b'RETAILERS CANT BECOME COMPLACENT THINKING THIS REPLACES THEIR ROLEIT DOESNT.ITS ANOTHER TOOL IN THE TOOLBOX TO OFFER A BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. Justin FunkChanging Behaviour where it eliminates physical retail outlets. The human Justin Funk, managing partner at Agri Studies in Guelph,interaction part is going to be crucial next year and 10 Ont. says a platform like Agro.Club is just the latest in ayears from now.shift to online sales that will likely become more pro- But he emphasizes that being tech-savvy goes beyond nounced as time goes on. A major area of interest forjust basic computer literacy and offering online shopping. Funk is looking at future marketing trends in agri-retail. Retailers perceived as truly tech-savvy use all aspects of The industry has been talking about online buyingtechnology to make decisions when it comes to farm-and direct selling for years, Funk notes. He says theresingfrom equipment technology, precision agriculture often a slow adoption of new ideas in the retail world andtechniques, soil sampling and biotechology.among farmers. The speed at which an idea is adoptedIm a fan of letting people do things theyre really can be affected by that ideas compatibility with currentgood at doing. If your expertise is not in designing thinking, complexity of the idea, skepticism revolvinge-commerce systems, maybe its not something you around that idea and how quickly early adopters are ableshould be doing. If your strength is providing agronomic to observe results. recommendations, you should focus on that. If you can From recent research Agri Studies has carried outfarm out the online platform piece to someone really in partnership with Purdue University on the purchas- good at that, then thats going to enhance the customer ing habits of multi-generation farms, one thing is clear:experience, he says.buying online is becoming more popular. However, he cautions that its crucial online platforms Every bit of evidence we have suggests a segmentlike Agro.Club dont become price-shopping tools.of the market wants to buy online. Contrary to popularWe cant let online buying get in the way of relation-belief, its not always the younger farmer that wants to doships. Retailers cant become complacent thinking this that, Funk says. replaces their roleit doesnt. Its another tool in the However, unlike other industries where physical retail- toolbox to offer a better customer experience, Funk adds.ers have been virtually replaced by online retailers, FunkFor Baldwin, online buying platforms like Agro.Club says agriculture is still very much people-oriented andwill create efficiencies for businesses like Canterra Seeds, will remain so. rather than hinder them. As long as we have people in the field and thereThere is going to be a huge amount of change in the are bricks and mortar retailers, I think online ordering isnext five years and to have a partner to help us grow in going to be around but not heavily adopted to the pointthis space is great. 18GERMINATION.CANOVEMBER 2020'