How Far North Spirits Found a Trustworthy eCommerce Partner and Doubled Online Sales
After a disappointing search for online sales solutions, Far North Spirits was introduced to AccelPay through one of their distributors. The easy software integration and consistent customer experience immediately set AccelPay apart. Over the next six months, a successful eCommerce partnership blossomed and Far North's online sales doubled.
As the holidays approach, expect an influx of gift purchases across the next few months — an annual event that’ll only be heightened by the post-COVID e-commerce shopping boom.
Even more so, broader delays in global supply chains are trickling down to affect availability and shipping for e-commerce brands across all segments. Our recommendation? Beat this year’s slowdown by getting a head start on your seasonal campaigns, promotions, and more.
We’ve laid out four steps below that every alcohol brand should take to beat the annual gift rush, while also maximizing the profitability and potential of this concentrated shopping period.
Step One: Time Blocking
First, you can start building out a major messaging campaign by looking ahead on your calendar and selecting key dates to lay out a time frame from early November up until Christmas.
Specifically, we recommend blocking out three primary phases for your campaign delivery.
Pre-Black Friday
By pushing messaging campaigns out as early as mid-November, you’re gearing folks up for the holiday season around the corner, as well as letting potential buyers know to keep an eye out for a promotion in the works.
More importantly, you’re setting your brand up to start the season on a strong note — and to not get caught unprepared by the sudden arrival of Thanksgiving crunchtime.
Thanksgiving & Late November
From Thanksgiving onward, particularly that first weekend including Black Friday, you’ll want to host and advertise some kind of actionable event, i.e. a special release or promotional discount, to jumpstart customers into their seasonal shopping cycles.
Cutoffs for Christmas
Finally, you’ll want to round out the season by selecting a cutoff date for placing new orders.
Seven to 10 days before December 25th is a safe bet for buyers to receive a bottle at their door by Christmas Day, and reminders should be sent out in the days leading up to this cutoff.
In terms of the broader time crunch that’s anticipated due to global supply chain slowdowns, you should emphasize the convenience of purchasing from a domestic brand paired with the reliability that you offer for a timely, safe delivery of your product.
Step Two: Spice Up Your Specials
Once you’ve laid the initial groundwork, it’s time to elevate your campaign by crafting it into something creative and exciting for the spirit of the season.
In other words, your buyer’s inbox may be flooded by holiday deals, but you can capture their attention and help them recognize the thoughtfulness through your core brand messaging.
For instance, Far North Spirits is offering a holiday two-pack for drinks that’ll warm you up in the colder months. Imagine a whiskey, rye, or bourbon for your spicy cocktail or mulled wine.
Ultimately, you’re working with the inventory you have and considering which themed products can play into people’s holiday spirit — even better if it’s in a bundle to boost your AOV.
On the other hand, this period offers a practical opportunity to look back at the year’s releases and offload any remaining inventory through a unique discount or exclusive holiday promo.
Step Three: Ramp Up Your Promotion Game
Next, consider the tactical logistics of your promotions. After all, it can be tricky to time promo launches, depending on whether your customer pool skews toward early or late gift grabbers.
There are two general approaches you can take: 1) offering enticing deals early on to preempt other sales or 2) holding off until late in the buyer’s window to pull the trigger on your promo.
The former can snag early shoppers, or at least convince late shoppers to try an early purchase, but could also lose its appeal by mid-December when fresher deals are dropping every day.
The latter can appeal to buyers who play the long game and wait it out for the most optimal deal, but can still ultimately result in you losing out on early or average shoppers.
Ultimately, there’s no gold-standard method and you’ll need to use your judgement depending on what aligns with your brand’s target demographic, metric goalposts, and even inventory.
For instance, returning to your campaign calendar, you can skew discounts away from marking down products and toward offering cheaper, faster shipping as Christmas creeps closer.
Step Four: Email Marketing On Deck
As we pointed out in our advice for email marketing, setting up your email flow so your comms can run seamlessly is a simple yet essential step of the process that’s easily overlooked.
We recommend starting with a quick info sweep: pull last year’s seasonal purchase data and make sure that customer cohort is consistently re-engaged early on.
In turn, your team won’t be stressed out and frantically attempt to piece together the perfect layout in MailChimp just a few days before Thanksgiving — which circles back to our larger point: the holidays are a time of year with promise of high ROI for your alcohol brand.
You can utilize this opportunity to the max by planning thoroughly and creatively, not stressfully executing a last minute, makeshift campaign.
If your brand has these moving parts staged within the first weeks of November, you should be ready to hook the earliest seasonal shoppers and take full advantage of the holiday rush.
Sit Back and Enjoy the Holidays!
Once you’ve got these steps locked in — a killer campaign calendar, creative promos, and ready-to-launch email marketing — you’ll be the one leading the holiday rush, not falling behind.
Whether your user base is composed of individuals shopping for friends and family or corporate customers with high-volume needs, Accelpay is the platform of choice for your alcohol brand.
To get access to our instant storefront setup and stress-free bulk ordering, get started here.
Far North Spirits
Finding a trustworthy eCommerce partner doubled online sales in under 6 months
After a disappointing search for online sales solutions, Far North Spirits was introduced to AccelPay through one of their distributors. The easy software integration and consistent customer experience immediately set AccelPay apart. Over the next six months, a successful eCommerce partnership blossomed and Far North's online sales doubled.
Facing a digital age
Boutique distillery of premium spirits
Far North Spirits is a boutique distillery in Hallock, Minnesota, that has been operating since 2013, when Michael Swanson and Cheri Rease returned to the Red River Valley Swanson farm with a desire to make premium, artisanal spirits.
Navigating shifting buyer behavior
Over time, Mike and Cheri realized consumer buying behavior was shifting online, a trend only accelerated by the pandemic. As a result, they began searching for solutions to help facilitate Far North’s online presence, but were disappointed by what they found.
“We did some talking to companies early on, and it all felt like smoke and mirrors,” said founder Cheri Rease. “To this day I don’t understand those competitors’ fee structures - it was so complicated and it felt like we were taking a huge risk.”
Forming a successful partnership
Easy breezy integration
Far North was introduced to AccelPay through one of their distributors in early 2021, and immediately recognized they could offer something different. For Cheri, AccelPay made things simple. She could see that getting ramped up would be a streamlined process and wouldn’t require them to change anything about their current systems.
In fact, the team was able to integrate Far North’s software systems with AccelPay in under a week with minimal complexity.
“It was amazingly transparent and easy to understand,” confirmed Rease. “The setup was easy breezy because the way we sell hasn’t changed at all. The only difference is suddenly we’re selling more.”
Consistency is key
Far North loved that AccelPay was able to keep the selling experience consistent for their online customers. Keeping shoppers on the branded Far North website and controlling the checkout experience from end-to-end was a huge selling point. They had worked hard to build a brand that reflected their premium, artisanal process and wanted it to shine through at all points of the buyers’ journey.
As Cheri put it, “With AccelPay, we can go really deep with the story we’re telling and reach our customers directly. This just isn’t possible through traditional distribution channels.”
Experiencing an uplift in online sales
eCommerce revenue doubled in under 6 months
“We’re able to launch projects and activations that never would have been possible before. We’re excited to see what’s next!” said Cheri Rease.
Since signing on with AccelPay, Far North’s performance has been strong, exceeding the founders’ expectations in the first six months. From June 2021 to December 2021, the team saw a 2x uplift in online sales. They’ve also seen tremendous value in the brand and data ownership AccelPay allows.
“Liquor is a tricky business. You don’t know who you can trust. Trust is a huge selling point AccelPay brings to the equation for us. With them, we know we can go really deep with the story we’re telling and reach customers directly. This just isn’t possible through traditional distribution channels.”
Cheri Rease
Founder of Far North Spirits
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Braxton Freeman
Grolsch