Farm CSA or Subscription? Align to Buyer Expectations
When customers purchase online, Amazon doesn’t say: “choose the mix of items you up to $50 this week.” Buyers expect to shop with the click of a button, choosing what they want to purchase without any limits.While your existing customers may know what a CSA is, 99% of Americans have never heard the term “CSA.”. If you are trying to attract new customers to order a “CSA” share, your Farm is undoubtedly losing potential customers unfamiliar with a CSA program. Why? Because they won’t take the time to be educated before purchasing. Instead, they will go where they can just ‘shop’ how they know to shop (i.e., point-and-click Subscription – no instructions needed!).
Does your Farm offer a ‘choice’ CSA, so customers ‘choose’ what to buy each week? Why constrain a customer to a $50 limit? While most CSA software options available to Farmers typically constrain the buyer to a spending limit, no other ecommerce or online buying solution limits the cart size. All carts in eCommerce are ‘choice.’ Don’t let the ‘box’ get in the way of your sales --- and how you think about selling.
When setting up your CSA, it’s essential to understand the goals of your CSA service. Why are you offering it? Is it to make it easy for customers to check out, capture recurring online sales, etc.? Ultimately, when it comes down to convenience, Subscriptions (structured exactly like a CSA, the only difference being a term customers are more familiar with) are the clear way to go.
Barn2Door offers three (3) Subscription types Farmers can offer customers – all dependent on your products and the unique needs of your Farm business:
Ongoing Subscriptions
For Farmers that can offer products year-round, Ongoing Subscriptions allow customers to remain subscribed without an end date. This means that Farmers can continue to build their subscriber base more consistently without reminding customers to re-subscribe. Common examples include Dairy, Eggs, Poultry, Pork, and Beef. If you farm in a region with year-round sun, maintain high tunnels, or are a Freight Farm, then Ongoing Subscriptions for Produce is also a great option.
Seasonal Subscription
Farmers often offer Subscriptions that align with their primary production period. The most common example is a Produce Subscription with fulfillments from late Spring through early Fall. This is considered a “Seasonal” Subscription because it has a hard “start date” and “end date” that are clearly communicated to the customer at sign-up. Examples include Spring Flower Subscriptions and Fall Harvest Subscriptions.
Rolling Subscription
Rather than focusing on a distinct “start date,” many Farmers choose to offer a Subscription with a “rolling start date” and a set duration. This can be used for providing “Trial Subscriptions” or programs with a set length like some herd-shares. So, the customer can subscribe at any time, then continue for whatever the length is set to – whether a few weeks or 12 months.
If your Farm wants to implement either option - “Choice CSA” or a “CSA Subscription” - without any artificial limits on your buyers, Barn2Door provides the software to help you achieve the perfect scenario.
CHOICE CSA - Option A
Weekly, Pay-as-you-Go ‘Choice’ CSA. Buyers ‘choose’ what they want on a weekly basis. Think about how customers attend a grocery store weekly, adding items to a physical cart - that’s this option but online. Instead of limiting what customers can spend based on the size of a cardboard box (build your box), configure an automatic Order Reminder each week to prompt customers to purchase again week-over-week (build your cart). Note: you could skip the word CSA and just say Shop.
Set it up:
Add home delivery or pickup locations
Make sure you add to or adjust inventory regularly
Set Automatic Order Reminder to go weekly to your Buyers
Get Paid Upfront. If you want that early season, upfront payment --- and want your customers to have the flexibility of choice of what to buy, then tell customers to buy Store Credits. You can set up different price points, and you can watch the credits, used or unused, per buyer right on your Customer Tab. We often suggest adding a Store Banner with a call-to-action to buy Store Credits.
Note that Option A is ideal for Farms with less than 50 buyers. A Choice CSA can become complicated, costly, and get chaotic quickly. If Farms are looking to grow operations, expand their customer base, and secure long-term recurring orders from customers, a Farmer’s Choice Subscription is the way to go.
STANDARD Subscription - Option B
Weekly ‘Guaranteed’ Subscription Purchases. Farmers and customers alike love knowing that you have a commitment to products for 10 or 20 weeks. As today’s buyers are very familiar with Subscriptions, we see upwards of 40% of all sales through the Barn2Door platform are subscriptions.
Most buyers prefer to purchase a Subscription versus having a weekly ‘choice’ due to the convenience of a “click-it and forget-it” model. Even if you offer a Choice Subscription and are afraid to change, 90% will opt-in for a Farmer Recommended Subscription Boxes.
Set it up:
Ask yourself: what items do people cook or eat every week, every other week, or every month (eggs, produce, proteins)?
On the Inventory tab, click on ‘add new Subscription’ and add a Subscription option to items for 1, 2, or 4-week intervals.
On the Inventory tab, click on ‘add new Subscription’ and add a Subscription Box (Farmer choice) of your term choice. We recommend adding a small box (feeds 1-2), a medium box (feeds 3-4), and a large box (feeds 5-6).
Customers can pay for their Subscriptions in two ways to best fit their needs:
Pay as You Go:
Enable customers to spread out the cost of a Subscription over the fulfillment schedule. Allow customers to pay for your Farm products as they are fulfilled - weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. For most Americans, this option is easier as not everyone can drop $100’s on a CSA box at once and can more easily afford a week-over-week or month-over-month purchasing experience.Pay Upfront:
Let customers pay for their Subscription in advance. As an incentive, most Farmers will typically offer a 5%-10% discount for paid upfront Subscriptions to help increase cash flow ahead of harvest. (Note, this option is only available for Seasonal or Rolling Subscriptions for a predefined period of time on Barn2Door).
Each customer is different, but it’s essential to align your Farm with your buyers' expectations. While most of your customers will desire convenience and gravitate towards the most convenient option, a fraction of your customers will care enough to have a choice.
It’s essential that your Farm is catering to buyers’ expectations of convenience ordering anywhere, anytime, online with one-click purchase options. In turn, you’ll thank yourself for having a streamlined management system, saving time picking and packing orders, and gaining peace of mind with recurring Subscription income every week/month.
Barn2Door provides an all-in-one solution to grow and manage your Farm business. If you’re curious to learn why successful Farms run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.