The E-market platform, launched at the beginning of April due to the corona virus pandemic, when many agricultural producers were cut off from all previous sales and distribution channels, could be improved and grow into an “interactive market in Serbia”.
The platform, which the Ministry of Agriculture literally created and enabled to work within 48 hours, has so far registered more than 2,000 small producers from all parts of Serbia.
The idea was to provide access to the market primarily to small producers who do not have their own web presentations, to present their products and to make their offer easily accessible to consumers.
The Ministry of Agriculture told Tanjug that, although the E-market has achieved some success, there is great potential for further development, and they state that they are working on creating an “interactive market in Serbia”.
They explain that in the “interactive market” the offer of all registered manufacturers will be presented in an even better and more advanced way, with pictures, quantities, confirmed quality, price and availability.
There will also be the possibility of “refreshing” the offer, organizing discounts and special offers, all in order to encourage greater demand and trade in the Internet space.
According to the ministry, the plan is to develop special search and inspection possibilities for small distribution chains, which are the largest buyers and a distribution channel for the placement of agricultural products of small farms and producers.
In that way, for example, they explain, a chain of stores from Kragujevac would be able to see the complete offer of a certain type of fruit or vegetable or some other product in the area of Leskovac or some other city.
This means that a simple search would provide information on how many cucumber or tomato or mushroom producers there are in the villages around Leskovac and the opportunity to procure certain quantities.
The E-market project has been launched for all agricultural producers who cannot sell their goods on the markets due to the corona virus pandemic, and the Ministry of Agriculture says that the platform managed to help many in nine months.
It offers a wide range of food products – from jams, cheeses, spreads, meat products, such as kulen, ham and sausages, to wine, brandy, beer, natural juices…
The offer practically covers the entire territory of Serbia.
The platform, according to the ministry, had more than 20,000 visits on the first day, and that trend continued in the following months, striking for the Covid pandemic.
As they stated, producers of organic products or domestic, cold-squeezed juices had several dozen orders on the first day, while small producers from vegetable regions sold tens of tons to small distribution chains.
They also state that pensioners from different parts of Belgrade and larger cities in Serbia managed to establish direct contact with their former vendors from the market and to organize delivery to their home address.
The greatest interest is in the “premium food sector” products, such as quality cheeses and spreads, organic products, alcoholic beverages, berry products…
All kraft beer producers, who registered on the first day, had at least one order of their products, the ministry said.
They note that the development of internet sales is an ongoing process and that in parallel with this process, the awareness of producers about the importance of this way of selling, and customers about the benefits of this way of buying must be developed.
It is necessary, the ministry notes, to develop supporting systems that rely on internet sales, such as delivery and transport, specific packaging and payment terms, as well as advertising, Dnevnik reports.
