Alltech has launched an online retail store where customers can research and shop for animal nutrition and crop offerings and have those products delivered straight to their doorstep or farm gate.

According to the company, the new web-based store presents a seamless shopping experience, enabling customers in the U.S. to place orders at any time of day or night using a smartphone, laptop or tablet.

“Alltech has always been focusing on providing high-value, quality and niche products, and by going online, we will be able to provide our unique products to a wide range of customer. Our aim is to become the agriculture store of the future, overcome geographical limitations and offer high-value and unique animal nutrition and crop offerings in a highly convenient and efficient way,” the Lexington, Ky.-based company said when asked how this new venture fits into its current business model.

The company said it is not attempting to take on Amazon or other online retailers but, rather, is focused on providing better value, expertise and unique services to its target customers with the convenience of online ordering.

While in a way much like online retail efforts attempted in the 1990s, Alltech believes it is different in that it currently manufactures and has the ability to produce a range of small packaged goods that many of its customers cannot stock in a traditional store due to lack of stock turn and lack of available floor space. “We now have the ability to work synergistically with our current customer base to provide online order fulfillment or, where our customers don’t promote such products, offer them direct to the consumers with the added convenience of at home delivery,” the company said.

On the front-end side, Alltech created an e-commerce website to provide a seamless shopping experience, enabling anyone to place orders through a digital device. On the back-end side, the company said it has been working on setting up a fulfillment infrastructure in Mendota, Ill., focused on order processing, inventory management and shipping and handling.

The new online store carries products across all major animal species, including beef, dairy, poultry, pigs, goats, sheep, equines and pets.

“Today’s customers have very high shopping expectations, and e-commerce has become a major element of their shopping habits,” said Jan Sorensen, director of Ridley Specialty Products. “The Alltech Store gives consumers easy access to our unique and value-added products, with the convenience of the 24/7 online shopping that they desire. As an additional service, the Alltech Store will be providing access to species-specific nutrition experts who can assist customers with their specific needs or questions.”

The Alltech Store was created through Alltech’s internal incubator program, which encourages employees around the world to put forth their ideas for process improvement. Select incubator projects advance to the global Pearse Lyons Accelerator, a mentorship program for agricultural technology start-ups hosted in Dublin, Ireland. The Alltech Store endeavor was one of eight internal and external projects included in the 2018 cohort. The Pearse Lyons Accelerator is now taking applications for the 2019 class.

 “The Pearse Lyons Accelerator helped us to think through, act on and execute projects like a start-up company,” said Anand Iyer, web marketing manager at Alltech and project lead of the Alltech Store. “The start-up mentality instilled through the accelerator program helped us to refine, simplify and make our validation, execution and business development process smarter and leaner. We need the speed of a start-up to be a leader in technology and new business innovation.”

The Alltech Store will be continuously updated with new features and specialty products, informative and educational content and nutritional support. The story can be found at https://store.alltech.com.

“Our aim is to become the agriculture store of the future — to be the one-stop shop for our farmers’ needs and maintain the quality of nutrition solutions that Alltech has delivered since 1980,” Iyer said.