Shopify migration for the beverage industry: A strategic choice

Why Shopify?

Shopify is renowned for its ease of use, flexibility and ability to support rapid growth. For beverage companies, this means lower operational costs with a hosted platform, automatic updates and simplified maintenance. Also, Shopify enables easy integration with various sales channels, including social networks, marketplaces and physical POS, facilitating an omnichannel approach.

Beverage market overview

The beverage market is vast and diverse, encompassing segments such as alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, bottled waters, juices, energy drinks and much more. 

Overall growth 

This market is experiencing continuous growth, fuelled by product innovation, changing consumer preferences towards healthier, more sustainable options, and the expansion of distribution channels, notably eCommerce. Beverage market sales are expected to reach $235.70 billion by 2024 (2).

Since 2020, North American consumers have been purchasing beverages online (3). Online distribution channels can be as varied as DTC brand eCommerce sites, B2B distributors, online grocery stores, marketplaces and more. 

Digitization and DTC

With the rise of DTC, more and more beverage brands are adopting digital strategies to connect directly with their customers. This not only improves profit margins, but also collects valuable data for marketing and product innovation.

In the United States, 86% of CPG sales are made by “omnichannel buyers” (4). This means that consumers buy convenience goods across all channels, often at the same time. By strategically leveraging online marketplaces alongside their own digital storefronts, brands can extend their reach and access diverse consumer segments, while maintaining control of their brand image and customer experience.

Consumer trends

Demand for functional (with health benefits), organic and fair-trade beverages is on the rise. Also, consumers are increasingly attentive to product transparency and origin. 78% of searches for food products on Amazon are unbranded and based solely on product attributes (5). It is therefore essential to identify the elements that differentiate them and the real expectations of customers in relation to their beverage purchases. 

Brands are leveraging eCommerce platforms to offer convenience-driven purchasing solutions. Streamlined delivery options, such as same-day or scheduled delivery, further enhance the convenience of online beverage purchases, ensuring that consumers can enjoy their favorite beverages when and where they want.

Discover the eCommerce consumer trends Canadians are watching in 2024.

How do you choose the best eCommerce platform for selling consumer products such as beverages?

To choose the best eCommerce platform for selling beverages, it’s crucial to understand your company’s specific needs. Whether in terms of customization, scalability or unified commerce, Novatize’s experts, with their in-depth knowledge of the beverage market and eCommerce expertise, are here to guide you. They’ll assess your objectives, business model and technical requirements, and recommend the most appropriate solution. In making this decision, it’s important to consider the entire eCommerce ecosystem. Find out more about unified commerce. 

eCommerce platform comparison: Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Magento

The following comparative table analyzes the most important topics for a platform in the context of a beverage company.

* for companies with annual sales of over $20 million, statistics based on completed projects and the opinions of eCommerce experts.

Shopify

The benefits of Shopify for beverage companies

• Ease of use: Intuitive, easy-to-manage interface, even for non-developers;
• Application ecosystem: Wide choice of applications and integrations to customize functionality;
• Reduced operational costs: Hosting included, no technical maintenance required for the user;
• Speed to market and scalability: Ability to grow with the business, from small online store to large enterprise;
• Omnichannel: Easy integration with physical points of sale, social networks and other channels. Find out more about the latest Shopify POS features;
• DTC and B2B-friendly features: Learn more about Shopify’s B2B features.

Disadvantages of Shopify for beverage companies

• Limited customization: For businesses with very specific needs, customization options may be limited. However, with Novatize’s eCommerce specialists, you can be guided through the design and development of custom Shopify features and interfaces. 
• Transaction fees: Transaction fees apply if you don’t use Shopify Payments.

To find out more, Basics, Advanced, Plus: how to choose between Shopify versions?

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

The benefits of Salesforces Commerce Cloud for beverage companies

• Advanced customization: High level of personalization, ideal for companies with highly complex needs;
• B2B and B2C capabilities: Excellent for companies operating in both sectors;
• CRM integration: Deep integration with Salesforce CRM for complete customer journey management;
• Extensibility for large companies: Suitable for large companies with global needs.

Disadvantages of Salesforces Commerce Cloud for beverage companies

• Technical complexity: Requires a technical team to manage, and costs are higher;
• Set-up and operating costs: Maintenance, licensing and development fees may be higher;
• Deployment time: Deployment times may be longer than with Shopify.

Magento (Adobe Commerce)

The advantages of Magento (Adobe Commerce) for beverage companies

• Flexibility and customization: Open-source platform offering complete control over functionality and design;
• Extensions and community: Large community of developers, and a multitude of available extensions. Novatize’s team of specialists also specializes in eCommerce projects on Magento;
• Multi-store management: Excellent for managing multiple online stores under a single account;
• Catalog complexity: Advanced features for large companies with extensive product catalogs.

Disadvantages of Magento (Adobe Commerce) for beverage companies

• Maintenance costs: Hosting, maintenance and development costs can be high;
• Complexity: Less accessible for companies without a dedicated technical team;
• Time to market: Implementation can be lengthy and complex, especially for large-scale deployments.

Unified and evolving

For companies in the beverage sector, Shopify is often the preferred choice for its simplicity, flexibility and omnichannel capabilities, especially for those looking to optimize their DTC strategy with reduced costs and rapid deployment. In some cases, other platforms such as Magento, Sales force, CommerceTools or others may be the more suitable solutions, although this comes at the price of increased complexity and higher costs.

By unifying all business operations on a single platform, Shopify enables beverage companies to better manage their growth while reducing the friction associated with managing multiple systems. This enables better management of inventory, orders and customer relations, while delivering a seamless experience, whether online or in-store.

In short, the migration to Shopify represents an opportunity for beverage companies to modernize their operations, connect more effectively with their customers, and prepare for sustained growth in an ever-changing market. With Novatize’s extensive experience in the beverage industry, this transition can be made smoothly and efficiently, guaranteeing a rapid and lasting return on investment.

Sources : 

(1) NIQ, Omni Sales – 52 weeks ending February 24, 2024

(2) https://www.statista.com/outlook/emo/beverages/worldwide 

(3) https://agriculture.canada.ca/fr/commerce-international/renseignements-marches/commerce-electronique/commerce-electronique-marche-numerique-guide-lintention-entreprises-canadiennes-du-secteur-aliments/loccasion-quoffre-commerce-ligne-aux-entreprises-daliments-boissons  

(4) https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/report/2023/tl-omnichannel-strategies-that-close-reporting-gaps/ 

(5) NIQ Label Insights