At Bottlecapps, we drink TOGETHER.

As a retail or brand partner, we consider your relationship to be personal. We strive to get to know you and your business in the same way that you might do with your pal at the neighborhood bar. Below is a business partner we hope to be ‘drinking with’ for many years to come!

CREEKSIDE BEER - SEWICKLEY, PA

Michael from Creekside Beer is the epitome of a successful small town beer store owner. Located outside of Pittsburgh, Creekside and Bottlecapps worked together to turn this relatively rural beer store into a thriving online business. Our team worked diligently with Michael to solve some of the issues we faced in the transition from another eCommerce platform to Bottlecapps. Craft beer inventory can be notoriously tricky, and the folks in PA are serious about their beer! After migrating from the old website to the shiny new one and successfully integrating with the ever-evolving world of craft beer inventory, here’s what Michael had to say about Bottlecapps and the success he has seen using the platform.

“Any issues identified during the implementation were quickly addressed by the Senior Onboarding Manager and the support team, and the Director of Product Support and Development also participated to ensure a smooth implementation.”

Once we were able to get Creekside to a point where they were ready to roll, it then became a journey to find ways to generate app downloads and traffic to his website.

While it’s true that Bottlecapps’ Staff can be there to assist in some of the marketing, nothing is as impactful for generating a “buzz” with potential customers as the boots on the ground and in the field. Getting setup is only half the battle! The next step for any store is finding unique ways to make the app or website as irresistible as possible for the customer. Here is what Michael had to say about his launch strategy:

“Because we had an existing website prior to Bottlecapps, we were able to do a “soft launch” and allow customers to test-drive the new functionality in parallel with the existing website, and provide feedback which we were able to incorporate. When we did launch, we initially blasted this out across all of our social media platforms . . .  We highlighted the new mobile app using QR codes in-store and in the weekly flyers that we produce and distribute to customers in-person and via email, and ran promotions to encourage customers to “let the store come to you” via the mobile app. We also ran several contests for giveaways that were limited to mobile app users that were highly successful in driving participation, gaining almost 400 app users in the first month, with more than 200 more in the following month.”

Now here we are a few months in, and how has the new state-of-the-art Bottlecapps website been working for our friends in Pennsylvania? Here are some points that Michael felt were important to his continued success, first with respect to his inventory:

“Completeness and correctness of the data, such that almost our entire in-store inventory was also available on the web and through the application, and the inventory counts were up-to-date, so that customers could easily order and pay for their orders from the comfort of their own homes.  We had almost no orders for out-of-stock items, and no errors on the orders, leading to increasing customer confidence as they used the application and site, and saw the results.”

With inventory in great shape, the next element that Michael highlighted was the ease of use for both the store and the customer:

“The order process through Bottlecapps was extremely streamlined in comparison to our prior system . . . The app doesn’t allow a customer to place an order for delivery that is out of our delivery area, or that’s below a particular threshold, and we almost never run into instances where the customer orders something that is out of stock.  All of this gives us more time to focus on the business, rather than the minutia of processing online orders, and provides the customers with a greatly improved shopping experience, and confidence in the platform itself.  This has resulted in a 65% increase in order value in just two months over the prior period from the former site, and is steadily increasing.”

While the success of Creekside is amazing to watch, Michael acknowledges that it was not without effort:

“But like any system implementation, this takes attention to detail, focus, and a commitment of time.  Without that, it will not be successful. Once it is implemented though, it can take your business to the next level, and provide a huge competitive advantage in a very crowded market.  For us, it’s yet another differentiator that sets us apart from the rest, and has become part of our brand.”