AgVend Launches Grain Portal; Energy and Feed are Next Up
April 8, 2021 AgVend set sail as an e-commerce enabler for ag retailers in early 2018. But it would soon become clear that a better long term opportunity existed through creating a stronger digital connection between retailer and farmer-customer. The company rapidly shifted its service model to providing white-label solutions that allow retailers to do just that.
Following the successful launch of its Grower Portal offering last year, the company set its sights on retail service segments beyond agronomy accounts access. After engaging with customers and farmers, the next project selected was adding a grain portal to the mix.
Today, AgVend announced the addition of the Grain Business Unit to its Grower Portals. This expansion of the Grower Portal product gives cooperatives and grain elevators the ability to provide customers with easy digital access to their grain accounts and current market information. Growers can eSign contracts, review scale tickets in real time, and monitor cash bids through their local elevator’s AgVend-built mobile app.
“Growers were telling us that they are looking for one app to manage their dealings with their retailer,” says Alexander Reichert, AgVend Co-Founder and CEO. “That was a common refrain that we heard across the board.”
For their part, AgVend retailer customers are looking to take advantage of this farmer desire for a single information source. “When evaluating digital partners, there were a lot of companies that specialized in one business area for the app or site.” says Wes Roll, COO of West Central Ag Services Cooperative, “We didn’t want our customers having to go to three or four places to manage their business with West Central Coop. AgVend provided a single experience for our customers to access their grain, agronomy, and account information, making it easy and convenient.”
This new capability complements AgVend’s existing offering for agronomy teams, which has experienced rapid adoption by 30 cooperatives, independent and national ag retailers since its introduction 12-months ago. Though founded in e-commerce, this represents less than 10% of AgVend’s business today.
“The unique aspect of this launch is that our cooperative partners can now offer their growers a single mobile app to manage their grain, agronomy and account information.” says Reichert. “This means growers can see details of a grain contract, purchase products from an agronomic plan, and then pay an invoice with an existing credit line in one session on one platform.”
For the retailer’s grain team, the AgVend-built Grower Portal uses eSign to eliminate the chasing of paper contracts, while automated reminders save the merchandiser additional time in phone calls and emails.
“Similar to what we offer our partners’ sales agronomists, grain merchandisers now have access to their customers’ information through a few clicks on a mobile app. This ensures that they can easily provide timely answers to their producers’ most pressing questions,” says Reichert. “Also, because growers have full access to grain markets and their account information, the Grower Portal cuts down on common grower questions, such as scale ticket status and executed grain contracts.”
To complement this initial launch, later this year AgVend will complete integrations with the leading offer management systems to provide growers an easy way to submit grain offers and manage settlements through their Grower Portals.
AgVend will continue to build on this single unified experience for its partner retailers and grower customers with the addition of the Energy and Feed Business Units later in 2021. The continued expansion of the AgVend-built Grower Portal will offer ag retailers their own branded digital platform across their business units. Retailers can maintain individual business unit applications alongside AgVend’s comprehensive platform if desired.
“The design of our Grower Portals is to make it easier for producers at our Partner Retailers to do business where, when and how they want – 24/7,” adds Reichert. “The launch of grain and the subsequent business units will ensure that this extends across their entire operation.”
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