In recent years classical trading outlets are being increasingly displaced by online-based distribution channels. This development is especially interesting in marketing of agricultural input materials because here, price rises and the EU-wide increasing proportion of required preliminary investment (~60% of final production value) stimulate the search for optimising measures along the entire value-added chain. Via a standardised online survey, quantitative answers from 303 farmers were

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... d. Subsequent statistical analyses of the responses produced the following results: Online purchasing of input materials is widespread across Germany. User structure proved to be independent of age, farm size and location and also of farm enterprise type. Determined as main motivation for purchase of input material via e-commerce channels are the savings in time offered, and not the cost savings given in the literature. Where there is a good supply of well-distributed agricultural trading outlets on the land, this represents an effective obstacle to e-commerce growth. These could provide a connecting point for online trading too, or allow the attachment of further marketing tools to be integrated with farm management systems.