- Company Name: Town Brewery
- Founded: 2017
- Location: Whitby, Ontario
- Industry: Craft Brewery
- Town Brewery is a local Ontario craft brewery that has rapidly evolved since its inception in 2017. Founded during a pivotal time in Ontario’s craft beer boom, Town Brewery has adapted to industry changes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reshaped how breweries engage with customers.
CLIENT OVERVIEW
Town Brewery is a craft brewery that has rapidly evolved since its inception in 2017. Founded during a pivotal time in Ontario’s craft beer boom, Town Brewery has adapted to industry changes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reshaped how breweries engage with customers.
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
As a relatively new player in the craft beer scene, Town Brewery faced several challenges, including:
- Navigating a competitive landscape: With the number of craft breweries in Ontario skyrocketing from around 150 to over 350, distinguishing themselves and attracting customers was crucial.
- Adapting to market changes: The pandemic forced a shift to online sales and home delivery, presenting logistical challenges.
- Lack of structured data management: Before using Last Call Analytics (LCA), the team lacked a systematic approach to track sales, distribution, and customer engagement, relying on anecdotal methods.
THE WINNING SOLUTION
Town Brewery turned to LCA for a more structured and strategic approach to their sales and marketing efforts. The implementation of LCA provided several key benefits:
- Enhanced Data Tracking: LCA offered comprehensive insights into market performance, allowing Town Brewery to understand their position relative to competitors and track distribution points effectively.
- Streamlined Processes: Transitioning from spreadsheets to a robust CRM system facilitated better management of sales and customer relationships, enabling the team to focus on growth strategies.
- Strategic Market Positioning: LCA’s analytical capabilities helped Town Brewery identify growth opportunities and make informed decisions about product offerings, especially with seasonal SKUs.
Real Results, Real Impact
Since integrating LCA into their operations, Town Brewery has seen promising developments:
- Increased Distribution: The goal is to expand from 70-80 locations to 150 within the next year, leveraging insights from LCA to monitor performance closely.
- Enhanced Sales Strategy: With better tracking of sales metrics and distribution performance, Town Brewery is positioned to optimize their product offerings and marketing strategies effectively.
- Future Growth Potential: As they continue to adapt and grow, LCA will be integral in benchmarking performance against industry peers and driving strategic decisions.
FULL STORY
Craft Brewery Taps Into Data to Fuel Growth with Last Call Analytics
As the craft beer industry in Ontario continues to evolve, one local brewery is leveraging data insights to navigate the changing landscape and drive strategic expansion. Town Brewery, a Whitby-based craft brewery founded in 2017, has turned to Last Call Analytics (LCA) to gain a competitive edge.
“We were just so hard grinding, we had no real system in place,” admits Travis, the sales and marketing manager at Town Brewery. Prior to discovering LCA, the brewery relied on manual processes and anecdotal information to manage its LCBO distribution and licensee sales. “We were just head down, pushing, trying to get our beer out there and grow, grow, grow.”
That all changed when a retail sales rep introduced the team to LCA’s capabilities.
“It opened our eyes to the fact that there was a system that we could get a hold of that had all this information,”
says Travis. A demo from the LCA team sealed the deal, showcasing the platform’s potential to transform the brewery’s data-driven decision making.
Now, Town Brewery is leveraging LCA to benchmark its performance against industry peers and uncover new opportunities for growth. “Being able to have eyes on what other people in the industry are doing is probably the other most beneficial thing for us,” Travis explains.
By tracking key metrics such as distribution points and rate of sale, the brewery is able to make informed decisions about expanding its footprint. As Travis notes,
“We’re in such a small amount of locations relative to some other larger breweries, our rate of sale is awesome, obviously, like a lot of the locations around our brewery. So as we begin to increase locations and start to spread out, I’m going to be watching those numbers very carefully.”
The data insights from LCA have also helped Town Brewery refine its product strategy, particularly when it comes to seasonal SKUs in the LCBO. As Travis explains,
“We just started doing seasonal SKUs in the LCBO last year. So being able to kind of benchmark the different seasonals that we’re putting in based on the previous year, has been really good. We’re able to try out different types of products in those seasonal spots and see what’s performing best.”
This ability to benchmark past seasonal performance and test new products has been crucial for Town Brewery as they look to optimize their offerings in the LCBO. The data-driven approach enabled by LCA has empowered the brewery to make more informed decisions about their seasonal product strategy.
Looking ahead, the brewery plans to leverage LCA even further as it embarks on an expansion plan. With a goal of growing from 70-80 LCBO locations to 150 within the next year, Travis sees LCA as a crucial tool for monitoring performance and identifying new opportunities.
For other craft breweries navigating the competitive Ontario market, the Town Brewery story serves as a testament to the power of data-driven decision making. By tapping into the insights provided by Last Call Analytics, Town Brewery has transformed its approach to market expansion, product strategy, and competitive positioning. As the brewery continues to grow and evolve, LCA remains a key ingredient in their recipe for success in the craft beer industry.
ABOUT LAST CALL ANALYTICS
Last Call Analytics (LCA) is a sales analytics platform designed to help beverage companies optimize performance across all sales channels. It provides key insights into sales tracking, market benchmarking, and distribution expansion by analyzing data across retail channels. With features like CRM integration, data visualization, and SKU tracking, LCA enables companies to compare sales performance, identify market gaps, and make data-driven decisions to improve product distribution and sales strategies. Ideal for sales and marketing teams, LCA helps brands enhance retail relationships, optimize product portfolios, and drive business growth.
Last Call Analytics is a powerful sales data analytics and visualization platform that empowers frontline sales teams and managers to identify opportunities to improve sales and profitability.