RNDC’s B2B E-Commerce Platform Reaches $800 Million in 2023
With $1.7 billion in lifetime sales, eRNDC’s total revenue in the past year surpasses the revenue of the previous two years combined
Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC), one of the top beverage alcohol distributors in the nation, reported that its online sales through the eRNDC eCommerce platform reached $800 million in annual sales and $1.7 billion in lifetime sales in 2023, surpassing the cumulative eCommerce revenue of the previous two years. This includes a 32% year-over-year growth in the number of monthly active customers on the platform.
“A large and growing number of our customers are now embracing B2B eCommerce as a complementary vehicle to engage with us”
RNDC’s customers in 21 states can interact with this easy-to-use and AI-powered platform featuring more than 6,700 brands, for new brand and product discovery. The platform’s AI features include intelligent search, product recommendations, and local market curations. Additionally, it creates personalized shopping experiences tailored to customers’ interests and preferences.
“A large and growing number of our customers are now embracing B2B eCommerce as a complementary vehicle to engage with us,” said Nick Mehall, President and CEO, RNDC. “eRNDC has demonstrated significant market adoption over the past twelve months.”
“RNDC has invested in this proprietary platform in the last few years to meet the demands and the complexity of our industry, and our results indicate our strategy is firmly taking hold,” Mehall continued. “By directly providing 24/7 access and making product information easily accessible to customers and our sales reps, we are bringing brands closer to customers. By offering order dashboards, invoices, and online payments, we also free up our sales team from some of the administrative tasks and give them more time to spend with customers.”
eRNDC Data Reflects Industry Trends
In the last year, as eRNDC sales accelerated, certain trends emerged from analyzing customer shopping behaviors on the platform.
In on-premise accounts, customers tend to search products by category. Twelve of the top 20 search terms were category-specific with tequila, bourbon, and champagne being the most searched.
Off-premise customers, on the other hand, tended to find products by searching for brands first, rather than by category. Bourbon and tequila were the top two category search terms for off-premise customers.
In general, the online sales paralleled overall beverage industry trends:
- Searches for luxury, super-premium, and ultra-premium spirits products continuously trended up.
- Champagne, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Sakes are the top categories for wines.
“Looking ahead to 2024, we are anticipating more customers will leverage the platform to discover products and brands. We are also seeing more suppliers incorporate B2B platforms like eRNDC as building blocks of their commercial strategy,” said Emily Xu, RNDC SVP of eCommerce.
“With the fast development in AI and machine learning, we are very excited to partner with our sales team, our suppliers, and our customers to continue evolving our platform to be the best collaborative eCommerce platform that seamlessly connects three tiers of the beverage alcohol industry,” added Xu.
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