Kenya Breweries Limited upgrades digital market place with launch of new platform The Bar

KENYA – Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL), a step-down subsidiary of British alcohol manufacturing giant Diageo, through the East African Breweries PLC (EABL), has upgraded its direct-to-consumer digital marketplace to meet customers’ demand for quick, easy, and convenient shopping.

The new platform, dubbed The Bar, matches the global Diageo online platform and replaces Party Central, the company’s popular platform that helped alcoholic beverage consumers order KBL’s products online during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a tough operating environment following the outbreak of the pandemic, characterised by increased volatility due to imposed curfews and restrictions, depressed consumer spending and global supply chain disruptions, the KBL found new routes to market.

The upgraded platform connects online consumers to KBL’s products from mainstream distributors, supermarkets, stockiest, and key retailers, making it the first of a kind of its scale in Kenya.

Through the site, customers will also have access to well-priced, high-quality products directly from the breweries and distilleries where they are produced, personalized activations, special offers and tiered packages offers suited to their needs.

The age-gated site, will also enable resellers receive a free additional route to reach their customers across the country, access to all of the company’s brands’ items, and a one-of-a-kind opportunity to showcase their businesses using TheBar’s marketplace positioning opportunities.

It’s part of KBL’s accelerated digital strategy to reach new audiences and enhance sales and profitability – reflecting changes in buying behaviour and increasing e-commerce awareness among consumers.

KBL Managing Director Joseph Musunga said, “This innovation will not only help us extend the gains we made recently with Party Central in helping our consumers access our products when they need to but also leveraging technology to adopt to new consumer trends in the way we socialise in and outside of the home.

“By inspiring, educating, and ensuring that they have access to everything in our portfolio, we are embarking on a new journey with our customers.”

Kenya’s beverage shopping is predicted to be driven by the growth of mobile internet use, an increase in smartphone usage, led by a young population, and the expansion of on-demand deliveries particularly through motorcycles (boda-boda) as the last-mile option.

Other than KBL, other beverage makers in the country such as Coca-Cola have also leverage on off-site channels to serve its customers in a convenient, efficient and safe way by introducing a mobile friendly web platform.

Coca-Cola Kenya launched its home delivery service dubbed ‘DialACoke’ in 2020, in the country’s main towns i.e., Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu.

Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE

Newer Post

Thumbnail for Kenya Breweries Limited upgrades digital market place with launch of new platform The Bar

Ghana rehabilitates country’s irrigation schemes to ensure food security

Older Post

Thumbnail for Kenya Breweries Limited upgrades digital market place with launch of new platform The Bar

Scoular expands US grain handling capabilities with acquisition of two facilities in Florida