DW8 Growth, page-8043

WINEDEPOT foundation customer experiences 400% growth

The Company is pleased to provide an update on the progress made by its first spirits customer Vodka+, since signing up to use WINEDEPOT’s end-to-end fulfillment platform as announced on 27 November 2019.

The Company has tracked disruptive Australian Vodka company Vodka+, whose grape-based spirits ‘go-against-the-grain’ and seen their sales volumes increase by 400% since signing up to WINEDEPOT and providing their customers access to same-day and next-day delivery options.

This provides further proof of concept to the WINEDEPOT platform, in so far as a founding customer who had to utilise the traditional form of distribution has been able to unlock increase sales volumes by growing their DtC sales channels by catering for the needs of the modern consumer which meant access to same-day and next-day delivery options that were provided by the WINEDEPOT platform.

The Iconic Australian brand launched in 2015 addressing a clear gap in the market for alcoholic beverages that were low-calorie, gluten-free and sugar-free, catering to growing health trends from keto diets to calorie-counting.

“For four years now we’ve been locked out of the market,” says Marko Pavasovic, co-founder and CEO of Vodka+. “With Wine Depot we have every chance to succeed as much as the big guys.”

Today, there are more than 300 distilleries and micro-breweries in Australia competing for shelf space in an industry monopolised by a handful of global players.

“There are so many emerging brands like us that are struggling to get into the retailers. It’s a hugely competitive space and even if you’re lucky enough to get into 400 independent liquor stores, that means 400 separate relationships and orders to manage.”

Demand existed - the brand amassing more than 20,000 followers on Instagram – however, marketing efforts were often wasted, driving customers to stores that had run out of stock.

“We tried online, but in the past orders often took several weeks to be delivered. Going to the store has been the only last-minute option, which has been a limitation of the whole industry. That’s why WINEDEPOT is probably one of the biggest breakthroughs in Australian Alcohol.”

“We’re excited to partner with a forward-thinking tech company that’s helping craft spirits producers like ourselves to build and grow the direct-to-consumer market in Australia. We’re all about challenging the norms and looking for new and innovative ways of thinking.”

Digital Wines CEO Dean Taylor, says “The growth rate that Vodka+ has experienced since launching with WINEDEPOT demonstrates the potential of our platform to help wine, spirits, cider and beer brands of any size to rapidly grow their direct-to-consumer sales channels by catering for the needs of the modern consumer.”

“By selling direct, they are able to avoid distributors and retailers and increase their profit margins substantially. However until now, most of this extra margin has been eroded by high fulfillment costs. WINEDEPOT’s platform and network of depots allows boutique brands like Vodka+ to provide
the same service level as major retailers while banking a lot more margin.”

“For producers like Vodka+ DtC ecommerce also provides a range of other benefits such as ownership of traffic, ability to collect customer details and the flow on effect from building a loyal fan-base whose word-of-mouth referrals are the most cost effective way to grow the brand.”

“Once the alcohol industry realises the long-term value that this provides, I expect even the biggest brands will leverage direct-to-consumer sales channels to take control of and grow their brands” says Taylor.