The useful question is what a customer can find out before visiting: do you sell the product they want, where can they collect it, and what do they need to know before setting off?
What are alternatives to Facebook for promoting a farm shop?
Alternatives include local food directories, your own website, email newsletters and dedicated discovery platforms such as Roadside Stall. Each serves a different purpose: your website explains your business, a newsletter reaches subscribers, and RS helps customers search for your products, find your sales locations and follow your profile for new-offer notifications.
On Roadside Stall, you can:
- Publish individual product offers with photographs, prices and ordering or collection information.
- Appear in relevant searches based on location, product category, tags, seller type and keywords.
- Send new-offer push notifications to followers who have enabled notifications in the app.
- Display availability on the offer itself, so customers can check your latest update before travelling.
- Share a QR code linking directly to your shop, a particular offer, an event or a campsite.
- Show your market attendance on your producer profile, the relevant market profile and a widget on your own website.
You can use these tools alongside Facebook. Share your story and photographs on social media, then encourage customers to check your offers and follow your profile on RS. A product’s price, collection instructions and latest availability update remain attached to the offer, rather than depending on customers finding an earlier social post.
What should I look for in a platform to promote my farm?
Choose tools that let you keep your information accurate and help customers act on it. Before creating a listing, check whether you can:
- Edit your own profile, opening hours and contact details.
- Publish individual products with photos, prices and collection details.
- Help customers search by product, location and type of seller.
- Update availability when something sells out or a machine stops working.
- Keep interested customers informed about new offers.
- Show your different sales locations and upcoming market attendance.
- Make it clear how customers should contact you and buy from you.
On RS, these tools connect your location with what you actually sell and how customers can find you again. Check the current account options for the features included in your plan.
How can customers find the specific products I sell?
Roadside Stall combines location-based searches with categories, tags, seller types and keyword search. Customers can narrow their search to the product they want, rather than opening every nearby farm profile to investigate.
For example, customers searching in the UK can look separately for raw milk, gently pasteurised milk or goat’s milk, then set their location. They can also filter for dairy sellers operating vending machines.
The same attention to detail matters for meat, eggs, cheese, honey, vegetables, fruit and bakery products. Use accurate categories and tags, and give each offer a specific title. If you sell heather honey or an apple juice blend, name it clearly in the offer and explain what it is. Accurate seller information also helps customers distinguish buying directly from a producer, such as a beekeeper, from buying through a reseller.
In the mobile app, customers can enter a location manually or use GPS to find nearby points and offers. They can browse a list or switch to the interactive map.
Can I advertise more than one farm shop or sales location?
Yes. You can manage multiple sales locations in RS, with a separate profile for each shop or point. Each location can have its own offers, opening hours and contact information.
If you sell from a farm shop and a separate vending location, keep their information distinct. Customers need the opening hours, products and collection instructions for the place they intend to visit.
You can also hide a location from the map. For example, if your farm headquarters does not sell to visitors, you can hide that point while keeping your actual sales locations visible.
You must select one main point, but it does not have to be visible on the map. Your main point can be the hidden farm headquarters or another approved location. This helps direct customers to places where they can actually visit and buy.
How can I tell customers about new products and offers?
Customers can follow your RS profile and enable push notifications in the app. When you publish a new offer, RS sends a notification to your followers without selecting an audience through a social feed ranking algorithm. Receipt on a customer’s phone depends on their notification settings and connectivity.
Give customers a reason to follow: publish useful offers with a clear product name, price, photograph and collection or delivery details where applicable. Tell visitors at your farm and followers on your social pages that they can follow you on RS for new-offer notifications.
An existing offer gives customers information when they browse it. Publishing a new offer is a separate action that can notify followers. Do not assume that editing an older offer or changing its availability status sends another notification.
Can nearby customers discover my offers without already following me?
Yes. Customers can find your location and offers through RS searches without following you first. The app also provides Nearby Notifications, which customers can configure separately from following individual producers.
Customers choose their notification radius and whether they want alerts about new offers, new sellers, new events or new camping spots nearby. This provides another way for interested local users to discover new additions within their chosen area.
These alerts depend on the customer’s preferences and notification permissions. They are not a promise that every person in the area will receive your offer.
Can I show when products are sold out or a vending machine is out of order?
Yes. Producers can update offer availability using Available, Out of Stock, Restocked and Out of Order, alongside relevant notes. Customers can see these updates on the offer list before travelling.
For a dairy, that might mean explaining when milk is expected to be refilled or which days an advance order can be collected. Cotwalton Dairy uses a manually entered availability note to explain that its raw milk is available by pre-order for collection on specified days.
You can also group related offers, such as milk and milkshakes from the same machine, and change the group’s status in one action. Availability tools can be used for other product categories too, including eggs and honey.
These updates are maintained by the producer. Keeping them current helps customers decide when to visit and reduces the chance of a wasted journey.
How can I use QR codes to promote my farm and products?
You can download a separate RS QR code for each sales location, product offer, event and campsite. Each code links directly to the relevant page.
- On social media: include an offer’s QR code in its promotional image.
- At your farm shop or vending machine: display your location’s QR code so visitors can find your profile and follow you.
- At a market stall: help customers find your RS profile and offers after the market ends.
- On event materials: use the event’s own QR code to direct people to its details.
To find a shop’s QR code in the app, open Profile → View shops and use the blue QR button for the relevant shop.
The RS app includes a QR scanner on its home screen. When it scans an RS code, it shows a preview with a name, short description and content type before the user opens the destination.
Can I show which farmers’ markets I will be attending?
Yes. You can add your attendance to markets available in RS. Customers can then see:
- On the market profile: which participating farms and producers will attend, and on which dates.
- On your farm profile: the markets where they can find you.
- On your own website: a market-attendance widget updated from your RS profile.
If a market you attend is missing, let us know so it can be added. Customers can also use Remind me in the app to set a reminder for their chosen event date.
RS also includes local events and campsites, giving visitors more ways to discover what is happening around them.
Do customers buy through Roadside Stall?
No. Roadside Stall helps customers discover producers, view offers and make contact. Orders, collection arrangements and payments are handled directly with the seller, outside RS. Make your ordering instructions clear, especially for products that require advance booking.
The app’s QR scanner can also open a seller’s external payment link from a QR code displayed at their stall. That payment is handled by the seller’s payment provider, not by Roadside Stall.
Why was Roadside Stall built around these details?
I created Roadside Stall as a customer trying to find local producers and the specific products I wanted to buy. Finding a farm on a map was only part of the job. I still needed to know what it sold and how to plan a visit.
That experience shapes RS: detailed searches, individual product offers, producer-managed information and ways to stay connected after the first visit.
Marcin, founder of Roadside Stall
How do I start promoting my farm on RS?
- Find or create your profile. Check whether your location is already listed and claim it, or add your business.
- Complete your location details. Check the map position, opening hours and contact information. Show the locations where customers can visit and buy.
- Add your product offers. Use clear photos, prices, accurate categories and practical ordering instructions.
- Keep customers informed. Update availability and add your attendance at relevant markets.
- Build your following. Invite customers to follow your RS profile and enable app notifications. Use your QR codes on signs and social media graphics.
- Keep publishing useful new offers. Give customers current reasons to visit, with clear information about what is available and when.
Ready to help customers find what you sell? Visit Roadside Stall to find or add your farm profile and explore the current account options.
