The trend towards B2B ecommerce in the wholesale alcohol industry predates 2020—but the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital tools across the three tiers. Distributors across the country are now embracing an omnichannel approach to sales and marketing and recognize the need for a comprehensive digital strategy. This includes a modern website, a social media presence, a robust email marketing program, and participation on SevenFifty.
The next logical step in this digital transformation is a standalone ecommerce portal where customers can manage their accounts, search for products, and place orders directly from your company website. But for many distributors, this is a giant technological leap. Custom software development is cost prohibitive and requires an enormous investment of time from your team. And traditional ecommerce service providers are not equipped to handle the complexity of wholesale alcohol data and regulations.
Introducing SevenFifty Online Stores
SevenFifty now offers the fastest route to launching a modern and dedicated ecommerce website. The necessary product, pricing, and customer data already exists in SevenFifty for participating distributors, which means an Online Store can be launched in a matter of weeks instead of months or years.
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Online Stores powered by SevenFifty increase sales by giving your customers an intuitive product search, accurate pricing, and a best-in-class online ordering and account management experience all in a digital ecosystem that is dedicated to your portfolio. The Online Store is custom-branded and works side-by-side with your current website. Distributors have control over many design elements and product promotions as well as unprecedented access to user-level behavioral and ecommerce data that will greatly expand your company’s reach and penetration into your accounts.
A Custom-Branded Ecommerce Site
Distributors can now easily create a branded online shopping experience that is optimized for both web and mobile. Each Online Store comes with a unique URL and control over the color themes, logos, and branding elements that will bring your store to life for buyers. Product promotions are dynamic by market and can show off your company’s distinct portfolio and category expertise. Because your Online Store will be powered by SevenFifty, all product content including images, standardized producer and product names, and the product categorization data needed for an enriched ecommerce website will automatically populate your store.
Showcase Your Portfolio: How it Works
The same technology that powers SevenFifty’s aggregated marketplace also powers the Online Stores. Suggestive keyword search helps customers quickly find products for reorders and rich product information promises incremental sales gains. Search results display complex pricing structures, inventory status, label images, vintage, pack size, product classification, and “last price paid.” Pricing is determined by customer location and channel established during user registration, and qualifying discounts are automatically applied to orders.
Online Stores also offer all the filters that already exist in SevenFifty plus two new filters: “Verified in stock” and “Previously ordered.”
An Intuitive Ordering and Checkout Experience
Online ordering reduces miscommunications, and allows buyers to place orders with their reps 24/7. Orders include detailed line items with SKU number, producer and product names, vintage, pack size, inventory status, and custom notes. Customers can add items to cart from their order histories and check out in seconds. Furthermore, featured products listed in the shopping cart encourage cross-sells with unique promotions controlled by distributors that can be updated in real-time. Orders go to assigned sales reps or, optionally, directly into the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
Transmit Orders Directly to Your Back End System
Orders placed on the Online Store and the aggregated marketplace can be transmitted directly to distributors’ ERPs. This creates a consistent and reliable ordering experience for customers. Customers submit their order (they must enter their customer ID upon their first order). The assigned sales rep is notified by email, and the order is transmitted directly to the ERP.
Setting up an order integration is dependent on the technical capabilities of each ERP system. For markets where this is not possible, orders go to the assigned sales rep via email, SMS, and the rep’s SevenFifty account. Order integrations are currently supported on Microsoft Navision, VIP, Quickbooks, Microsoft Dynamics, JD Edwards, Great Plains, Netsuite, SAP, and CAVE. More ERPs and order entry systems will be added in 2021.
Empower Customers to Manage Their Accounts
On- and off-premise customers want on-demand access to their order history and invoices. Customers can view every product they’ve purchased regardless of whether they ordered online or directly through their sales rep, and your Online Store can connect directly to the payment portal of your choice. Invoices give your customers a reason to return to your site and eliminate the need for reps and office staff to provide historic invoices on-demand to customers.
A Secure Login and Registration System
User acquisition is one of the primary challenges companies face when launching an ecommerce site. Online Stores solve this problem by allowing customers to login with their SevenFifty credentials, giving thousands of valid buyers immediate access to your Online Store. With more than 90,000 U.S. buyers already registered on SevenFifty, you’ll have a built-in user base, though customers without a SevenFifty login can quickly create a new account directly on your site as well. Regardless of whether a customer creates a new account or uses their SevenFifty login, distributors gain access to the invaluable behavioral and ecommerce data resulting from user activity on their own site.
Access Real Time Analytics to Enable Data-Driven Decisions
Online Stores offers real-time data of customers’ site behavior and activates new marketing opportunities that are unparalleled in the wholesale alcohol industry. For the first time ever distributors can see how customers are searching and shopping their portfolios, and can guide customer purchasing decisions through tailored digital product promotions. Real-time analytics report on search terms, page views, clicks, product impressions, orders, abandoned cart line items, and additional customer-specific information that enable remarketing campaigns to drive new sales.
For more information please email sales@sevenfifty.com.
SevenFifty is an online marketplace and communications platform that helps importers, producers, distributors, and retail buyers connect with each other and do business in a modern world.
