Online alcohol sellers face many hurdles. However, Cocktail Courier has cleared them with ease thanks to Codal and ShipStation. These two companies helped shape Cocktail Couriers’ tech stack into the perfect blend of sophistication and efficiency. In the world of cocktail crafting, Cocktail Courier has set the bar high. Thanks to ShipStation Dropship Manager and Codal, they've not only saved 15% on shipping costs but also mastered the art of nationwide, compliant last-mile delivery for their curated cocktail kits.
When Scott Goldman started Cocktail Courier in 2014, he brought his bar industry background and a passion for craft cocktails to the table. His dream was to make sophisticated cocktails accessible to the home consumer. Business started off well enough, but once the pandemic hit, an at-home bartending revolution took off. In March 2020 Cocktail Courier experienced a monumental 20x growth overnight. This became too much of a good thing, and to fill existing orders, Goldman had to temporarily shut down their website.
It became clear that they needed a fulfillment solution that could handle their increased order volume. Coupled with the red tape that comes along with shipping booze and you have a perfect recipe for a major hurdle.
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The Tech Solution from Codal and ShipStation
Selling anything online is difficult, but alcohol is regulated to an extreme degree. In order to ship nationwide, Cocktail Courier realized they would need to depend on local state liquor retailers to help with the last mile delivery of their cocktail kits, also known as dropshipping. Figuring out this logistical and legal red tape is what led Cocktail Courier to reach out to Codal for advice on the best fulfillment tools for their tech stack. Similar client hurdles led Codal to recommend ShipStation. Their robust carrier and marketplace network and ability to enable a dropshipping model made them a perfect match for Cocktail Courier's unique use case.
In collaboration with ShipStation's Dropship Manager, Codal recommended a suite of applications, including BigCommerce, payment processors, and email marketing tools, all seamlessly integrated into Cocktail Courier's ShipStation account.
"Dropship Manager allows for companies to distribute orders from their ShipStation account to their vendors’ ShipStation accounts to fulfill orders based on their product or location. This reduces the need for their vendors logging into one ShipStation, maintaining privacy and security while increasing efficiency and visibility of their orders."
Omar Munoz
Strategic Partner Manager, Auctane
What is ShipStation Dropship Manager?
ShipStation's Dropship Manager enables businesses to transmit orders to their vendors seamlessly. It streamlines the transmission of order details, vendor information, fulfillment statuses, and shipping notifications while maintaining a brand’s messaging to provide the customers with a seamless delivery experience.
This allowed Cocktail Courier to provide their customers with Cocktail Courier’s branded delivery experience while utilizing dropshipping technology not just to manage inventory but to ensure federal and state compliance when shipping alcohol.
“Initially, Codal had planned to build out a bespoke logistics module for us,” said Cocktail Courier’s General Manager, Ben Fritz. “However, they came to find out about ShipStation Dropship Manager, which turned out to be exactly what we needed to make our shipping and logistics engine flow well with our new tech stack.”
“What Codal built for us by integrating our ecommerce platform with ShipStation, was the ability for consumers to purchase directly from licensed retailers without even really realizing it was happening. And for us, that was really powerful to be able to provide a seamless, delightful ecommerce experience in a compliant way.”
Ben Fritz
General Manager, Cocktail Courier
Centralized Fulfillment Solution for Their Vendor Network
Orders flow into CocktailCourier.com, and depending on the recipient's location and any associated regulations, the customer's order is dispatched to a local liquor retailer in that area. This retailer adds the alcohol (and fresh citrus) to the package and completes the last-mile delivery through Cocktail Courier's ShipStation dashboard. ShipStation Dropship Manager empowers users to create multiple vendor profiles, ensuring visibility and real-time status updates for optimal control. Additionally, they allow their vendors to access ShipStation’s 84% discounts on shipping rates.
Whether you need dropship support or just want to streamline fulfillment, ShipStation provides you with automated shipping, bulk printing, and workflow features that scale alongside the growth and evolution of your business.
“Working with Codal’s team has been a great experience because of their expertise in the digital space. Codal's team leverages this knowledge, while also accommodating Cocktail Courier’s customization requirements, thus producing a high-quality and truly tailored solution.”
Omar Munoz
Strategic Partner Manager, Auctane
To learn more about online alcohol sales and how Codal can help enhance your eCommerce business, get in touch with a member of our team today!
