Producing great beer and distributing it for sale are completely different things. It’s why breweries partner with a wholesaler — a company that’s an expert at navigating local laws, retail placement, storage, physical distribution and all the paperwork and logistics that go along with it. But yikes, the shelves are busy these days. Our recent post indicated that chain retail packaged craft beer hasn’t grown in three years, so many indie breweries are shifting to other channels. Self distribution is one such business maneuver, but like we said, distribution isn’t the same as brewing.
Self distribution can take a variety of different approaches — depending on your state’s needlessly complex distribution laws — online, on premise, festivals, popups and maybe even retail. Helping breweries simply the transition into self distribution, SimpleCircle is a software focused on streamlining sales and distribution, using a fast and intuitive interface that anyone can operate. From the press release:
“Breweries end up spending a ton of time on paperwork and doing things by hand,” Ned Schneider, SimpleCircle’s CEO explains, “because the alternative is fighting with clunky software. We thought it was time for something everyone could use that would finally be better than firing up yet another spreadsheet.”
Just exiting beta with early partners, the SimpleCircle platform helps breweries run their business better by marrying powerful features to a dead-simple interface, and it works across phones, tablets and laptops with real-time sync to QuickBooks built into the core product. Imagine eliminating wasted time on order reentry, arming reps with real-time inventory and keeping deliveries running smoothly with simple tools for managing routes and stops. Then, get the data you need to be a smarter business. Stop wasting money on lost kegs and over inventory. The biggest pitch here: It’s easy to use.
“One of the biggest complaints we discovered about existing software was that it tends to demand full commitment from the whole brewery to see any value — even sometimes a dedicated person to keep it running. That just didn’t seem right; sure, breweries are complicated, but there’s no reason the software needs to be.”
SimpleCircle noted that customers can onboard a new brewery in about 90 minutes.
“We set out to create something that would work for brewers just starting to package, all the way up to regionals,” Ned added. “If brewery owners are frustrated with their tools — or just don’t see any impact on their business — they should know there’s a better way.”
For more information on the company, head here.
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