As the post-pandemic ecommerce market continues to take shape, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits has disclosed an equity investment in ReserveBar, a leading ecommerce platform for premium spirits.
Led by Southern Glazer’s Ventures, the deal is meant to expand Southern Glazer’s digital marketing offerings to suppliers by providing an additional three-tier-compliant platform for marketing brands to consumers.
ReserveBar is dedicated to personalization, upscale packaging and fast and reliable delivery, the company says. ReserveBar aims to enable consumers to discover new releases, limited editions, celebrity-owned and -influenced brands, curated cocktail and mixology content and bespoke gifting — including personalized engraved bottles, spirits and accessory bundles and premium merchandise and other giftware.
ReserveBar is not a licensed supplier, wholesaler or retailer. It connects consumers with licensed retailers to effectuate the consumer’s purchase.
Through ReserveBar, Southern Glazer’s can help more effectively connect its supplier brands in luxury and premium segments to consumers in the fast-moving beverage alcohol digital e-commerce space, the company says.
ReserveBar also announces its Spirited Change initiative, a commitment to take actions to improve diversity and inclusion in the industry by expanding access to its platform and providing marketing assistance for minority- and women-owned suppliers, with the goal of raising consumer awareness of those brands and making it easier for consumers to find and shop for those brands.
“With ReserveBar, we are able to offer our supplier partners an exciting three-tier compliant, consumer-focused channel to market and sell their premium brands,” says David Chaplin, chief growth officer, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. “We firmly believe that ReserveBar’s innovative industry leadership in providing suppliers a content-to-commerce, premium branded and experiential platform makes them the ideal partner. This venture with ReserveBar is not only well aligned with our new Fine Wine and Artisanal Spirits strategy, but also with our commitment to expand representation of minority- and women-owned wine and spirits brands in the industry. We look forward to helping our diverse base of suppliers leverage this platform to build their brands and reach an important and growing category of consumer.”
Southern Glazer’s (SG) Ventures is the investment arm of the Company, focused on creating and accelerating growth in strategic and complementary areas of interest to create new opportunities for innovation.
“We are thrilled to embark on our partnership with Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits because it will allow ReserveBar to continue – and accelerate — its tremendous growth,” says Lindsay Held, co-founder and CEO of ReserveBar. “Having an industry stalwart, such as Southern Glazer’s, which has a never-ending quest for innovation, technology and industry best practices, is not only a great compliment to my ReserveBar colleagues but also a great cultural and business fit. We look forward to expanding ecommerce, digital marketing, and analytical support for Southern Glazer’s existing and future supplier clients. I also cannot overstate how appreciative we are of Southern Glazer’s commitment to our Spirited Change initiative; together, we expect to bring real, measurable change by expanding diversity and inclusion within the spirits industry.”
