Sazerac eCommerce Digital Shelf

Our team had been working with Sazerac, a privately held spirits company headquartered in Kentucky, for six months before COVID-19 hit. Our initial work focused on upgrading systems and processes around merchandise for eCommerce, but with the pandemic, the focus shifted rapidly to growing the online spirits business.

Sazerac is home to over 450 brands from distilleries across the globe, from the most sought-after bourbons to fan favorites like Fireball and Southern Comfort. Transforming what had primarily been an in-person retailer experience to strictly online was a massive undertaking, underscored by an aggressive timeline. 

The project has been, and continues to be, iterative as the space is in constant flux and growth. We’ve successfully implemented enterprise-wide processes and systems for content curation and publishing, and the organization is currently poised to rapidly grow its online revenue. 

Discovery & Research

The discovery phase included several parallel workstreams:

  • Which brands to focus on? Working with internal stakeholders, we prioritized 40 brands for the first phase based on sales volume, stock availability, and brand value

  • Which retailers to prioritize publishing content to? With the quick expansion of online spirits platforms, we researched which of these provided the highest ROI. We created a scoring matrix using several factors, including consumer reach, on-demand or shipping, partnership opportunities, and footprint

  • What’s the most efficient method of sharing content with these retailers? No one method cross-cut across retailers - some used content service providers like Salsify, some used supplier portals, and others requested .csv file uploads. Understanding these methodologies was vital in creating systems and processes for future scalability

D2C retailer scoring matrix

Challenges

  • Existing internal systems did not allow for in-depth marketing content; working with IT, we customized the existing PIM to allow for these additions

  • Resourcing to curate creative assets was limited; we created these assets where necessary to bridge gaps

  • Scattered sources of content exposed a need for enterprise-wide system upgrades

Mapping internal system pain points

Implementation

  • We created processes for content curation across brands (marketing information and digital assets)

  • Implemented systems for content updates to the internal PIM and the newly stood up Adobe DAM

  • Stood up channels with content service providers Salsify and Syndigo for publishing to retailers

  • We provided updates manually to endpoints like Drizly not yet connected to CSPs

Content curation and publishing process

Results

In-depth “above-the-fold” content, including multiple product and lifestyle images and descriptive marketing content for the top 50 priority brands, has been syndicated across multiple high-stakes retailers.

Southern Comfort above the fold content

Class-leading “below-the-fold” content showcases the brand family, recipes, and a video promoting the Southern Comfort brand.

Southern Comfort below the fold content