We’ve made some changes to our website!
You may have noticed that things are looking a little different on our website lately… particularly if you are a shopper who frequently uses our vendor/product search features. This is because we’ve recently made the switch to a new market management platform (Marketspread) through which we link our website and market maps to our back-end scheduling systems.
Read on for a little background on why we’ve transitioned to a new platform, how this is ushering through some meaningful positive changes to Vancouver Farmers Markets, and how we plan to support YOU in accessing the information you need as we adjust to a slightly different system.
Why did you change the vendor/product search features?!
As you know, our market organization platform allows folks to quickly check and see what vendors and products they can find at a particular market on an upcoming weekend. If you have a favourite vendor, you may also use this feature to check ahead and see where you can find them next.
You may not know that we use this same platform to carry out and coordinate many of our larger back-end processes, the magical cogs and wheels, if you will, that exist just out of sight but are paramount to running 9 weekly farmers markets throughout the year. Take our word for it, this system migration was not taken lightly. Rather, it carries with it a massive positive impact to our full-time 8 person staff team who are working steadily behind the scenes to make the markets happen and bring all your favourite vendors into town on market day.
In transitioning our market platforms, our goal is to ensure that the search features can offer you all the same functionality that they did before.
That said…
We hear your feedback.
We hear that the new search features have been challenging to adjust to and it is our top priority to ensure that the information you need is available and accessible to you. Since launching the new platform, we have been doing some ‘test-driving’ of new features and can now ensure that shoppers are still able to access the following information:
- View vendor listings by date in order to see what vendors will be at a particular market on a particular day
- View vendor profiles in order to see which markets you will be able to find your chosen vendor at
- View market maps to see where that vendor will be located within the market on an upcoming weekend
- View the full list of vendors that will be at a particular market over the course of the season
We’ve also been working closely with Marketspread, our new market management platform, to address some of the concerns that have been brought up.
Thank you for learning with us!
We thank you for your patience and understanding as we adjust together to a new platform. We value each and every one of you who has taken the time to come and let us know what you need and what works best for you! This is how we grow together and work up to a place where our systems run smoothly and efficiently on both front and back ends, which is of course the goal.
I’m still confused!/Tips on using new features
That’s okay! We’re here to help you get used to our new system. See below for a video walk through that shows you how to optimize your use of the new search features. Or email us at info@eatlocal.org with any questions you may have. We’re also available onsite to demonstrate these features in person and field any questions or concerns you may have.
However,
Please be kind to our onsite staff.
We acknowledge that learning a new system can be frustrating, and we also ask that all of our shoppers have patience and compassion for our onsite staff – they are learning too! We trust our team that everyone onsite wants to help out as best they can. We couldn’t run the markets we do without them!
