Craft beer growth has been phenomenal. Growing 17.6% in 2014 by $ (Brewers Association) craft beer industry as a whole is healthy and booming.
As all growth industries, complexity follows quickly. Due to the increase in number of craft breweries and subsequently the amount of SKU (Stock Keeping Unit’s) the complexity has increased for:
- On-Premise Channel (Bars & Restaurants)
- Off-Premise Channel (Grocery & Convenience Stores)
- Distributors
Consider an on-premise craft beer account that has about 12 draught handles. Generally the account would have a tap handle reserved for macro beer, a tap handle reserved for import beer, and the rest will be assigned for craft beer. Amongst the craft beer handles very few will be permanent, while the majority of those handles will be rotating draught handles.
In addition, since on-premise channel is craving variety the 1/2bbl purchases are transitioning to 1/6bbl purchases to encourage variety.
What does this mean for the sales team? They have to:
- Constantly educate customers about new products
- Take orders and manage inventory for a much higher number of products
- Manage more events for each new brand
- Manage Point-Of-Sale material for each brand that is present at retail locations
- Spend more time protecting the draught handles that are currently on tap and focus on increasing volume
In sum, there is more time spent on ancillary activities than actual sales & education. Each one of the sales individual currently spends over 8 hours taking orders, not considering the amount of time counting inventory.
We, at BeverageIO, can help with taking orders and give those 8 hours back to the sales team for sales and education. Sales and education are key in ensuring success for your brands and should be given much more time and attention to.