3 Ways to Drive Pre-Orders for Your Farm
Pre-Orders are a Farm's secret weapon to bankroll revenue going into the season and guarantee products will be moved. Customers love securing Farm-fresh products months in advance, reserving access to items in high demand or products with short growing seasons.
For Farmers to drive Pre-Order sales, you need to invest in promoting what’s available (either to what’s currently in your inventory or in the future). We outlined three tactics the most successful Farms on Barn2Door use to drive Pre-Orders and increase sales before the season begins:
Communicate with Your Buyers
If you want to garner sales for Pre-Orders, you need to tell your buyers. They won’t know unless you tell them! By using both in-person and online channels to communicate what’s available and how to order, Farmers drive more visits to their store and lock in purchase commitments before products are harvested. Here are the channels your Farm should engage buyers:
Email
Promote Pre-Orders in your monthly newsletter to inform email subscribers what items they can order now and receive in the future. Farmers have seen up to 80% of their weekly orders come through a single newsletter! Start by targeting your most loyal customers first, offering first access to pre-order a popular product.
Social Media
Your email list and social media following are often different audiences. Let your followers know about Pre-Orders with a fun post. Post a picture of the product and put a caption directing your followers to pre-order now! You can even share a balanced mix of information with the three E’s (entertain, educate, and e-commerce) to direct followers to your Farm store (e-commerce). Consider including limited-time offers and special promo codes to fuel orders in advance.
Farmer’s Market
Getting ready to sell a new Subscription? Maybe an upcoming harvest you’re excited to offer customers? Let your farmer’s market customers know! Many of them will share the same excitement for your upcoming products and want to secure their Subscription order for the first harvest of the season. Prepare to hand out flyers to potential customers at the markets, driving them to your store – to pre-order products or access the latest items of the season. Also, capture their contact information to send them future product updates.
I tell people all the time who have a similar story: 'well, what did you expect? Orders don't magically happen. You have to go out and tell people about it! You need to put in the leg work to make it happen, and IT WILL.
- Protein Farmer, Michigan
Use FOMO Tactics
People hate the feeling that they’re missing out on something, especially when it comes to a special discount. Leverage fear of missing out (FOMO) tactics, including limited-time offers and messaging of limited inventory, to prompt purchases. Buyers don’t want to lose out on exclusive deals to your Farm, so offering a limited-time coupon for your Pre-Orders will drive buyers to purchase. For example, when you send a newsletter, include a 10% off coupon if buyers pre-order within the next week! Then, send a reminder email one day before the offer expires to capture last-minute sales.
Secure Buyer Commitments with Subscriptions
The best way to drive buyer loyalty is to secure buyer commitments for a season. A great way to do this is by allowing buyers to Pre-Order upcoming CSA’s or Subscriptions. Subscriptions can be paid for before products are harvested. Consider offering flexible payment options: pay upfront or pay-as-you-go. If you offer an up-front Subscription, buyers can pay for the Subscription in full, which is typical for a Pre-Order model. However, if you offer a pay-as-you-go Subscription, buyers can pre-order the first week of the fulfillment and are billed regularly each week throughout the period.
Pre-Orders can help your Farm lock-in buyer commitments before the season starts. But to do it successfully, you need to take the time to promote your Pre-Orders to see results. By leveraging Pre-Orders, you’ll quickly see a return on your investment before products are harvested, be able to cover operating costs ahead of processing, and enjoy access to cash flow before the busy season begins.
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.