The craft distillery industry has exploded over the last decade, with hundreds and now thousands of brands lining the shelves in physical retail stores. In such a crowded marketplace, it is difficult for craft distillers to control how physical retail displays their products, let alone stand out. Traditional digital advertising methods are less effective and too far removed from the point of sale to be effective. However, there is a solution: retail media platforms.
Retail media platforms, such as GoPuff/Bevmo, DoorDash, Uber, and Instacart in the US, and Amazon and large grocers in the EU, give craft distilleries the tools to take control of how their products appear, stand out in crowded marketplaces, and increase online sales. More online sales will translate to better brand exposure and increase in-store traffic and sales too, eventually giving craft distillers more leverage with their wholesaler and distributor partners.
ONLINE SALES MATTER
It is easy to dismiss the value of online sales because it is a small part of the total alcohol market, but that would be a mistake (example, Barnes and Noble vs. Amazon in 1997). While online sales of alcohol in the US are currently a small share of total sales, they are growing rapidly. Online sales in the EU are more mature and are still growing rapidly. They are expected to reach a value of €7.3 billion by 2024, according to a report by IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
By advertising through retail media platforms, craft distillers can target specific audiences and showcase their products in a way that traditional advertising methods may not allow. They can also optimize their product listings and descriptions to ensure they are displayed in a place where people can easily see them. This can help drive more traffic and sales online, which in turn can drive more traffic and sales offline, and increase a craft distiller’s leverage with their wholesalers, distributors, and end retailers.
ONLINE SALES DRIVE OFFLINE SALES
Good online discovery matters more than for just online sales. In fact, research by Google suggests that 75% of US shoppers who researched a product online before going to a store said that they visited a store because of something they found online. This highlights the importance of a strong online presence for craft distilleries and underscores the potential impact that online sales and marketing efforts can have on offline sales. According to a study by Nielsen, consumers who buy alcohol online are more likely to purchase alcohol in-store than those who do not buy alcohol online. This presents a great opportunity for craft distillers to not only grow their online sales but also increase their in-store sales and brand awareness.
OPPORTUNITY TO DISRUPT
While currently only the biggest brands tend to use these retail media tools, their ability to move fast, pull them together, and innovate is limited by their size and nature of their incumbency. This presents an opportunity for smaller brands to move quickly and disrupt the market, if only they had the support. However, this work is hard to do by brands themselves. It requires significant expertise across many different platforms in many different countries. This is where DPG helps by managing your advertising across retail media channels in the US and EU, helping you disrupt the market and drive profitable growth, both online and in store.