Time to Retire the Term “CSA”?
The CSA model was created to attract community members to support local Farmers - ergo “Community Supported Agriculture” or “CSA.” Even though the concept has been around for decades, 99% of Americans don’t know what the term “CSA” means. The rise of the internet and the ease of purchasing products anytime online has fueled buyers’ expectations of convenience. If buyers don’t know what a CSA is, they won’t take time to figure it out, leading to lost sales for your Farm.
Americans average 9 paid subscriptions per household to products and services they know and love. This means that your existing buyers are already familiar with the CSA model (a recurring purchase commitment), but it’s known to them as the Subscription model. How do we know that Subscriptions to Farm products work? Because Farms that offer Subscriptions earn 2x more in average monthly revenue (versus Farmers who do not offer Subscriptions).
Subscription Advantages for Farm Businesses
CSA’s are often designed for a set amount of weeks or months, where it can be difficult to accommodate specific buyer use cases. However, Barn2Door has designed its Subscription capabilities to offer Farmers a myriad of options they can enable when buyers choose to subscribe to your Farm products:
Late Enrollment
Have you ever had a buyer who became interested in your service after the Subscription period started? With Barn2Door’s Late Enrollment feature, Farmers can offer buyers the ability to subscribe any time during the season – whether there are 8-weeks left in a 10-week season or 15-weeks left in a 20-week period. The purchase amount is automatically calculated anytime a buyer enrolls in a Subscription, based on the number of fulfillments left in the given term enabling Farmers to move additional products mid-season.
Buyer Skip and Buyer Cancel
Unlike typical Subscription services (e.g., Netflix), Farmers may want to offer buyers the flexibility to skip a fulfillment or cancel at any time. Whereas most Subscriptions do not offer much flexibility, this can prevent buyers who are afraid of ongoing commitments for Food products if they have inconsistent schedules (e.g., traveling out of town). With Barn2Door, Farmers can offer buyers flexible Subscription options, including buyer skip (allowing buyers to skip their order for a given period) and buyer cancel (allowing buyers to terminate their Subscription for convenience). These options build trust in your Farm brand and give peace of mind to existing and prospective buyers.
Pay Upfront or Pay As You Go
Traditional CSA models typically run a pay-upfront model, requiring customers to pay for the entire season in a single purchase. While this may work for some customers, the pay-upfront model dramatically limits the available market of buyers who can purchase from your Farm. Offering more flexible alternatives, including pay-upfront or pay-as-you-go models, will result in much higher conversion and more buyers of your Farm products. Buyers will enjoy the ability to choose the best option for their needs, and your Farm can cater to buyers’ expectations of convenience.
Is it time to retire the term “CSA”?
It depends. If you have an existing, loyal base of CSA members, then continuing to use the “CSA” term in conjunction with the term “Subscription” (e.g., CSA Subscription) is a good option for many Farmers (namely, legacy produce, and vegetable Farms). However, if you’re looking to build a new, recurring base Subscription and attract new buyers, then skip the CSA term altogether (and avoid the confusion).
Subscriptions have become the universal term where every buyer understands what’s included: a convenient purchase experience where products can be accessed regularly over a given term. Additionally, 90% of buyers opt-in to Farmer-recommended Subscriptions. Why? Because they trust the expert (you!), and they understand what a Subscription entails (easy, ongoing access to local Farm products). If your Farm wants to scale operations then retiring the “CSA” term and choosing a Subscription model will help your business attract more buyers and thrive long-term.
Barn2Door provides an all-in-one solution for Farmers to grow and manage their business. If you’re curious to learn why successful Farms run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.