Simplifying e-commerce in the agribusiness industry, offering a practical sales channel for rural producers. This is the strategy of the Naterra marketplace (www.naterra.com.br), which aims to become a reference in online sales for the sector.
The new project is an initiative by Wolf Sementes, which will celebrate 50 years in 2025 and is a leader in hybrid brachiaria seeds, with a portfolio of over 50 products.
“We’ve been selling online since 2017, using various marketplaces and our own e-commerce platform, and we’ve always felt the lack of a platform that was as intuitive as major generalist marketplaces but addressed the technical specifics of the sector regarding logistics, regulation of agrochemicals, and quality and origin guarantees,” explains Alex Wolf, CEO of Wolf Sementes and founder of Naterra.
The newly created platform differs from existing ones in the sector by providing buyers with information such as price, stock, shipping costs, and delivery time, unlike agricultural marketplaces that typically operate with price auctions, quotation forms, and lead generation.
With a degree in International Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami Herbert Business School and over 20 years of experience in commercial and business areas in agriculture, Alex Wolf is well aware of the challenges and peculiarities of the sector.
One of the barriers identified by Naterra is the conflict of sales channels in a market accustomed to working with distributors and cooperatives. Another challenge is showing industries the advantages of fractional sales.
“We’ve been selling online for years and know that the profile of online customers is different from those who visit physical stores. Those who buy in-store or have the volume to negotiate prices with distributors don’t want to pay for shipping or prefer to take the product immediately,” compares Naterra’s founder.
Currently, the platform has 5,000 active buyers, in addition to Wolf’s own customer base of over 50,000 registered clients. Two major sellers have also joined the project.
“Our experience shows that online customers are very different from resale customers. Additionally, although e-commerce revenue in agriculture is significant for industries, the volume is still small,” evaluates Alex Wolf.
The entrepreneur also notes that prioritizing direct sales by the industry ensures another sector peculiarity: greater security in the supplier curation process, selecting sellers capable of guaranteeing origin and complying with strict regulations on the commercialization of pesticides and veterinary products, including prescription requirements.
“In the case of seeds, which are live products and Wolf’s expertise, storage quality and validity are crucial,” he points out.
To ensure the best delivery and encourage new industries to start fractional sales, Naterra has taken over all logistics, leveraging Wolf’s know-how.
Those who choose the platform pay no monthly or annual fees and have zero implementation costs, in addition to receiving support and consultancy, mainly aimed at companies that have never worked with e-commerce. Learn more at www.naterra.com.br.
