AB InBev has launched in its home country Belgium a webshop for selling beer directly to the consumer, thus bypassing the trade. Via jupilershop.be, a website which is currently available in Dutch and French, the brewer sells multipacks of cans, crates of beer and perfect draft kegs of its brands Jupiler, Stella Artois, Leffe and the new beer Victoria. If the launch proves successful the range of beers will be expanded.
“We had been playing with the idea of launching a webshop for some time, because we received questions from consumers about this. We wanted to respond to that need and the lockdown period in which the catering industry was closed has accelerated the development, ”says spokeswoman Karolien Cloots of AB InBev Belux. "As a result, we have developed this online platform as a pilot project in a short time and people can therefore have our beer delivered to their home."
AB InBev has not set any sales targets but will rather evaluate the webshop step by step. AB InBev has not set any sales targets but will rather evaluate the webshop step by step. The delivery cost for next day delivery of small scale orders is five euros but will be dropped when ordering 24 cans or a whole crate of beer. The product price itself is slightly higher than for the same product in the web shops of the large supermarket chains because the company does not want to directly compete with its clients. The platform "merely supplements the existing Belgian channels", AB InBev said.
Besides AB InBev also PepsiCo and Nestlé have started direct-to-consumer trials in order to explore new ways to approach customers.
