#AsiaeCommerceAwards 2021 highlight: How Drinkies's one-stop-platform for all party needs became a hit

Drinkies Malaysia was started as part of Heineken’s eCommerce journey in Malaysia. Drinkies, working with Entropia, wanted to grow its market share and raise top-of-mind awareness among its audience by repositioning itself as a one-stop party platform. From introducing a new brand identity to expanding its channels and product lines, the campaign was so successful that the team won gold for Best in eCommerce (Brands) – B2B and was a finalist for Best in eCommerce (Brands) – Baby, Personal Care & Home Products at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Asia eCommerce Awards 2021.

Challenge

Drinkies found that while there were 3.7 million alcohol drinkers in Malaysia, only 2.5% of them have purchased alcohol online. Drinkies faced the immense challenge of raising awareness of its platform among Malaysians. 

Solution

Drinkies’ campaign aimed to: 

1. Acquire new customer base;
2. Increase frequency of usage and repeat purchases; and
3. Increase average ticket 

Utilising various sources of data, Drinkies found that many of its audience were interested in parties and 15% of Drinkies’ current online buyers tend to make bulk purchases for get-togethers and celebrations at home. With this insight, Drinkies wanted to reposition itself as a one-stop platform for all party needs. Drinkies knew that it had to be more than just an alcohol delivery business in order to increase its footprint and audience base and embarked on a journey to deliver an integrated brand experience by bringing together communication, customer and purchase experience seamlessly to its end consumers.  

Execution

1. Transforming its website into a one stop party platform

To transform Drinkies from an eCommerce platform that sells alcohol to a platform that champions awesome parties and happened to sell alcohol, the team first introduced a unique brand identity for Drinkies – “CHEERS TO THAT”. 

2. Product diversification 

As party planning often included purchases other than beer, Drinkies widened and diversified its product line and started selling wine, spirits, soft drinks, popular snacks and even party games. 

3. Channel expansion through the launch of the Drinkies app

With the business growing steadily on the website, Drinkies launched an app that seamlessly integrated the consumer journey across both channels. i.e., if someone left a product in his cart in the website, they can check out their items from the app later on.

4. Boosting usability and engagement through web utilities 

A set of web utilities that aimed to enhance the user experience and improve engagement was put in place. These included product recommenders, search function for easy product discovery, customer support, a referral engine and more.

5. Launch of Barman-draught service for parties

To provide customers with the experience of having bar-like parties at home, Drinkies started the first Draught service that included a barman so that customers could enjoy fresh beer served by professionals right in the comfort of their own homes. 

The team also leveraged on its own infrastructure such as app-push notifications, CRM mailers and messages to create constant engagement with their customers. Across social media channels, Drinkies also created a content strategy to embark on daily conversations with followers to inspire them to make Drinkies a part of their daily lives. 

By studying its consumers purchase behaviour, time spent on the landing page and navigation within the site, Drinkies was also able to engage their customers by using relevant ads related to the customers’ interests. 

Results

Drinkies’ campaign was a success, achieving a 31% growth in customer acquisition and a 150% increase in orders. The team also managed to achieve a 66.4% increase in page views from eDMs as well as a 19.9% growth in unique clicks. With custom segments and personalised ads, the team was also able to reduce cost per lead by 50% and at the same time, achieve a 46% growth in in-app orders and ultimately, achieving a 36% growth in revenue.