GROWERS, a leader in digital technology for agriculture, announces enhanced farmer and retailer features within two new mobile apps. The company’s flagship product, GROWERS, is a FREE app for farmers enabling them to work directly with their retailers to request farm input products digitally, streamlining and organizing the entire process. In addition, GROWERS Retail allows retail counterparts to respond to farmers’ requests creating new ways for retailers to drive customer loyalty and sales growth as more farmers embrace technology. GROWERS and GROWERS Retail are available today for iOS on the App Store, with the Android version scheduled to be released in two weeks.
GROWERS was created to first and foremost help farmers run better businesses using tools to help them embrace technology for all the technical aspects of organizing their business while maintaining the farmer-retailer relationship that is so important to the agriculture industry.
“Over the past decade, there have been multiple attempts at marketplaces, e-commerce, and omni-channel platforms in agriculture. They’ve struggled to gain widespread adoption for a variety of reasons,” says Steven Valencsin, CEO of GROWERS. “Often, the model threatened relationships, attempted to disintermediate multiple players in the value chain, or simply failed to build trust in a digitally enabled transaction. With the thoughtful collaboration of retailers, cooperatives, input manufacturers, and farmers, I could not be more excited to deliver a solution to this market that brings all critical players to the table and unites them around the success of the farmer.”
GROWERS: A Comprehensive Agricultural Platform
First released to the market in December 2022, the GROWERS platform makes it easier for farmers and retailers to do business with one another. The platform lets farmers send requests for farm inputs to the retailers they know and trust. This free app was created to bring a new, more efficient way to manage and organize input buying, as it digitally streamlines a farmer’s workflow by capturing all requests, responses and transactions for farm input products.
Today, GROWERS brings significant enhancements for both farmers and retailers, offering native iOS and Android apps. Farmers are now greeted with a completely redesigned experience making it easy to explore new products by categories, manufacturers, and practice, or to search for specific products. Products added to a request require details such as package type and quantities, eliminating the need for unnecessary back-and-forth with the retailer.
The most forward-thinking retailers are already active and listed on the platform, but if a farmer doesn’t see their retailer, an invitation to join can be sent directly from GROWERS by the farmer. Detailed records of all requests, offers, and transactions are always available in the app for easy record-keeping. Additionally, GROWERS is introducing an agnostic rewards system for farmers and retailers which will be available in select markets in Q4. Now, farmers using GROWERS can earn points that translate into dollars for purchasing products. Points can be accrued by making purchases, completing a profile, leaving product reviews, referring a friend, referring a retailer, and more.
“We put a lot of work into the enhancement and redesign of this latest version of our platform. The new GROWERS and GROWERS Retail apps are the results of feedback we received over the past year from our farmer, retailer, and manufacturer customers,” said Joe Procopio, Chief Product Officer at GROWERS. “We created a single location where farmers can learn about new agriculture products, browse across multiple brands and manufacturers, and make the purchase either in-person with their retailer or within the app. This transition aligns perfectly with our goal to provide a simple, easy-to-use, technology solution that makes it easier for farmers and retailers to do business.”
Furthermore, the newly integrated storefront functionality empowers farmers to engage directly with their preferred retailers through the retailer’s storefront, working within the confines of that retailer’s products and services. This innovative approach provides a farmer simply looking for a digital way to interact with a current retailer an easy option to simplify the transaction process. By connecting farmers with local retailers carrying seed, fertilizer, chemical, fuel, agronomy and application services, and input financing, GROWERS transforms into a one-stop shop for all farm input needs.
GROWERS Retail: Helping Retailers Serve Farmers Better
In addition, GROWERS is proud to introduce GROWERS Retail — an app tailored to retailers, allowing them to be where the farmers are, and do business the way farmers want to do business – digitally. GROWERS Retail equips retailers with a comprehensive toolkit to foster strong relationships with farmers and build customer loyalty through meeting farmers’ ever-growing adoption of technology. This innovative app streamlines communication and collaboration between farmers and retailers, promoting informed decision-making and a deeper level of trust.
Retailers nationwide trust GROWERS to help build their businesses and interact digitally with their customers. Retailers increase reach and earn the ability to meet new customers and increase sales by allowing farmers to send Product Requests. Retailers can either respond directly to the farmer’s request and provide pricing or suggest an alternative or companion product to what a farmer has requested. The app also provides the opportunity to drive farmers to a dedicated retailer storefront or proprietary products through in-app advertising.
The platform handles every piece of the ag input purchasing process from in-app payment via ACH or credit card to input financing for farmers from reputable lenders in the ag financing space. There is even an option for the farmer to put the purchase on an existing account with their retailer. GROWERS Retail offers unique ways to build customer loyalty with the ability for retailers to offer custom financing packages, as well as custom rewards programs for farmers who make purchases within the app.
GROWERS Retail helps retailers run a better business by capturing quotes, transactions, and conversations in one place. Moreover, coming soon in GROWERS Retail is the ability to analyze sales data, and make more informed business decisions with dashboards and custom reports.
Introducing Farmers to More Product Options
The platform showcases the new partnerships GROWERS has formed with agriculture input manufacturers who are now using this technology to drive sales opportunities to their channel partners as well as to educate farmers on new and existing products.
GROWERS allows farmers to browse products and learn more about their uses, active ingredients and manufacturer descriptions all in one place.
Enhanced Accessibility and User-Friendly Experience
With the platforms’ debut on the Android and iOS marketplaces, users will experience heightened accessibility and convenience. GROWERS and GROWERS Retail can be easily located and downloaded via the native application stores, making it effortless for users to access the app and explore its myriad of new features and enhanced functionality.
For farmers wanting a more organized way to research farm inputs and interact with their retailers, visit the app store and download the free GROWERS app. GROWERS Retail is available for retailers with an account set up with the GROWERS team. To inquire, please visit growers.ag/retailers and schedule a meeting.
Click here to see more...