9 Best E-commerce Platforms for Farms (2024)

We review the 9 best e-commerce platforms for farmers, comparing features, pricing, and benefits to help you choose the right solution for your farm’s online sales.
Two farmers harvesting greens in a field
Written by
Nina Galle
Published on
October 17, 2024

E-commerce has become a game-changer for farmers looking to expand their reach and tap into the growing demand for direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales. The U.S. online grocery market, which hit $9.9 billion in sales in August 2024—a 7% increase year-over-year—is a clear indicator of this trend. Consumers are increasingly choosing to buy local and support sustainable food systems, a shift that presents significant opportunities for farms of all sizes. With delivery services contributing more than half of the recent growth, driven by aggressive promotions and membership discounts from companies like Walmart and Amazon, now is the ideal time for farmers to consider an e-commerce platform tailored to their needs.

For farmers, choosing the right e-commerce platform can make a huge difference in optimizing sales, managing inventory, and building stronger customer relationships. Whether you're selling fresh produce, meats, dairy, or other farm products, an effective e-commerce solution can help streamline operations and reach a wider audience.

In this article, we provide an overview of the best farm e-commerce platforms, discussing their features and benefits, helping you find the best fit for your farm’s growth.

What is an e-commerce platform?

An e-commerce platform is a comprehensive software solution that enables businesses to manage their operations online, including creating and customizing an online store, listing products, handling inventory, taking orders, processing payments, and managing logistics.

For farmers, embracing an e-commerce platform is becoming increasingly critical as they look to sell direct-to-consumer (DTC). By leveraging e-commerce, farmers can expand their customer base beyond local markets and reach consumers who are actively seeking to buy local and support agriculture within their communities.

The rise in demand for direct farm sales is not just a trend but a growing segment within the food industry. With an e-commerce platform, farmers can not only present their product catalog to a wide-range market but also cater to their specific customer segments with personalized delivery options, online payments, and efficient fulfillment processes.

In the context of the modern digital marketplace, farmers can benefit significantly from establishing an online presence, resulting in increased sales, better customer relationships, and financial growth, thanks to the convenience and expanded reach offered by these digital platforms.

What does an e-commerce platform do?

An e-commerce platform is a comprehensive digital solution that facilitates the buying and selling of goods and services over the internet. This online sales platform typically offers a suite of tools to help businesses manage the entirety of the online retail process. Functionality often includes:

  • Product Catalog or Price Lists: A central repository where farms can list their products with descriptions, pricing, and images.
  • Online Payments: Integration with payment gateways enabling customers to make secure credit card payments or use other payment methods.
  • Order Management: Systems to track and process customer orders, including inventory tracking and confirmation of orders.
  • Customer Base Management: Tools to manage customer information and nurture relationships, often including marketing and outreach capabilities.
  • Delivery Options: Facilities to manage various delivery processes, offering different shipping costs and tracking.

Finding an e-commerce platform that meets your needs, has the right set of features, and ultimately saves you time–is essential for reaching your business goals..

The 9 best e-commerce platforms for farms

Each of these platforms comes with its own set of features and benefits, depending on the specific needs of your farm business. Whether it's managing pricing and inventory, monthly subscriptions, handling online payments, or organizing delivery options, farmers now have the opportunity to choose a solution that best fits their operational model and customer base. Here, we explore the nine best e-commerce platforms that offer farmers the tools to build, manage, and grow their online presence.

1. Local Line

farm e-commerce platform

Local Line is the all-in-one online sales platform designed specifically for farms, producers, and food hubs selling produce, meat, and perishable goods direct to customers (DTC).

Ideal for farmers who seek an easy-to-use, farm-specific solution, Local Line boasts user-friendly interfaces, along with powerful features tailored to farmers, and is backed by strong customer support.

The benefits of utilizing Local Line are clear. Not only does it include a point-of-sale system and payment processing capabilities (including credit card, custom payment options, and ACH), but it also offers a drag-and-drop website builder, CRM and subscriptions to secure customer loyalty and recurring sales.

Key Features:

  • E-commerce: Quick setup of professional online food or farm store, optimized for all devices
  • Inventory management: Track and update products, prices, packaging, categories, and seasonality
  • Price lists: Create customized price lists or product catalogs for different customer segments (such as retail and wholesale)
  • Pick & pack lists: Generate lists for efficient order packing and fulfillment
  • Orders & invoices: Easily manage orders, invoices, adjustments, and payments with accounting system integration
  • Customer management: Built-in CRM for customer tracking, communication, and store credit management
  • Vendor management: Invite and manage vendors to expand product offerings. Great for food hubs, co-ops, and collectives. 
  • Payments: Handle both online and offline payment methods
  • Integrations: Compatible with hundreds of popular apps for improved efficiency
  • Subscriptions: Offer customizable recurring orders and payments
  • Website builder: Create a farm website using templates and drag-and-drop functionality

Best For: Farms, CSAs, producers, wholesale, and food hubs seeking a comprehensive, easy-to-use solution tailored to farming.

Pros:

  • Farm-specific features designed for selling perishable goods
  • Strong customer support. Free onboarding manager with every subscription type.
  • Integrated website builder and payment processing
  • Competitive pricing with a free trial. No service or transaction fees.
  • Multiple payment options - including ACH for lower fees
  • Unlimited fulfillment options.
  • Farm inventory and order management tools
  • Available in multiple countries such as Canada, US, UK, Australia, countries in Europe, and New Zealand. 

Cons:

  • Limited customization options for free choice CSA

Price: Starting at $49/month

Free Trial: 7-day free trial available; no credit card required

2. Local Food Marketplace

Local Food Marketplace Logo

Local Food Marketplace offers a flexible e-commerce platform tailored to the needs of diverse producers, food hubs, and CSAs. With its comprehensive inventory management, customizable price lists, and multichannel sales support, it allows farms to efficiently sell to consumers, restaurants, and grocery stores while maintaining control over their distribution. 

Its reporting and customer management tools ensure smooth operations at every step. While its advanced features come at a higher price point, it’s an ideal solution for farms seeking to scale and streamline their sales and logistics processes.

Key Features:

  • Easy-to-use, branded storefront
  • Customizable price lists
  • Automated recurring orders
  • Mailchimp marketing integration
  • Automated harvest and pack lists

Best For: Farms, CSAs, food hubs, and producers looking for a flexible, all-in-one solution for managing local food sales and distribution.

Pros:

  • Tailored for local food systems
  • Comprehensive tools for managing sales, customer relations, and inventory.
  • Scalable platform that grows with your business.
  • Supports multichannel sales strategies.

Cons:

  • Can be complex for very small farms with simpler needs.
  • Not ideal for farmers who are just starting out with limited product lines.
  • Must pay for each fulfillment option.
  • High fees for customer support packages.

Price: Starts at $149/mo plus $499 customer service package. 

3. GrazeCart

Grazecart Logo

GrazeCart delivers an e-commerce platform with a deep understanding of their unique requirements. Its strong inventory management capabilities and customizable storefronts allow farms to maintain their distinctive brand identity. The platform's direct sales and marketing tools are structured to meet the needs of a specific segment within the farming community.

Advanced features may come at a higher price point, making it more suitable for farms needing specialized functionality.

Key Features:

  • Strong inventory management
  • Customizable storefronts
  • Catch-weight item support
  • Optimized for perishables

Best For: Meat producers.

Pros:

  • Specialized features for meat sales
  • Code-free website builder
  • Flexible checkout and fulfillment options

Cons:

  • Higher cost for advanced features
  • Features specific to those selling meat online

Price: Starting at $69/month

4. Farmigo

Farmigo Logo

Built for CSAs, Farmigo offers an e-commerce platform tailored to the specific needs of selling subscriptions. It excels with its mobile-optimized member signup process, flexible payment options, and subscription management tools, making it easy for farms to engage and retain customers. 

Farmigo's routing and email integrations streamline packing, delivery, and communication, ensuring efficiency from field to customer. While its specialized features are ideal for CSA models, the pricing structure based on deliveries may be better suited for farms with a steady volume of subscriptions.

Key Features:

  • Optimized for mobile signups
  • Member signup with flexible payment options
  • Create promotions, discounts, and coupons
  • Members manage subscriptions easily
  • Integrations for routing and email marketing

Best For: CSAs and farms looking to manage and grow their CSA or food subscription business.

Pros:

  • Strong focus on CSA and subscription management.
  • Easy to use on mobile devices.
  • No setup or hidden fees.
  • Engaging features like discounts and promotions.

Cons:

  • 2% fee on deliveries can add up for larger operations.
  • Limited functionality for businesses that need more complex features outside of CSA management.

Price: 2% of deliveries (minimum $150/month), charged only during delivery months.

5. Barn2Door

Barn2Door Logo

Barn2Door is an e-commerce solution catering to farmers by offering direct-to-consumer sales and supporting subscription services.

It's most beneficial for farms oriented towards sustainable agricultural practices and those looking to build a community around their brand. A major strength is its emphasis on simplicity and focus on subscription models.

Customization options may be more limited compared to other platforms on the market. Its straightforward approach to online farm sales makes it a compelling choice for many.

Key Features:

  • Flexible subscription options for recurring sales
  • Sell items by weight or set price
  • Integrated e-commerce for online and in-person sales
  • Real-time inventory sync with Point of Sale (POS)
  • Manage logistics with delivery, pickup, and shipping options

Best For: Barn2Door is ideal for farmers selling direct-to-consumer, offering subscriptions, and streamlining deliveries.

Pros:

  • Strong focus on subscriptions
  • Sell-by-weight feature for meat products
  • Built-in POS and website builder

Cons:

  • Limited customization options
  • Limited inventory management
  • Expensive setup fee 
  • Limited customer support

Price: Starting at $84/month plus $499 upfront

6. Shopify

Shopify Logo

Shopify is a widely popular e-commerce platform suitable for various industries, including farming.

Its extensive app integrations and customizable themes make it a highly versatile choice for farmers with various products. The platform scales with your business, allowing for growth and expansion.

However, the costs can add up, and setting up the perfect online store might require more time and effort. Shopify does come with both point of sale and website builder features, making it a robust platform for online sales.

Shopify is not specifically built for farms, and, as such may require more advanced developer support to customize as needed.

Price: Starting at $38/month

7. Wix

Wix Logo

Wix is renowned for its simplicity and is best suited for small-scale farmers who favor an easy-to-navigate website builder. With a drag-and-drop interface and a selection of templates, Wix allows for quick site setup without requiring extensive technical expertise.

While it's affordable and user-friendly, the platform may not offer the scalability or depth of farm-specific features that a growing agriculture business requires. Nevertheless, for those just starting with e-commerce, Wix can be the right fit.

Price: Starting at $27/month

8. Squarespace

Squarespace Logo

Squarespace shines with its beautiful templates and all-in-one platform design, attracting farmers who put a strong emphasis on their brand's visual appeal. It's straightforward to use and ideal for creating visually stunning websites that reflect a farm's values and aesthetics.

The main trade-off is its less flexible infrastructure for more complex e-commerce needs.

Like Shopify, Squarespace includes point of sale and website builder functionality, offering a comprehensive solution for farmers focused on design.

Price: Starting at $45/month

9. WooCommerce

Woocommerce logo

WooCommerce, a plugin for WordPress, is geared toward farmers who already have a WordPress site and are looking for an adaptable e-commerce addition.

The platform is known for its high customization capabilities and vast selection of plugins.

However, this flexibility comes with the expectation of some technical acumen from users, potentially making it a challenging option for those with less experience.

With WooCommerce, farmers gain a cost-effective sales platform that integrates seamlessly with their existing WordPress site.

Price: WooCommerce is free but requires a WordPress site and hosting, which can range anywhere from $15 per month to $5,000 per month.

How do I choose the right e-commerce platform for my farm?

Choosing the right e-commerce platform for your farm hinges on thoroughly understanding your requirements. Create a checklist considering factors like farm size, product range, budget, technical skills, and the need for scalability and support.

Here's a simplified checklist to guide you:

  • E-Commerce: Ensure the platform allows for easy online retail of your farm's products.
  • Subscriptions: Check for a subscription feature to offer and manage regular deliveries.
  • Inventory Management: A seamless management system for your farm's stock is crucial.
  • Price Lists: Look for flexibility in pricing for different sales channels.
  • Pick and Pack Lists: Efficient picking and packing capabilities save time.
  • Orders and Invoices: Order and invoice management should be straightforward.
  • Customer Management: Tools for building and maintaining a customer base are essential.
  • Vendor Management: Options for managing relationships with other farms can enhance your supply chain.
  • Payments: The platform should accept diverse payment methods, including credit card payments.
  • Reports and Analytics: Access to insightful dashboards for monitoring performance.
  • Integrations: Compatibility with other apps and tools used on your farm.
  • Website Builder: An intuitive platform to create an appealing farm website.
  • Point of Sale: Check for a POS system to integrate offline and online sales.

Considerations such as delivery options, shipping costs, and product price list management are also key.

While examining these features, finding a platform that marries them into a cohesive system, such as what Local Line offers, is important.

Remember, the right platform should evolve with your farm's growth and streamline your sales and management process effectively.

So, which e-commerce platform is best for your farm?

Choosing the right e-commerce platform for your farm is crucial to embracing the exponentially growing direct-to-consumer market. Popular platforms offer various features, but Local Line's extensive online farm features are specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of farmers.

Unlike general online sales platforms like Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and WooCommerce, which cater to a wide range of businesses, Local Line focuses on farmers and provides detailed options for products by weight, multiple sales channels, variable inventory, and online payments.

Local Line also offers an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder with pre-built farm website templates, making it a single platform enriched with the key features that matter to farmers.

Other options like GrazeCart, Local Food Marketplace, and Farmigo might also be considered, however, they may not offer the same degree of specialization as Local Line and come at a higher cost.

Ultimately, for farms seeking a comprehensive, tailored solution, Local Line often stands out as the best fit.

Platform Best For Key Features Pros Cons Price
Local Line Farms, CSAs, producers, and food hubs E-commerce, inventory management, CRM, subscriptions, payments, website builder Built for farm and agriculture businesses, strong customer support, farm-specific features Limited customization options for free choice CSA Starts at $49/month. Start a 7-day free trial (no credit card required)
Local Food Marketplace Farms, CSAs, and food hubs Manages sales, customers, inventory, and supports multichannel strategies. Supports multichannel sales strategies Must pay for each fulfillment option, high start-up costs Starts at $149/month plus $499 customer service package
GrazeCart Built for meat producers and ranchers Inventory management, customizable storefronts, catch-weight item support Specialized for meat sales, flexible checkout options Higher cost for advanced features Starts at $69/month
Farmigo Built for CSAs Member signup with flexible payment options, Integrations for routing and email marketing. Strong focus on CSA and subscription management. Limited functionality for businesses that need more complex features outside of CSA management. 2% of deliveries (minimum $150/month), charged only during delivery months.
Barn2Door Farmers and ranchers Direct-to-consumer sales, subscription management, sell-by-weight capability Built-in POS and website builder, supports online + offline sales Limited customer support, expensive setup fee Starts at $129/month + $499 upfront
Shopify Diverse industries, growth-oriented farms Extensive app integrations, POS, customizable themes, website builder Highly versatile, scalable for growth Not farm-specific, potential high costs, requires developer setup effort, most apps have a monthly subscription Starts at $38/month
Wix Farmers already using Wix Drag-and-drop website builder, templates User-friendly, affordable Limited scalability, lacks farm-specific features Starts at $27/month
Squarespace Farmers already using Squarespace Beautiful templates, POS, website builder Visually stunning designs, easy-to-use Less flexible for complex needs, no farm-specific features Starts at $45/month
WooCommerce Farmers already using WordPress High customization, wide range of plugins Flexible, cost-effective Requires technical knowledge and developer support, complex setup, no farm-specific features Free, but requires additional costs for hosting WordPress (can range from $15 to hundreds of dollars a month)

Get started with Local Line

Learn why Local Line is trusted by thousands of farmers and food hubs around the world.

Frequently asked questions about farm e-commerce platforms

What are the most popular e-commerce platforms?

The most popular e-commerce platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, and Squarespace, known for their wide range of features, customizable templates, and scalability for online stores of various sizes. However, these are not solutions tailored specifically for farms, and as such may require more customization and developer support compared to an all-in-one farm-to-fork platform like Local Line.

What e-commerce platform is best for a small business?

For small businesses, Shopify and WooCommerce are often recommended for their ease of use, variety of templates, and affordable pricing plans.

What is the best e-commerce platform for beginners?

Beginners may find Shopify to be the most user-friendly with its intuitive dashboard, simple setup process, and extensive customer support.

What is e-commerce in the food industry?

E-commerce in the food industry refers to the buying and selling of food products through online platforms, allowing for direct-to-consumer sales and digital product catalogs.

What are the main benefits of e-commerce for farmers?

Farmers benefit from e-commerce by gaining access to a larger customer base, online sales capabilities and payment processing, and expanded direct sales without reliance on farmers markets.

Can I integrate my e-commerce platform with my existing farm management software?

Many e-commerce platforms like Local Line enable integration with various farm management software, enhancing efficiency in managing inventories and customer orders. Learn about Local Line's farm data integrations.

Are there any specific platforms that cater to small-scale farmers?

Platform options like Local Line specialize in serving small-scale farmers, focusing on agricultural products and features like product catalog customization and local delivery options.

How long does it take to launch an e-commerce website?

The time to launch an e-commerce website can vary from a few hours to several weeks, depending on the platform’s complexity and the level of customization required. With Local Line, you can launch an e-commerce website in a few hours.

What are examples of successful farm e-commerce launches?

Local Line has helped thousands of farms launch successful online stores, enabling them to expand their reach, streamline operations, and grow their businesses. Some standout examples include:

  • Blue Lizard Farm: Located in the Nevada desert, this farm used Local Line to sell fresh produce efficiently in a challenging environment. By leveraging Local Line’s platform, they were able to simplify their sales process, manage inventory, and connect with local customers effectively.
  • Positively Grown Herdshare: This Michigan-based herdshare experienced a record year after switching to Local Line. With features like order management and subscription capabilities, they were able to meet high local demand and manage their fulfillment seamlessly.
  • Simple Roots Maui: This pasture poultry farm in Hawaii runs a profitable operation with Local Line’s support, utilizing features like subscriptions, price-by-weight sales, and efficient order management to optimize their business.
  • Pretty Road Co. Lavender and Farm Store: This farm increased profits by launching a successful subscription box program using Local Line’s e-commerce platform. They were able to attract a loyal customer base and manage recurring orders with ease.
  • Melvin’s Farm to Fork: This Missouri farm grew their online sales significantly by using Local Line’s inventory management, point of sale (POS), and sales reporting features. They now run both an in-person and online farm store efficiently.
  • Black Barn Farms: Specializing in grass-fed beef and pork, Black Barn Farms saw record online sales after using Local Line to manage their e-commerce store. The platform helped them optimize sales by offering sell-by-weight capabilities and robust order tracking.

These success stories highlight the versatility of Local Line’s platform for a wide range of farm businesses. Whether it’s managing complex subscriptions, optimizing local sales, or running a thriving CSA program, Local Line provides the tools and support farmers need to succeed in the digital marketplace.

To read more about these inspiring stories, visit our selling online success stories and see how Local Line can help your farm achieve its e-commerce goals.

Nina Galle Local LIne
Nina Galle
Nina Galle is the co-author of Ready Farmer One. She continues to arm farmers with the tools, knowledge, and community they need to sell online at Local Line.
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