2022 TECH GUIDE
2022 TECH GUIDE
started to take root . Progress is being led by technology companies that simplify operations to allow businesses to work faster and buy smarter . Conversely , there is also a trend among beverage alcohol businesses to create their own proprietary or ' off – theshelf ' B2B ecommerce and payment solutions , and this is taking efficiency backwards .”
MODERN CHALLENGES These days , it feels like all we can talk about is the pandemic when it comes to discussing novel challenges . Obviously , the pandemic itself has been the largest hardship the world has had to confront in recent years . But the health crisis has also created many smaller hurdles in the alcohol industry .
“ Two of our biggest challenges have been supply-chain obstacles and market awareness ,” says Ouzts . “ Like seemingly everyone else in the world , we have , at times , been simply unable to deliver our product to our customers as quickly as we ’ d like .”
“ The second challenge we ’ re facing is market awareness of our product ," Ouzts adds . " There are a few extremely large pointof-sale companies in the industry that possess significant brand awareness in a variety of markets . These solutions tend to be more generic so they can serve a wide range of industries — rather than specializing in specific business types and understanding those customers ’ specific needs .”
Market awareness is perhaps a bit more unique to the digital solutions and ecommerce side of the alcohol industry . Businesses understand how to launch and advertise a new spirit , wine or beer option . But companies such as Thirstie need first to educate the industry before marketing their product .
Southworth acknowledges this , commenting , “ The challenges we have faced stem from a lack of industry knowledge around what ecommerce is and how it can best be utilized to grow a brand . For a long time , there has been a notion around e-commerce in beverage alcohol that ‘ if you build it , they will come .’ However , as any marketer will tell you , there is a level of effort that is required from brands to drive consumers to their webstores .”
THE NEW SOLUTION All the companies we interviewed are working to solve problems that retailers face on a daily basis . These include a host of issues , such as building a digital presence , measuring consumer data in real time , optimizing stocking levels and enhancing customer service .
Point-of-sale companies POS Nation and Arryved have carved out niches for themselves within the industry .
Mobile purchases are poised for further growth .
“ POS companies have earned a reputation for manipulative sales tactics , disappointing support and costly , slow-to-innovate technology . They put their own bottom-line ahead of the best interest of merchants and guests ,” says Trigg . “ Arryved set out to reset expectations on what a POS partner could be . We ’ re community builders who prioritize relationships over transactions . We build features designed to improve the guest and staff experience — eliminating admin tasks for staff that give them more time to get to know their guests . Our pricing model is designed to support customers in building the best possible business .”
“ The issues POS Nation is solving are directly related to the trends we ’ re seeing in the industry ,” says Ouzts . " We ’ re automating many of the old , manual processes of running a beverage retail store . Our software integrates with most beverage distributors and automatically updates stock levels when products are delivered . Our software also uses artificial intelligence to optimize stock levels . It will automatically identify the increase in sales volume and suggest ordering more . The common theme in all these process improvements is that we are eliminating the need for extra staff through automation .” This automation is in service of facilitating communication , according to Ouzts . “ We ’ re helping business owners communicate with their customers . Our software has a built-in loyalty program and allows businesses to tailor the text messages they send an
In an increasingly digital and mobile world , consumers want to connect with brands and buy products online .
30 Beverage Dynamics • June 2022 www . beveragedynamics . com