Swilled Dog adds online liquor sales

Swilled Dog Spirits has joined a growing number of distilleries that offer their whiskey products through an online retail store. Online sales should give the boutique distillery more national exposure and availability. The distillery announced Swilled Dog bourbons and other distilled spirits can now be ordered for home delivery to forty-one states. 

“We’ve had significant interest from fans wanting access to our whiskeys and bourbons online,” says Brooke Glover, CEO & Co-Founder of Swilled Dog. “We have great partnerships with retailers and ABC liquor stores throughout West Virginia making it easy for local fans to access our products. However, this [online] platform is a huge next step for us allowing us to meet the demands of our consumers that live outside of the state while also increasing our brand presence.”

Swilled Dog has partnered with Big Thirst, Inc., an online sales platform and distribution service for distilled spirits based in Austin, TX. Big Thirst describes itself as a “three-tier compliant e-commerce platform for spirits brands to conveniently expand sales and ship products to consumers.” It offers website design, online shopping cart integration, distribution management, customer service, digital advertising, email marketing, marketing analytics to target online marketing for increased sales, and retailer partner relations for order fulfillment.

Swilled Dog will use the online sales platform and distribution service to greatly expand exposure to its brands. Swilled Dog’s online store currently offers all five of its whiskey products, including its two-time double gold winning Barrel Strength Bourbon and the new Double Oaked Rye Whiskey.

Online sales a growing preference

Buying liquor online is likely a much bigger thing than you might think. It’s a rapidly growing sector of retail as states loosen up alcohol sales regulations to allow direct shipping to a consumer’s home.

Several years ago, when a Brilliant Stream article on Hatfield & McCoy Moonshine appeared, the headline mentioned online sales. As that headline, “HATFIELD & MCCOY MOONSHINE AVAILABLE IN STORES & ONLINE,” got picked up by the search engines, a steady stream of hits on that article began registering on the Brilliant Stream website.

Now, several years later, that moonshine article still gets hit many times each week. I imagine the product name Hatfield & McCoy Moonshine helps a little, but when you look closer to see what people searched for, you find search terms, such as online liquor sales, dominate. No doubt, Swilled Dog hopes for the same kind of long-term online traction.

Gaining shelf space a tough endeavor

A boutique whiskey, such as those sold by Swilled Dog, will have a difficult time obtaining and keeping wide distribution in brick and mortar liquor stores. First, small distilleries face a ton of competition today in the boutique whiskey sector. New distilleries are popping up most everyday, it seems. Many of them make and offer excellent, award-winning, high quality products. Breaking out of your home area where you have natural traction is difficult. Brick and mortar liquor stores have limited shelf space for new boutique products and most often sell their local brands first. That may leave only a few facings for the products of other boutique distilleries from far away. Shelf slots are hard to get.

Second, even if it does get on the shelf, a whiskey from a little-known distillery selling at a higher price point will often not generate enough sell-through to stay on the shelf. Lack of sell-through greatly limits boutique whiskey distribution potential even if the whiskey is very good. It’s a tough, competitive market.

Small boutique distilleries in large population markets and those in popular tourist areas do best with generating over-the-counter sales at their distilleries. With hundreds of customers visiting their tasting rooms each day, they can make very good money from walk-in sales. However, little distilleries located in off-the beaten-path places with low population, as are many of our West Virginia distilleries, these distilleries have a more difficult time generating sufficient cash flow to meet their business goals from in-house sales.

Online sales may be the answer

Offering an online store may be just the secret sauce small boutique distilleries in rural markets need. By offering online liquor sales through its website, the distillery gains access to a much larger audience nationwide. To do this, a small distillery typically partners with a distribution service that offers a back end sales and distribution system through a network of liquor distributors and retailers. The service typically handles all the sales and delivery parts. Of course these services come at a cost to the distillery, but if sales increase sufficiently, it can be rewarding financially.

Instead of diluting its limited marketing resources on literally thousands of individual liquor stores, a boutique distillery can focus in, advertise and promote its online store. If it is successful there, that can also lead to sales momentum at brick and mortar stores.

Swilled Dog informs us that its online spirits sales are available to anyone age 21 years or older and ship across the United States in accordance with state level distribution laws. Currently, their spirits are available for pre-sale only and will not be shipped right away. The actual shipping dates may be 2-4 weeks after purchase. Swilled Dog spirits are also available at some liquor stores in West Virginia and at the distillery in Upper Tract. 

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ABOUT SWILLED DOG

Based in in Upper Tract, WV, Swilled Dog is a majority woman-owned, craft beverage producer providing the Southeast with quality, approachable beverages that are flavorful and refreshing. Its hard cider, ready-to-drink cocktails, premium small batch spirits, and infusions offer a unique tasting experience and its products can be found at retailers in WV, VA, KY, and FL.