Farms often feature high-value, one-time or short-term add-ons to fuel more orders - such as mushrooms or turkeys. Buyers are intending to purchase these products anyhow, so make it easy by offering them as an add-on to your existing products, to drive more sales.
Offer Unique Experiences Through Partnerships
Attract new local Buyers with on-Farm events that feature other local businesses and vendors in your community. Successful Farmers may offer holiday markets or monthly events where customers can come to their Farm and shop from multiple businesses offering an array of different products or experiences. This can expand your reach, while fostering loyalty between your Farm and other local vendors.
Invite your community to your Farm for a seasonal dinner event or on-Farm cooking, butchering or preservation class. Work with local chefs and other Farms to jointly promote and offer an exclusive experience (which will often be shared on Social Media freely by attendees, too). Sell tickets and market the event as a premium experience to build hype. This will allow potential Buyers to try your products, encourage future purchases and build Brand awareness and loyalty. After the event, offer exclusive access to certain products, or a specific deal (10% off their next purchase of Pastured Poultry Bundle Box).
Conclusion
Partnering with local Farms and businesses in your community can enable you to offer premium offerings that complement your core products. Make it easy for Buyers to purchase products that naturally complement one another to expand your wallet share and increase your margins. Be creative with how you partner with other businesses - from Bundle Boxes, to Subscription Add-ons to local Pick-ups and joint on-Farm Events. You can readily expand your product offerings, improve Brand awareness, increase Buyer loyalty and access new customers with Farm partnerships.
Barn2Door offers software for Independent Farmers to create and promote their brand, sell online and in-person, and save time managing their business. If you’re curious to learn more, watch this 5-minute video.