According to a recent report by the IWSR (the leading source of data and intelligence on the global alcoholic beverage market), e-Commerce in the industry rose by more than +40% (to US$24bn in 2020) in 10 key global markets and will grow to reach over $40bn by 2024.
Liquor.co.za – the easiest way to buy alcohol – goes live online today. Born out of the need for an e-Commerce portal that can service both direct-to-customer (D2C) and high-volume business-to-business (B2B) requirements, liquor.co.za is the groundbreaking result of a collaboration of expertise and experience from key players in the liquor and entertainment industries.
Liquor.co.za forms part of the Cascade Holdings stable bringing together the brains of Adam Chaskalson, Tyrone Lasarow, Shaun Duwe and Allen Jaffe.
Chaskalson and Lasarow previously owned the largest mobile bar company in Cape Town and have experience on the product-development and logistics side, while Shaun Duwe understands how the South African alcohol and entertainment landscape fits together, better than anyone.
Lastly, Jaffe and his team at eComplete bring vast technological expertise in the ecommerce field with a solution that is powering many of SA’s leading brands and retailers.
The website’s customer interface is focused on providing consumers with a platform that is supremely user-friendly yet has a personality and flair behind it.
“We have gone with a mobile first approach,”
explained Jaffe.
“Not only have we crafted one of the easiest checkout experiences, but we’ve engineered it to be easy to find what you’re looking for, quicker than anyone else.”
In addition to its customer-centric approach, liquor.co.za will offer the best deals on a vast range of liquor products, from the most popular, to the premium and those crafted, seldom-seen brands.
According to Chaskalson, there is a gap in the South African market for this type of offering.
“Since COVID-19 the world has moved to online platforms when it comes to meetings, shopping and anything that gives people a sense of security in terms of not being in crowds or having to drive somewhere, liquor in particular is something that should be easy to order from the comfort of your home,”
he commented.
However, according to Chaskalson, service remains key.
“With so many competitors out there giving clients everything they need from a service perspective, leaving them impressed will ensure you grow that relationship for a sustainable length of time leading to word of mouth which is the best form of marketing.”
“Liquor.co.za is not driven by traditional liquor retailers trying to do E-commerce for the first time and It’s also not being run by digital specialists just making a go at the liquor market with no skin in the game,”
Shaun Duwe added.
“It is a wholly online-only offering for the local liquor market, run by professionals with pedigree in the liquor trade as well as the digital landscape. Essentially tech is one part of the puzzle, but that supply, merchandising and customer support are all crucial too.
In that vein the dynamic team behind these four entrepreneurs has created two separate websites under the domain of liquor.co.za.
“The B2C interface is exciting, but the B2B side perhaps even more so,”
Duwe said.
“Our platform will enable businesses to order using a self-service approach with easy-to-use functionality which in the past hasn’t been available.”
“The trade is still ordering using a frustrating, antiquated, archaic mechanism which still includes fax. On liquor.co.za a food and beverage manager will be able to login to the back-end portal, be able to select their own products and volumes and even reorder their last order – all very quickly. It is going to change the game,”
Lasarow concluded.
