Consumers placed twice as many online orders for craft beer during November 2014 compared to last year, with sales values up by 300%, according to leading online beer retailer, Ales by Mail (ABM).
These latest figures reveal the growing importance of eCommerce to craft brewers as well as the increase in demand from consumers according to ABM managing director Paul Kruzycki.
He said: “We’ve seen a steady rise in online craft beer sales year on year, but there’s no doubt that as we’ve reached the latter stages of 2014, we’ve witnessed a real ‘tipping point’. We’re trusted to deliver the online sales logistics for some great craft breweries, including Brewdog, Meantime, Tiny Rebel and will shortly be working with Hall and Woodhouse, but we’re also taking enquiries from other breweries on almost a daily basis.”
Kruzycki said a highlight for the business in recent months, was the launch of their ‘Beer Advent Calendar’ which sold out a week before the last shipping day.
He said: “We followed Amazon by having a record day on Black Friday with our Beer Advent Calendar selling like crazy, we really seemed to capture people’s imagination with that. Next year we’ll be inviting tenders from breweries for festive beers to be featured, perhaps even working with breweries to produce their own label versions and working with key online retailers to get the craft beer calendar far and wide. There’s no doubt that craft beer is here to stay, the question is, which brewers will prosper, and in my opinion, developing a cohesive, online out-reach strategy, has to be a key part of any success in the sector.”
