The focus on E-Premise continues here at LibDib! Welcome to the third installment of LibDib's multi-part series on this important topic. This week Big Thirst, Inc. takes the center stage to talk about its e-commerce platform that further accelerates sales for spirits brands.
For those of you new to E-Premise, check out our other E-Premise features with LiquorStorefront.com and Speakeasy. E-Premise is an important part of the evolution of three-tier distribution and we are thrilled so many great partners are joining us in this quest to bring exciting new products to market.
What’s your company’s origin story?
A: While Big Thirst is an e-commerce start up, it is founded by passionate beverage industry veterans and is powered by a distribution and sales consultancy, Big Thirst Consulting, and a full-service marketing agency, Big Thirst Marketing. Over the past several years we have tirelessly explored ways to help our clients reach new customers, expand into new markets, and sell more spirits. It was a natural extension for us to build an e-commerce platform to further accelerate sales for spirits brands.
We developed our platform with the perspective of digital marketing professionals and sales professionals, rather than as retailers. It was imperative that we build an e-commerce company that did more than just sell bottles. Our experience in sales made it paramount that we put the customer in the center of all discussions. Our prime objective is taking excellent care of not only our spirits brand clients, but also the consumers who purchase their products. People expect an excellent brand experience from order to unboxing. That is what we provide.
There is a need for better business intelligence to help spirits brands better understand just how effective their marketing campaigns are in selling products online. We built a data intelligence dashboard to fill that yawning void to give Makers the tools they need to realize ROI on their marketing spend.
We may be a baby, but we were born as a fully grown adult. We bring decades of experience helping craft spirits brands with compliance, recipe development, distribution management, sales enablement, brand development, public relations, and digital strategies. Our origin has deep roots.
Can you share with us your progress?
A: We announced Big Thirst on October 6, 2021, and we have been very busy meeting with Makers right out of the gate. We have onboarded several clients right away in time for them to take advantage of e-commerce sales during the busy OND sales period. We have met with dozens of distilleries and brands eager to sell their spirits across the country using our platform in our first few weeks of operation. We’re meeting the needs of this eager audience with a commitment to onboarding new clients on our platform in 14 days or fewer.
What’s the best way for a LibDib Maker to work with you?
A: We got into this business to let Makers do what they do best and leave the rest to us. You make it. We move it.
We make it easy to get started with Big Thirst. Working with LibDib, we can get a Maker from concept to sales in about two weeks. Our onboarding process involves getting Makers into distribution with LibDib, and quickly getting their product into our retailers’ warehouses. Our customer support team quickly builds out the online platforms and we’re ready to roll.
Providing a seamless online experience for consumers with our Big Cart built into Makers’ websites is just the start. We not only maintain Makers’ brand look throughout the purchase experience, but we can help build awareness for it, and drive purchase intent with effective marketing campaigns. We understand the bev alc market, and more importantly, we understand consumer behaviors. We tap into their motivations and put our insights to work to help Makers get their bottles moving.
Can you share a Maker success story with us?
A: Norden Spirits was our first official client. They chose to work with us because they had a newly bottled “Limited-Edition Snaps” aquavit that they wanted to launch at the beginning of October to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness month. It’s a beautifully pink spirit made with strawberries and rhubarb, and a perfect fit for that cause. In 2020, Norden Spirits was able to sell its Limited-Edition Snaps aquavit in only a handful of retail shops in Michigan. By having it available for purchase on their website through the Big Thirst platform, we were able to make it available to people in more than 40 states. We were able to get Norden Spirits set up incredibly quickly. Once our agreements were in place, they were able to start selling bottles within two days. During the first month, they expanded the number of products available online, as well as started selling more custom multi-bottle bundles, cocktail kit add-ons, and merchandise all through Big Thirst.
If you could give one piece of brand advice what would it be?
A: Invest in data. Whether you’re a craft brand or a large distillery, having the right data to provide business insights to help inform decisions. Access to the right sales and marketing data allows brands to leverage their spending so that every dollar they spend is tracked efficiently and effectively for both e-commerce and retail locations.