Federated Farmers team up with StockX
Federated Farmers says helping its members save money and easily and securely trade stock online is behind its decision to sign a partnership with StockX.
Managing director of StockX Jason Roebuck says the platform is now open to all – from farmers to agents and processors.
“It allows them to trade anytime, anywhere through a safe secure online auction marketplace,” he told Rural News.
StockX has been operating since 2015, but Roebuck says the system was previously open tender with farmer to farmer or farmer to processor trading. Livestock agents were only able to buy.
“We are moving to a full marketplace which is open to all players and it is auction based trading.”
Roebuck says they have had significant interest from agencies wanting a digital channel for both their business and to customers. They wanted to be sellers on the StockX platform.
StockX decided to redesign the platform from the ground up.
“The relaunch is a revision and an extension of the marketplace to include everyone and moving from the open tender based trading to auction based trading.”
Roebuck says agencies are offered a platform for growth and a digital channel to add to the mix of the sale and purchase opportunities for their clients.
“We are allowing farmers to continue to be able to trade directly if they wish to. That means they can sell and buy on their own account. And the same is maintained for processors.”
They can all trade in a safe and secure manner online through some proven transaction processes.
StockX has followed established structures on presenting auctions online.
“We have drawn inspiration from all of the leading marketplace or platform based online businesses and taken some learnings and observations from that and matched that to what customer needs are within New Zealand.” They have wrapped their “own little bit of magic around that”.
“When you are a buyer you can rely on the fact that what is described within the auction listing is what will be delivered by the seller. For the seller it is a quick easy and convenient way to manage your online selling process.”
The platform lists descriptions and there are photos, videos and the capacity to add other documents or information.
“They might be, for example, NAIT EID tags, they could be weights and measurements or animal health treatment information that may come from another system or provider, genetic history etc.” The buyer gets depth of information and confidence in what they have bought.
“The seller is warranting they will deliver that to you.”
They have had no defaults on transactions in four years of operation.
“We know with certainty the use of a trust account prior to delivery is a very robust and accepted process and is becoming increasingly understood by the market. Certainly it is quicker.”
Online trading offers biosecurity benefits.
“Stock only move once. They move directly from the sellers’ properties to the purchasers so you don’t have extended times for them on trucks, going to saleyards, standing around in saleyards then waiting for trucking out.”
That is also good for animal welfare and environmental outcomes.
Roebuck says for agency businesses it allows them to have an online transaction capacity that sits alongside their business.
“We have done a lot of work with agency businesses in getting them upskilled and providing them with co-branded marketing material. They get a full suite of back office transactional capacities. On the back of the platform each agency business can manage all of its agents and all of its own activity on our marketplace at any one time.
“Each agent gets an opportunity to have a profile where they can aggregate all of the sale listings that they may have at any one time and that aggregates back up for the agency business itself. So effectively it provides them a digital book for selling.”
StockX is trying to connect the entire marketplace in one place.
Roebuck claims it is complementary, not competition with agency businesses. Buyers through StockX can have the same access to the marketplace as everyone else.
“They have got customised alerts they can set up. If they are living in Otago and want to know when store lambs were being culled from North Canterbury they can set up some customised alerts.
“Any time a listing that matches their criteria hits our marketplace they will be alerted. So it can do a whole lot of work for you rather than you doing a lot of searching. Given it is open 24/7 through 365 days it is doing all that work in real time on an automated basis. You don’t have to stop and haul through a long list of listings to find what you are looking for.
“There’s a heap of functionality that we have designed and developed that advantages both buyers and sellers alike and increases their chances to trade effectively.”
