AgVend to Focus on Portal E-Commerce Model, End Marketplace
August 26, 2020 It’s been an eventful three years for the folks at AgVend.
AgVend was one of a handful of companies that recognized that competitive pressure from manufacturers and massive integrated retailers seeking to dominate farmer product procurement through e-commerce was growing fast. Retailers were seeking ways to keep up without having to invest in proprietary software programs, so the company provided an opportunity for retailers to get in the e-commerce game through an open platform called AgVend Marketplace.
But the gravitational pull of customization led the company to develop a white-label e-commerce portal for retailers that it began trialing last year. Its explosive popularity has led the company to announce plans to sunset the Marketplace at the end of September to focus on its Grower Portal model.
“The Marketplace was designed to combat the threat of third-party eCommerce providers that were growing at the time. We knew our partners would eventually want a way to engage their core customers digitally, so we began experimenting with white-labeled solutions during the 2019 season,” noted Eli Rosenberg, Head of Product at AgVend.
In April, AgVend launched the white-labeled product line that allowed direct connection between the farmer and the distribution channel partner. “The Grower Portal solution combines the convenience of the Marketplace with our partner retailers’ pre-established brand, team, and relationships with their customers,” says Rosenberg. “The digital platform allows quicker, more streamlined communication and gives both retailers and growers instant access to powerful data that can influence business decisions.”
“Over the past three years, we’ve learned a great deal about how growers want to do business, and many of those lessons are reflected in our new Grower Portal product. Our biggest takeaway has been that 90% of growers still prefer to work directly with their local, trusted retailers. However, the majority of that segment wants a more digitally-integrated way to interact,” said AgVend CEO Alexander Reichert of the company’s evolution.
The Grower Portal product line has been quick to establish traction within the market. As a result, AgVend reports that it grew its year-over-year revenue by 20x in Q2 and expanded its team by 25% as a result of the response to the Grower Portal model. They also claim that 15% of the top 50 companies in the CropLife 100 retailers as partners for this new product. The majority of those contracts came within the last three months.
“While this is the end of our inaugural product, we see it as a natural evolution in our company’s trajectory and a very exciting one at that. With Grower Portals, our network of innovative ag retailers is now far better prepared to handle the threat of disruptive e-commerce companies and go-it-alone industry incumbents building their own digital solutions,” concluded Reichert.
In an effort to prepare for the closure over the past six months, AgVend has migrated many of its Marketplace retail partners to their own Grower Portals. Growers looking to purchase crop inputs online will be able to request access to the network of AgVend-powered Grower Portals beginning on October 1. AgVend will continue to fully support all orders placed on their Marketplace before September 30.
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