Hard Seltzer News recently interviewed the principals at Our Cart, and discussed ways for brands to combat the rapidly shrinking shelf space at retail.  This is that interview transcript.

So, Danny, with the growth of hard seltzer retailers are running out of shelf space for all these new brands and flavors. What does your company offer that can help these brands get noticed by consumers?

DR: Sure. So this is a great point and you know, this is definitely one of the pinpoints that we’ve identified. We work primarily with emerging brands, either if they’re independent or if [they’re] established brands that are launching a new product, and it’s definitely extremely hard to get that attention. There’s, you know, the obvious stuff [such] as the packaging, all these things that are traditionally helpful, but it’s right. It’s harder and harder, [sic] especially on the digital shelf. So, we’ve designed a solution that we call Chop, and that’s designed specifically for that need which is to drive trial, to drive awareness. It plays [to] and [is] specifically intended at retail. So, most of the brands we work with today, you know, they have some D2C (direct to consumer) activity, but to be honest, for growth and at the end of the day, it’s all about retail. So, we have a tailored solution that’s intended to take any marketing activities that they’re doing, piggyback on that and drive these people in-store to actually purchase the product. As part of the process, there’s also a very — we feel — very valuable byproduct of being able to ask the consumers questions about the product to get feedback, reviews and really to create that kind of bidirectional connection. It’s not only about the consumer discovering the brand, but we feel it’s also about the brand discovering the consumer. 

So, Clayton, when social distancing eases in 2021. What are some things that package beverage makers can do to be ready for new patterns in shopping? 

CB: Thanks, Stephanie, and pleasure chatting with you today. Hey, we talk to brands every day — in many categories — and there’s a really big focus in terms of how to help them plan and grow and accelerate. And so, I’ll really kind of narrow it down alcoholic beverage and really other highly fragmented categories, but personalization, premiumization, accessibility of the brand and brand messaging are super key. [sic] 

I’m going to break that down a little bit further for you and everybody. So, we’re going to just talk about accessibility, [first]. Accessibility, you know, when this thing breaks — and it’ll eventually break — there will be a real big resurgence to get out. You know, you hear people talking about the Roaring Twenties are going to restart. Marketplace, alcohol beverage folks really have to be excited about that. So, brands really need to absolutely be prepared to meet kind of the need in the marketplace. And, at least from our thinking and when we’re out talking the brands, there has to be this really kind of 360-degree strategy in place. And, that is exactly what Danny said. It has to include retailers and clearly, for an alcoholic beverage, that has to include both on and off-premise, with a heavy emphasis on off-premise. D2C where appropriate, obviously, from a regulatory standpoint, but we see more and more brands really trying to heavily focus on the D2C mix, but then also e-commerce and it’s interesting. I’m hearing brands break the difference between D2C and e-commerce, and I’ve even had brands talk to me and say, “I consider e-comm now another retailer.” And so, with the strategy having to include things like Drizzly and Minibar and goPuff, you know — as you just had goPuff buy BevMo for God’s sake — but with other entities like Amazon and Walmart.com, you know, they’re considering those retailers while D2C is really a direct from brand, and you have to be frictionless, and it’s interesting. I was speaking to a brand the other day — non-alcoholic, spirit side — they only have been doing D2C and e-comm, and in less than 10 months — and they launched just before the pandemic — and they have done over 8,500 cases. 

Wow. 

CB: So, they’ve done almost two million dollars in sales in terms of D2C. So, there’s a real strong importance of accessibility, and the brand should be prepared to do that across the spectrum of both retail, D2C and e-comm. 

Personalization / premiumization side isn’t necessarily what you might think when you first hear it. It’s really an understanding of the consumer audience and how you’re going to make them aware of your point of difference. And so, there’s the…while premiumization might be things like [health and] wellness…Hard seltzers, they need to be thinking about this thing, and that’s what they’re doing. You might even think about the non-alcoholic side and I hear lots of folks, especially in hard seltzer and ready-to-drink, thinking about gosh. How do I play on the non-alcoholic side of the business while still within the alcohol beverage space? Which is really interesting. [sic] Then brand messaging — and that’s kind of where we’re going in terms of when you think about [sic] what I’m saying with personalization — so, know who your audience is going to be. Focus on them, but then from the brand messaging — what is that? I’m all-natural. I’m higher quality flavors. I’m lower ABV, and get that down, I’m the go-to brand in cans, right? And so, get that down, and make sure that that’s there. But, those are the things that I would say brands need to be really key [on] and have a good focus on, and that’s what we’re hearing from brands as we talk to them and the guy 

Yeah, I’ve noticed D2C is just exploding now. It’s very, very important.

CB: And you may see regulation change. I mean, you’re seeing it adjust, and so it’s going to get stronger, and you have a higher and higher push within alcoholic beverage. 

What are some important things for a start-up brand of hard seltzer or canned cocktails, in particular, to do as they’re starting up?

CB: Yeah. I think I bucket that into three things. I don’t work in threes by the way, Stephanie! But, I would say, one, have a very strong point of difference. Don’t just be another brand in the marketplace. You know, that’s great that you…you’ve got to have…look, every brand has to have great packaging, a good message, a good story, right? And great liquid, but you really have to have a strong point of difference. Don’t just be another [sic] brand. Be very focused on what you’re going to do build your blueprint. Don’t think that you’re going to be across the nation tomorrow. Be very focused about how you go about it, and that really ends with the last one — that’s invest wisely. We tell that to brands all the time. With our solution, [sic] we have some real key functions around what’s important for a brand to be successful with our solution. That’s good distribution. That’s having a real strong social media digital marketing activation. And, that’s having a real strong audience focus and that you’re driving business because we’re very complimentary to helping them within their assets and their digital journey. So, invest wisely, invest in the things that are going to drive your business, and then focus in on the markets that make sense to drive your point of difference so more and more consumers pick you up.

Yeah, that’s interesting. I’ve talked to all sorts of different hard seltzer and canned cocktail brands and some are — we want to expand. We’re in 48 states in one year, like, we’re going, going, going, and then others are like, no, we want to be the best in New England. We want to be the best in California. We want to be the best on the West Coast. So, it’s really interesting these different approaches to getting market share in specific spots. 

CB: Yeah, and if you’re a new brand and you want to be in all 48 states, I really hope you have a good series of investors that have a lot of money behind you. But, it’s the brands that are building within markets that, you know, kind of build their blueprint that are being highly successful. I’m actually working with a craft beer brand out of Salt Lake City right now, and it’s interesting because he was saying the same thing — “Gah! I want to go! Gah! I have this opportunity over in…” No! Our focus is be the best in the west. 

Yeah.

CB: And so, let’s focus on the west. That’s the message that we’ve been sharing with major retailers. Let’s be the best in the west. And so, in keeping them back, especially entrepreneurs…Entrepreneurs love to, you know, there’s the vision and the dream, and trying to keep that vision and dream very successful based on the investment, their cash flow, their margin and building their brand wisely. 

So, Danny, could you tell us a little bit more about your services and if it’s affordable for smaller brands — it sounds like it is — or do you target a certain size customer? 

DR: Sure. So, maybe just start with the services. As I mentioned before, we look at it kind of, you know, as a consumer acquisition platform and in the sense of the number one challenge, really, is trial. When you try to introduce a new product, number one challenge is trial. Obviously, [the] product needs to be great, and you want that repeat purchase. 

But, as you mentioned in your first question, the initial awareness….The product is really tailored around that. The way it works is, it’s a super easy to integrate plugin into the brand’s own website. So, it’s a white label plugin and any traffic that comes [from] any of their ongoing marketing activities, CRM (customer relationship management) or if they have a mailing list — whichever activity that is ongoing — they can essentially follow through their website to create trial, and the offer is typically a kind of a try for free offer. [sic] The message is for the consumer to buy the product wherever they want and get a full price rebate. They have to present the receipt as a proof of purchase. This is how we validate the purchase, and the rebate is instant. So, it’s all fully automated, very fast, so very cool. Within a few seconds, you have your money back either in PayPal or Amazon. And, as part of the flow, we asked the consumer for that product feedback reviews. Obviously, the consumer details that the consumer can opt in to have follow [up] on communication, and you can keep that relationship going. 

In terms of the clients’ size…So, actually, our current is coming from the enterprise world. So, we have like Fortune 500 clients, BNG [sic] and the likes that we work with. But, to be honest, in the last few months, we’ve been really focused on helping emerging brands. So, these are companies that could be as small as two people. I guess, really in terms of affordability, I think the challenge that we took is — that considering marketing budgets are limited for these, you know, these companies — how we provide real value at a cost efficient level. So, it’s definitely affordable at any level company, and we love working with startups. 

Do you think that consumers are loyal to an alcoholic beverage brand once they become loyal, or can a new brand build loyalty and convert consumers away from their favorites, do you think? 

CB: Yeah, I would phrase it to you this way, and it’s definitely…There are folks out there that have preferred brands. I think we all know that, for sure. Like any category or space that is highly fragmented, there is lots of variants in terms of like share of market, share of wallet, share of stomach, share of throat — however, you want to phrase it, Stephanie! — but, you know, what’s interesting is that there’s a high experimentation among the younger consumers which can, obviously, fit very well within hard seltzers. But, hard seltzers play across the spectrum of consumers, and so I think what is interesting is as I [sic] think about this question is that…There’s some good stats around the marketplace. [sic] In 2019, Statistica said that 40% of all alcoholic beverage consumers are drinking their preferred brand and have been doing so for 10-plus years, so clearly there’s loyalty within the marketplace. But, it’s preferred brand. That doesn’t mean that it’s the only thing. Like, let’s be honest. We open up any of our refrigerators. How many different beverages are in there? Stephanie, how many are in yours? 

Mmm, a lot.

CB: Right, that’s not fair. You work in conjunction with hard seltzer, of course you have lots of beverages. 

Yes. [Laughter] 

CB: Plus, what I would tell you is that half of boomers know which brand they intend to buy before they walk in the store while less than 25% of millennials do. And so, the answer I would tell you is mixed, right? Yes. There’s absolutely loyalty within the category. There’s a preferred brand, right? But, that doesn’t mean that you cannot convert somebody and get them to pick you up. And, similar to what we talked about before, right? It’s got to have that point of difference, and that’s that unique point of difference. You got to continue to kind of innovate and drive engagement, and that innovation’s going to drive engagement. So, you think about the hot trends now — wellness, right? Lower ABV [sic] might be that, it’s natural flavors that will drive that. Those kind of things are going to drive engagement among both the person that’s walking in with their intended purchase, as well as the newer younger experimental millennial who might be thinking about it. And, you really have to work across the spectrum of consumers with your brand. 

Yeah, as a millennial, one of my favorite things is to — when I go into a store — is when they do build your own six-packs. 

CB: Yep.

Get one of whatever. Whatever looks interesting. That’s what I like to do. And then, if I really like it, then maybe I’ll buy a six-pack, but I love sampling. So yeah, there’s a lot to that sort of millennial mindset of not knowing what you want until you’re there, and you’re looking at it. 

CB: Yeah, you know, you think about…I’ll bring it back to what our solution is in the marketplace, especially alcohol beverage — and one of the things that I’ll add to what Danny was saying — is that the business…[what] is unique that we’re offering is also retailer agnostics. So, it keeps people very compliant which is beautiful in alcoholic beverage as we all know, but ultimately because brands are engaged in you, a millennial, right? Most likely on social media whether that’s on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. If you then had a call to action on your site, Mister and Mrs. Brand owner, that then would say, hey — you can’t say try it free necessarily in alcoholic beverage — but, hey go out, and get a discount or rebate because of this. Oh, that’s cool. I’m going to get something back if I go try this brand which I like because it’s inspiring to me. That’s the gist of what we’re doing out of the marketplace, helping brands drive that product trial based on the inspirational message that they’re giving, and then giving them all the backend mechanisms to execute that on their digital customer journey, on their assets. And so, that’s what we’re really bringing to the marketplace to drive that home. 

Yeah. It’s interesting about the rebates. Rebate is kind of like [an] old-fashioned thing, I feel like. Because you used to have to mail it in. 

CB: Right? 

Now with technology, you can, like you said, you can get the rebate back within [sic] a couple of minutes, even, if you got it, right, you know?

CB: Well, and with us, it’s seconds. 

Seconds. There you go. Yeah, you don’t have to mail in rebates. Very, very interesting. 

CB: Yep. 

On to our last question here for Danny…So, Danny, can you tell us more about your beginnings as an entrepreneur and where you expect the company to be in five years? 

I guess I started my journey about ten years ago, quite innocently at the time, having no idea what, you know, it really means. I guess, in a sense, yeah, you have to be either brave or stupid to be an entrepreneur. In a sense, it’s better just not to know what’s ahead and just [sic] be optimistic about it. Along the years, I guess, I did a bit of everything — B2C, B2B, B2B2C, bootstrap products, raising money from venture capital, global markets. The company’s based in Israel, and I’m based in Tel Aviv. So, our outward focus from day one, the local market’s not really a player….But, you know, super exciting journey. I haven’t had a dull day in that ten years, and I think, really, I mean, for me, the key is just to keep it close to…you need a lot of juice to keep going, and you need a lot of energy. So, try to keep it as close to the things that you’re excited about because without that you just, you know, you don’t have the energy that you need to bring. 

In terms of in five years…As I said, we started a journey…If I see something very big that’s changing in the general CPG (consumer packaged goods)…The whole food and beverage space, traditionally, the CPG would have — if you would ask them who their client is — the retailer is their client. And then, the retailer has clients which are consumers. And, this has been traditional, the traditional way of thinking, and this is, obviously, changing because of B2C, but only not only because of B2C. It’s also related [to] private label and retailers kind of competing with their suppliers and so many changes in the marketplace. What happened is that [sic] these companies realize that they actually need to get to know their consumer on a personal, like, one-to-one level. It’s not just [sic] about who my target audience is and focus groups and etc, and I feel there’s a huge opportunity there because, to be honest, there’s not a well-established solution to that, and most of these organizations are not necessarily the fastest movers, and it’s really hard to figure out, “How do I make this transition?” 

We have very unique technology in the space, the whole thing around receipt capture. There’s a huge byproduct of data and the ability to actually understand who is buying your products. There’s a lot of information in a receipt, and it’s very powerful. So, this is — from the one hand — this is, like, the big opportunity I see. And, on the other hand, from the consumer point of view…Comparing, I don’t know, what I buy for my kids to what my parents used to buy for me, I think people are so much more aware of you know, what is the product? What are the ingredients? What’s in there? But also, you know, how it is manufactured, [sic] who is behind this? Sustainability? All of these things are so much more important today than they were either one or two or three decades before. [sic]  

In terms of the vision, we want to be a player there [sic] in kind of bridging that gap — consumer to brand and brand to consumer — because I believe [sic] this is going to push the enterprises to a better place. Because for us as consumers, we want to watch out for our health, our kids’ health, for the environment, all of this stuff [are] things we care about. But, when we’re, you know, one block away, there’s somebody between us, and then it’s just…It’s not so immediate. So, I’m very excited about [sic] what’s going to happen in the space, and I think that brands have to be and want to be much more conscious of everything they do, much more accountable, and I feel that what we’re doing is is a big, big step ahead. And, that’s where I want to be in five years’ time. [sic] This is the problem that I want to solve. 

I’ve talked to a lot of entrepreneurs with this podcast and it’s really funny that you said that you either had to be really brave or really stupid to get going, and that’s such a common feeling among all these entrepreneurs. They’re like, I don’t know how I got here. It’s because I didn’t know. I didn’t know what I was expecting. That’s why I’m here. 

DR: I mean ignorance is bliss, right? Sometimes the less you know, the better. 

I just wanted to wrap up and ask either of you if there’s anything else you wanted to add or anything else you’d like our listeners to know.

DR: Clayton, do you want to go first?

CB: Yeah sure. You know, Stephanie, so thanks very much for having us. We really appreciate it. I know that we’re a little bit of an oddball for your podcast versus being a hard seltzer or brand that’s out there, so thanks for having us. I think what I would want to leave with your listeners and messengers is [sic] give us a call because we can absolutely help, and we are absolutely compliant in the space, and we can help make your investment wiser and better and really help drive consumers, agnostically, out to all of your retailers.

DR: I totally second Clayton. From my point of view, I’m super interested in having a conversation. So, whether that turns out, you know, to be a business partnership or not, I’m constantly learning, and we’re very focused around helping brands grow. So, we’re super interested, and again, we’re looking forward to having these conversations. 

Stephanie Meade
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