E-commerce
“E-commerce doesn’t always mean there is a credit card transaction and more work. You can pre-order online for pickup or delivery, and then pay by cash or check, and in person.”
- Jeremy Bloom, Internet Farmer
E-commerce can sell your wares and deepen connections with customers
For any farmer, letting customers large and small know what you have to sell is vital to your business, and you already do it one way or the other. You can use shopping cart software to manage the catalog of product varieties, prices, and inventory, and have it available to customers 24/7/365. It can be display only, or it can accept purchase orders or credit cards. For retail or wholesale, it makes business easier, letting you focus elsewhere.
For a deeper look at how E-commerce fits in to small farm operations, read this blog post.
Internet Farmer offers a few options for selling online:
- E-commerce I: Current clients needing to sell up to 10 products
- E-commerce II: Current clients wanting to open an online store
- E-commerce III: New clients who ONLY need an online store
Here’s what you get with the “E-commerce I” package:
Mostly suited to CSAs or Small Producers selling less than 10 products - PayPal & Google Checkout. Projects under this package will generally take 2-4 weeks. (this is an add-on package to a Basic Web Presence or Newsletter Blog)
- Setup of up to 10 products on a page of your website using PayPal or Google Checkout
- 3 Photos per product/service
- One-on-One Education & Support for whoever will be handling the orders.
- Unlimited phone & email support
Cost:
- Added on to your current package, First year $608, additional years $108
- See Plans & Pricing for detail
Here’s what you get with the “E-commerce II” package:
Suited for an Virtual Farm Stand, Virtual Farmer’s Market and Buying Clubs – Open-Source ‘Zen Cart’ Order System. Projects under this package will generally take 4-6 weeks. (this is an add-on package to a Basic Web Presence or Newsletter Blog)
- 1 Installation & Setup of the ‘Zen Cart’ Order System specific to how you want to do business (credit card, pre-orders, shipping)
- Setup of your ENTIRE product catalog and education and assistance to manage the catalog yourself.
- One-on-One Education & Support for whoever will be handling the orders.
- Assistance merging orders and inventory with QuickBooks or other type of accounting software.
- Unlimited phone & email support
Cost:
- Added on to your current package, First year $1,432, additional years $432
- See Plans & Pricing for detail
Here’s what you get with the “E-commerce III” package:
Suited for an Virtual Farm Stand, Virtual Farmer’s Market and Buying Clubs – Open-Source ‘Zen Cart’ Order System. Projects under this package will generally take 4-6 weeks. (this is a stand-alone package for those who ONLY need the online store and do not have a Basic Web Presence or Newsletter Blog)
- 1 Installation & Setup of the ‘Zen Cart’ Order System specific to how you want to do business (credit card, pre-orders, shipping)
- Setup of your ENTIRE product catalog and education and assistance to manage the catalog yourself.
- 1 Customized Header Graphic & dozens of design templates to choose from.
- Unlimited logos and photos
- One-on-One Education & Support for whoever will be handling the orders.
- Assistance merging orders and inventory with QuickBooks or other type of accounting software.
- Registration of your own domain name: We register your own domain name (e.g., www.yourfarm.com) subject to availability. You own the domain name.
- 1 year of web hosting in our reliable high-speed web server located right here in Maine.
- Unlimited email forwarding for anyname@yourfarm.com.
- Unlimited phone & email support
Cost:
- Added on to your current package, First year $2,418, additional years $918
- See Plans & Pricing for detail