Navigate the waves of e-commerce brilliance with Qwerty Beer Box. In this interview, gain valuable insights into the journey that has propelled Qwerty Beer Box to the forefront of the online business world, uncovering the strategies that set them apart in the ever-evolving e-commerce landscape.
1. Can you introduce yourself and Qwerty Beer Box?
Our names are Quinn and Niki, the co-founders of QWERTY Beer Box. We aim to give local independent craft beer brewers the national recognition they deserve. With COVID it is certainly a difficult time for independent breweries and we are looking to help them out by marketing and selling their beer on the national stage. According to SIBA, 74% of independent breweries sell less than 20% of their beers further than 40 miles from the brewery. This means that their amazing beers are often bound to their local area. We are looking to get the word out about their cracking beer to beer fans all across the country.
2. How was Qwerty Beer Box born? How did you start?
The two of us met back in 2018 when we were both doing Industrial Placements at GlaxoSmithKline as part of our degrees. During the last year of our undergraduate studies we decided to take part in an e-commerce student challenge together with another friend. We partnered up with our local brewery and developed their online presence and sales. We came 3rd out of 170 teams in the challenge, this demonstrated to us the potential for the online craft beer market. In Britain’s first lockdown we then had more time on our hands and decided to take on the mission to champion British independent craft breweries. Since the country was in a national lockdown this was not easy so Quinn cycled the boxes to people in his area, ensuring they could continue to drink their favourite beers even with pubs being shut. After cycling 350km in two weeks – we decided to launch our website and give it everything we had.
3. What makes Qwerty Beer Box different? Can you explain your products with details?
We differentiate ourselves in two ways. First of all we’re the only online company selling multiple regional independent craft beer selections. This means we pick and choose a region and then put together a craft beer selection of 8 cracking beers from 8 independent brewers and add our personalised tasting notes and descriptions of the breweries. This way we’re looking to get people to get more of their favourite beers directly from the brewery and visit them.
Secondly, we also differentiate ourselves by offering only true craft beers. There is a bit of a misconception around that since many beers sold as craft beers are by definition not really craft since their breweries are not independent and have been bought up by alcohol retail giants such as Ab InBev or Heineken. We are looking to help the breweries that need it most so we are working exclusively with independent brewers. We’re very proud of this and love the community and authenticity.
4. What reactions do you get from your clients? Do they love your products?
Luckily the reception from clients is very positive. Having started out in lockdown, most of our customers were locals and they really helped get the ball rolling. We found the power of ‘word of mouth’ locally amazing. We have witnessed strong growth in customers since summer 2020 and QWERTY Beer Boxes were increasingly provided as gifts. We have also focused on building a community around our brand and have enjoyed organising giveaways and virtual events on our social media (@QWERTYBeerBox) to give something back to them. We’re currently planning our first live tasting session which our customers seemed very keen of. Overall we’re very happy with how people have reacted to our brand with many returning with repeat orders and are excited to keep meeting new customers.
5. What are the advantages of Qwerty Beer Box?
The advantages of QWERTY Beer Box are fairly simple – you get to know a region and it’s independent brewers by sampling the most delicious beers produced in the area, all from the comfort of your living room. You not only get great tasting beer but you are also supporting local independent breweries and real people who need support now more than ever. See for yourself at qwertybeerbox.co.uk.
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