Farm HERO: Streamline your In-Person Sales with POS!
Barn2Door’s Point-of-Sale (POS) allows Farmers to seamlessly connect their online and in-person sales with no effort. With real-time inventory sync, all your Farm orders are handled in a single merchant account, providing flexible payment options and more to give your Farm plenty of flexibility and capabilities to support a simple Buyer purchase experience.
This North Carolina Farm found success using Barn2Door’s POS to fuel their in-person sales. See the features that made their transactions seamless, and how they attract Buyers to their on-Farm store. With 97% of Americans preferring to use Cards or Digital Wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) for every purchase, this Farm quickly attracted 6-figures in in-person sales with their POS! Learn more about the Barn2Door POS purpose-built for Farmers:
First Generation to 6-Figure Farm
Jim and Carol built their first-generation protein Farm in eastern North Carolina in 2008. What started as a homestead grew into a business, as their family quickly realized that to maintain operations, their Farm had to be profitable. In 2014, they bought 7 acres and around 2020, they went full-time with their Farm business, selling directly to their community.
Prior to Barn2Door, Jim and Carol used an industry-agnostic solution, but found that it was not designed for Farm products, and required a lot of painstaking, manual updates to keep their inventory updated in the backend and did not support Sell by Weight. Barn2Door removed the headaches and made it easy with a POS built for Farmers, that supports Fixed Price and Sell by Weight options for the same unit, and syncs all their online and in-person sales in real-time. No more manual updates!
Opening an On-Farm Storefront
The Farm found that Farmers’ Markets were not worthwhile for their operation, taking extra effort to haul coolers and set up their inventory without a viable return. Instead, they chose to open an on-Farm store in their garage. This allows Jim and Carol to set their own schedule (Friday and Saturday from 10am-2pm), and eliminates the extra work of setting up each week for local North Carolina customers. Buyers can also come by appointment if they know they will spend enough to make their extra work worthwhile. These Buyers tend to become their top spenders, and recognize that the Farmers are putting in extra effort to allow them to shop after hours.
Jim and Carol sell items in their Farm store from other small Farms or local homesteaders in their area. They make wholesale arrangements, or sell other products on a commission basis. This allows their Farm to attract Buyers by offering a wider spread of products, and helps them build partnerships with other Farmers within their community. They will partner with other producers to sell perishable items such as fruit, veggies, bread or dairy products.
Barn2Door enables their Farm to track all of these items (whether they are produced on their Farm or elsewhere) so their online and in-person inventory is synced no matter where a purchase takes place. All orders and transactions can be downloaded in a spreadsheet for easy analysis of online orders against what was purchased in-person with their POS device.
Attracting In-Person Buyers
The Farmers’ daughter works in their store, and helps attract like-minded moms and other community members. By sharing her passions and values, other potential Buyers find the Farm products more trustworthy and will return each week to purchase. The Farmers are active on social media posting consistently, which has helped 9 out of 10 buyers find them on Facebook. Note: every Farm is different, and other social platforms or email may work better for attracting Buyers to your Farm in particular.
They have 2 pick-up locations that they fulfill on Mondays. They allot 30 minutes to the parking lot pick-up zones, further solidifying their set schedule to run orders each week. While Buyers utilize these pick-up locations, their Farm store has become a community hub that people frequent weekly. They offer many high-demand items (some of which may not be available on their online store), such as raw milk (not for human consumption), eggs and bread. The Farmers know that carrying staples, and creating a welcoming, educational environment, bring Buyers back each week.
An on-Farm store not only allows the Farmers to increase their orders and meet their Buyers in person, but gives the customers an educational opportunity to explore the Farm. The Farmers’ 6-year-old granddaughter will give visitors a tour of the Farm, educating community members on their practices and values. This attracts crowds of people, including homeschool groups or parents visiting with their children. The Farmers are always looking to build relationships with their local customers, which builds Brand loyalty and brings people back week after week.
With a consistent base of Buyers, Jim and Carol have enjoyed an increased base of recurring sales, whether it is picking up their weekly Egg Subscription or one-time-purchases of Chicken or Lamb. At their on-Farm store, customers typically spend more money, purchasing a wide variety of products, value-add and staples. When families hang out on the Farm, they will typically purchase snacks from the Farm store during their visit. All of these transactions occur through the POS, which has helped this North Carolina Farm accumulate more than 6-figures in sales!
Using Farm POS to Streamline Orders
With the Barn2Door POS, Jim and Carol have streamlined their operations, seamlessly syncing their inventory (between online and in-person orders) and managing their Buyer information. Their favorite feature is the ability to identify their Buyers, segment them into different lists (by purchasing habits), and then sending automated order reminders weekly ( without adding extra effort).
The ability to take multiple payment options on the POS - cash, check, credit cards, debit cards and digital wallets (Apple Pay and Google Pay)- means they never have to turn away buyers. Those visiting to tour the Farm, may not have come anticipating to make a purchase (and often do not have cash on hand). The Farmers can also adjust Subscription quantities and edit schedules in Barn2Door, allowing them to always have full control over their orders. As they have grown fast, they hope to maintain their current processes using Barn2Door’s software - built for Farmers.
Their advice for new Farms - do not be afraid of marketing. They have found that posting consistently on social media has helped them attract the majority of their local buyers. Your followers may not see every single post you upload, so remaining consistent is key with a variety of engaging posts that can raise your profile. They post photos and videos about their products, practices and care for their animals to shed light on the importance of local, healthy food. It does not always have to be a sales pitch in marketing, you can simply share a Farm story and that could lead customers to your store.
Jim and Carol also recommend offering products that will bring buyers back every week, such as milk, eggs and bread. If it becomes a routine for your customers to purchase from your store regularly, they are more likely to request new products that could be an add on to their orders. Increase your Farm’s Brand awareness in your local community by hosting events, inviting your neighbors on the Farm, and providing a space to meet and learn about your practices. This North Carolina operation knows that the Farmers’ Market is not open every week, but their Farm store will be ready to serve local Buyers on a consistent basis.
Conclusion
Giving buyers multiple avenues to shop from your Farm can help increase orders, by providing more access to browse and purchase your products. Jim and Carol found that inviting their North Carolina community to their on-Farm store enabled them to build a base of loyal Buyers and capture 6-figures in POS sales. With Barn2Door software built for Farmers, this North Carolina Farm has found success, simplifying their inventory management, accessing more Buyers and streamlining their operations, online and in-person.
Barn2Door offers software for Independent Farmers to create and promote their brand, sell online and in-person, and save time managing their business. If you’re curious to learn more, watch this 5-minute video.