Welcome to the second installment of LibDib's multi-part series on E-Premise. E-Premise is a term we LibDibbers use often. It's really important as we think about the evolution of this industry. We took some time to sit down with each of our E-Premise partners to find out more about their company and offerings to makers.
New to E-Prem? Be sure to check out our first blog in this series. Thank you to Tory Smith, founder of LiquorStorefront.com for participating in this week's edition.
5 E-Premise Questions for
What’s your company’s origin story?
A: LiquorStorefront.com started as a passion project during a time when I was living in Mexico on and off for 10 years. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to discover and immerse myself in the world of Artisanal Mezcals just as its popularity started to grow in Oaxaca, Mexico City, the U.S., then Globally. I worked closely with many small producers and brands to create and launch Mercado de Mezcal, the first online marketplace exclusively focused around promoting the category.
As regulations changed around the relationship between industry partners and third-party providers, we pivoted toward adding a brand-built direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform as well. This all coincided with online alcohol sales accelerating due to the pandemic, a time when this industry’s e-commerce sales grew more in those initial months than it had in the past 10 years combined.
We successfully launched LiquorStorefront.com early last year in partnership with a great specialty importer who already had a number of Mexican spirit brands on our Mercado de Mezcal marketplace. They then added several of their other craft Vodkas, Whiskies, Rums, Wines and Liqueurs from regions around the world.
Can you share with us your progress?
A: Over the past year, our DTC platform grew by leaps and bounds, we added dozens of new Makers and Fulfillment Partners. Our LiquorStorefront.com DTC platform quickly outpaced our Mercado de Mezcal Marketplace platform 4-to-1 in monthly order volume.
We decided to bundle these platforms into a single offering for our Mexican Spirit brands. They could benefit from continued sales on our marketplace, where the AOV is around $196 and gross sales of approximately $1M. At the same time, we set them up on our DTC program through LiquorStorefront.com, enabling them to start selling through their own websites.
Through our Mercado de Mezcal Marketplace, we had developed a really great relationship with LibDib prior to launching LiquorStorefront.com. Once we rolled out the new LiquorStorefront.com DTC platform, we became even more involved with LibDib by supporting their Makers and helping them grow distribution.
What’s the best way for a LibDib Maker to work with you?
A: The Liquorstorefront.com platform is unique in that we work with real retailers and we’re not a shipping company. So when Makers ask us where we ship, we tell them we’re not a shipping company. Our technology creates compliant fulfillment relationships that are customized around each retailer's individual payment, delivery and shipping preferences. This allows them to set their own terms, conditions and customer support options, as well as benefit from their intrastate and direct-shipping capabilities in supported markets.
Makers can sign up directly on the Liquorstorefront.com website and we build them a beautiful conversion-driving storefront that works like an extension of their existing website. No programming or integration is required, Makers add the smart buy button to their website and our technology figures out the closest retailer to the customer, then provides order automation directly through LibDib and ultimately a Retail Fulfillment Partner. This gives Makers more control and insight over the consumer shopping experience, while leaving the heavy lifting and customer support to our fulfillment experts.
We offer unique plans and pricing for Individual Brands, Craft Importers and Spirit Portfolios, plus we offer special promotions exclusively for LibDib Makers to help them launch their DTC platforms from scratch. We can also provide Makers with marketing support to help grow their online brand and increase order conversions.
Can you share a Maker success story with us?
A: We kicked things off with 10 Preiss Imports brands, along with nearly all of our existing Mercado de Mezcal brands, several of which came through LibDib. We launched the Preiss Imports brands’ DTC program in 3 markets; California, New York and Missouri, enabling local delivery options as well as intrastate and direct-shipping capabilities.. We’ve been able to streamline and automate the entire customer acquisition and order fulfillment process across all of their brands.
If you could give one piece of brand advice what would it be?
A: You can’t grow real distribution if your DTC model is directly competing with your distribution efforts. The Liquorestorefront.com platform allows Makers to manage their E-Premise strategy on a global scale in a way that is aligned with how distribution really gets done--through building relationships. E-Premise is not just about online sales, it's also an opportunity to build your online brand, connect with the consumer and grow your distribution in ways that never before existed.
Interested in working with Liquorstorefront.com?
Launch your DTC platform in just days. Straight forward affordable pricing with no long-term contract required. Visit www.liquorstorefront.com for plan details and to create your account online or schedule a demo to speak with their team and view their presentation deck.