Internet Strategies to Improve Farm Business Management

Page 5/9

Third-Party Services

Like other things we've discussed, you have many options in setting up a shopping cart feature on your website. You may have the web programming technology, time, and expertise to do it in-house. For many smaller businesses, however, there's no need to invest tons of money to develop and provide your own catalog and shopping cart. It may not be easily detected, but many use third-party services to incorporate these features into their websites. See the shopping cart primer under "learn more" to discover how to choose a strategy.

Let's take a look at how some of our farm business owners either have used or plan to use on-line sales tools, including shopping cart technologies.

Brad Hollabaugh indicated that Hollabaugh Bros.' earlier website allowed customers to make a selection and fax or call in an order. As they evolved, they chose to work with a third party shopping cart technology and are now exploring ways to develop a customized shopping cart application.

In developing her website, Kim Tait got help from a nearby Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and a local consulting firm. The SBDC helped to develop a more professional website while the consultant developed the shopping cart software that Kim needed.

Rod Hissong tells us that Mercer Vu is likely to begin selling compost to interested customers. They will use their website to inform the public about available compost, but have not yet decided on sale mechanics.

Page 5/9

These materials were developed as part of the Southern Rural Development Center’s National e-Commerce Extension Initiative. They are based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Award No. 2005-45064-03212

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Southern Rural Development Center.