Farmers love to buy online.
At The Dandy’s Derrynoose, we know firsthand how much the Irish farmer, both North, and South, have embraced the convenience of buying goods online. We were not surprised to learn that a recent survey found that almost nine out of ten farmers are buying and selling online. Life is fast-paced these days and convenience in shopping and working is important to everyone. While we still see as many customers calling in to the bricks and mortar store, our online shop keeps us very busy too.
There are many reasons why the farming population has opted to have essential supplies delivered to their doors. Firstly, the agricultural community, like everyone else (and some would argue even more than other sectors) has felt the impact of higher costs and have learned the value of shopping around. Scrolling on the internet is now the norm as they look for the best deals and the best value for money. The convenience of having that much needed tractor part, the farm clothing and urgent animal care products brought straight to the farm is a big part of why farming families shop online. The big move to ecommerce started for many farmers during the pandemic. Not being able to travel and with the doors of the local suppliers closed, we all quickly got to grips with shopping online. Marts also went online during the Covid-19 closures, and this forced many a tech reluctant farmer to log on and find out what the prices were doing. A whole new world opened up. You learn fast when you have to, and older farmers were soon scrolling through the internet and finding a world of choice and opportunities opening up. We expanded our own customer base at this time and were sending vital items to far flung corners. Of course, the farming population is also getting younger and more tech savvy. Social media abounds with farming memes, sites dedicated to the agricultural sector and anyone selling farm produce is likely to have their own website or social media account. The survey told us that 82% of farmers are now regularly using social media. That’s a massive increase of 168% in the last six years. Farming online and what they are calling ‘smart farming’ is here to stay. Smart farming means anything from using closed circuit tv to monitor the calving, buying, and selling online to using drones to view the land. Sure, we always thought farmers were a smart lot, but technology seems to have made it official!
At the Dandy’s Derrynoose, we were way ahead of this advancing trend for ecommerce and online shopping and have always had loyal customers online. They know that when they order, they are getting a great price and when the package arrives, it will be exactly as described. But we still like to have the callers and the personal shoppers. Online shopping may be the way forward for many and there is still a real need for that interaction with between the customer and us. Its not just the chat about the weather for the state of farming or how the family might be getting along. There are years of experience between us all, that can advise on which product might suit best for a job or where savings might be made. In the end, shopping online and in real brick and mortar stores will both continue, with a blended option to the customer. You may buy through the website or pop in for the chat or pick up the phone and discuss whatever it is you might like to buy. This is not a big change for us here at the Dandy’s Derrynoose. We have been doing just that for years, but now the rest of the world is catching up.
https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/report-89-of-farmers-now-buying-and-selling-online/
