The alcohol beverages industry in Australia generates revenue amounting to AUD$39bn and is expected to grow annually by 7.9% (Read more here).
We are seeing rapid innovation and new product development in the craft beer, wine (especially rosé/natural wines), alcoholic seltzer and craft spirits categories, with new products and brands launching frequently onto the market.
And yet, in a climate of rising “craft producers” and innovatory ideas, the tech and operational infrastructure has fallen behind what is required to meet the ever progressing demands of consumers.
Meaning, the ordering and payment methods between suppliers and their trade customers is antiquated and clunky.
Old-school forms of wholesale are inadequate to painlessly handle business-to-business transactions, especially when customers are increasingly preferring to deal directly with suppliers in order to obtain the best and freshest products and widest product range.
So, what’s the issue with traditional wholesale methods for bars, pubs and bottleshops?
One of the biggest hurdles for customers is setting up individual credit applications with each and every supplier that they wish to order from.
It’s a major headache of paperwork, not to mention the time that’s wasted while they wait on credit approvals which interferes with product flow and therefore cash flow.
Some customers are dealing with hundreds of suppliers but even the smaller operators experience an unwanted break in the momentum of the sales cycle by these requirements.
Kaddy launched with the aim of becoming an online one-stop shop that eliminates a lot of the barriers and friction that suppliers and their trade customers face when trying to do business with one another.
The online B2B beverages marketplace transforms the chaotic and complicated series of steps into one simple one. Once a customer has joined the Kaddy platform they can connect and trade with their favourite suppliers who have also joined.
The two businesses can trade immediately with zero friction.
Whether they’re a small bar or a large hospitality group, venues can waste a lot of time trying to track down the right contact for a supplier, simply to order the products that consumers desire.
Kaddy makes communicating easy, via its in-platform communication hub, where it hosts all supplier and customer information in one easily accessible place.
Being able to quickly hop online and place orders this way eliminates a common issue of too many emails, phone calls and text messages flying around just to achieve a B2B transaction – an inefficient and unnecessarily challenging process for all involved.
Kaddy takes away these problems by offering a centralised portal for ordering from over 100 different suppliers.
And that supplier number is steadily growing. It makes sense that suppliers want to be seen and found easily, especially if they’re the new kid on the block in the craft beverage world.
Before Kaddy, there was no centralised marketplace where connections could easily be made with these suppliers.
Now bars, pubs and bottle shops can browse Kaddy’s supplier lists for new and interesting products and quickly connect to trade.
It’s a shift from the traditional model where buyers are often forced to trade directly with suppliers, as wholesalers keep a limited range of products on offer. Kaddy makes sure customers can gain access to the long tail of products and optimise choice.
The final step in the B2B transaction – aside from the actual booze delivery – is the invoicing, and that’s where dealing with so many suppliers results in multiple invoicing parties and payment term structures.
Kaddy aims to ease those pressures by taking care of all the supplier invoicing and offering simple but flexible trading terms for customers with incentives for early settlement.
What’s the advantage for craft beverage suppliers?
Artisanal brewers who are passionately perfecting their latest IPA might not necessarily possess quite the same fervour for sending invoices and all the associated functions of the back office.
A key attraction of Kaddy for suppliers is that they look after all facets of accounts receivable, so suppliers can get back to what they love doing most. They don’t have to stress about when that invoice will be paid.
In sharp contrast to the high average debtor day rate in Australia (amongst the highest in the world), Kaddy guarantees payment to suppliers within 3 days of delivery.
Small and large suppliers in the alcohol industry outlay cash for all sorts of things, from ingredients and production to staff and even taxes like beer excise which require being paid upfront, before they’ve made any money from the goods they’re creating.
Kaddy helps by paying suppliers upfront, meaning suppliers can invest cash proceeds multiple times more and crucially, grow their business faster.
Surely one of the most important things for any business is making sure your brand is known by potential customers.
And if you’re a small start-up, it could be essential to survival. Kaddy’s online platform enhances suppliers visibility in the marketplace, putting their brand front and centre, ready to be discovered by new customers.
Rich Coombes is the co-founder of online B2B beverages marketplace, Kaddy. Previously Coombes co-founded several beverages businesses including Batlow Cider, Capital Brewing and Will & Co Coffee.
