Punch Taverns Moves 21% of Sales Online with Online Ordering Portal

Punch Taverns is now generating 21% of Punch sales through its B2B web portal developed by MICROS Systems, Inc's. e-commerce subsidiary Snow Valley.

The Punch Buying Club online portal, which allows pubs to order beer and other supplies online, is part of a major strategic initiative that allows the tavern to deliver greater value to the 5,000 pubs within its estate. Using the portal, pubs can place scheduled online orders for beer and other supplies, receive targeted promotions based on pub type or location, view and manage an events calendar, share information on how to make their pubs a success, and access invoices and other financial account information.

By using the MICROS Snow Valley solution, several complex challenges were overcome. One of the biggest challenges for Punch was in the delivery of online orders.

Each pub receives a scheduled delivery from a specified depot, which means that product availability within that depot, the scheduled times and the routes that the driver will take, all needed to be taken into consideration during the online order process.

Promotions also can be targeted more precisely through the online portal. Previously, Punch had to send one-size-fits-all paper bullet tins about two-for-one offers and other discounts or rely on telephone calls. Promotions are dynamically served up online according to the pub’s profile, which means that the partners are more likely to take advantage of offers, therefore increasing sales.

Notes Kevin Dalley, head of business change at Punch Taverns, “Ultimately, what we have created is a B2B website that lets us have a dialogue with our partners. Before we launched our online portal, ordering of supplies was done by telephone. With our new site, our partners can view online all of the products that are relevant to them, with all of the available promotions, as well as all of their account information, at any time of the day or night.”

Dalley adds, “Over 1,600 pubs within our estate are now using the portal and it is expanding every day. In fact, we see around 50 new pubs signing up every week.”