Agradi was founded almost twenty years ago as a mail order company aimed at livestock farmers. This background is still noticeable at the company, although it has carried out many innovations.
Oskar van Straaten, owner and founder of Agradi, explains that they now like to see themselves as specialists for the outdoors. “That’s why we even experimented with barbecues, for example, but our customers especially appreciate our knowledge in the field of animal feed, equestrian sports or what is involved with a stable or pets. That’s why our focus is there again.
Years of experience in the equestrian and agricultural market have helped Agradi to become the market leader in these fields. This has certainly not gone without a hitch. The growth of the agricultural market is minimal, so more and more players are fighting for the same customer. In addition, in the early days of the internet, the suppliers were not happy.
In this industry you need to be flexible
The cooperation with suppliers has sometimes been quite challenging. “The market in which we operate can be quite conservative. Many suppliers work with restrictions. In that case, for example, they only supply customers from certain regions. The fact that as an online retailer you then want to serve the entire world is hard for them to accept.”
Agradi has proven itself by now, but the growth abroad, strict regulations in the various countries and sometimes rather specific wishes of suppliers sometimes require a great deal of flexibility and insight into the various marketing channels.
“In Google Shopping, we were able to assess all the results by country, brand or category. Thanks to AdResults, the marketing agency with which Agradi collaborates, a split has also been made that allows us to focus on generic and specific terms.”
This now makes it possible to directly zoom in on certain regulations, actions or product categories. Similar actions have been taken for other marketing channels. A few years ago, it became clear that this is necessary. Then suddenly it was decided that a worming agent for horses could no longer be sold online without a prescription, while at Agradi it accounted for almost fifteen percent of the turnover.
You must be able to switch online quickly with your product range
That’ll cut it. “Such things are annoying, but you don’t do anything about them. Fortunately, we have been able to compensate with the sale of other products”, says van Straaten soberly. That year, too, the company was still able to close the year with growth of more than ten percent.
“If we want to bring extra attention to certain products, we can now take care of specific advertisements and promotional extensions. And if, for example, we want to focus on a particular brand because of an action, we can be extra visible with that.”
You must be able to switch online quickly with your product range
That’ll cut it. “Such things are annoying, but you don’t do anything about them. Fortunately, we have been able to compensate with the sale of other products”, says van Straaten soberly. That year, too, the company was still able to close the year with growth of more than ten percent.
“If we want to bring extra attention to certain products, we can now take care of specific advertisements and promotional extensions. And if, for example, we want to focus on a particular brand because of an action, we can be extra visible with that.”
Biggest growth comes from abroad
The German and French markets are huge and, according to Van Straaten, still offer sufficient opportunities in the coming years. And that’s not all. Belgians used to buy via the Dutch webshop, but after the summer there will be a special webshop for the southern neighbours and England will also have to believe in it this year.
Van Straaten has great expectations of the French webshop that has been launched. “We went live with 80,000 products. The findability of the site may take some time, but thanks to channels like Google Ads, and especially Google Shopping, we can now quickly conquer that market.
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