For decades, the standard operating procedure for craft-brewery sales managers was simple: put reps on the street, build personal relationships with account buyers over a pint, and rely on distributor pre-sell reps to push SKUs onto retail shelves. While personal relationships will always matter in the beer industry, the mechanics of how retailers actually order products have undergone a permanent transformation.
Retailers, ranging from independent bars and bottle shops to regional chain accounts, have moved away from traditional in-person or telephone pre-sell interactions. Instead, they are embracing digital B2B eCommerce ordering platforms such as DSDLink, Provi, and BEES. This digital evolution is re-shaping the three-tier landscape, creating both an immense growth opportunity and a critical strategic inflection point for you as an independent craft brewer.
A Digital Migration
To understand the magnitude of this migration, we analyzed aggregated, anonymized sales-to-retailer data from wholesalers who use Encompass, representing approximately 40 percent of the entire U.S. beer-distribution market. The data reveal a clear divergence between legacy and digital routes to market:
- Traditional channels are shrinking: Traditional go-to-market (GTM) channels, including tel-sell and pre-sell, are down 2.5 percent year-over-year.
- B2B eCommerce is booming: Digital GTM channels, comprising B2B ordering platforms (DSDLink, BEES, Provi, other web apps) and direct EDI are up 12 percent.
- Beer leads online dollar growth: While total beer sales across all traditional channels remain flat to down (with FMBs and RTDs leading broader beverage growth), beer is the #1 leading segment in dollar growth within digital eCommerce channels.
- $2 billion market: An estimated $2 billion in beer sales will flow through B2B eCommerce platforms this year alone.
Momentum to Own
One of the most compelling insights from recent market data is occurring specifically in the on-premise space. Data show significant dollar growth concentrated in products priced between $50 and $200 (regardless of discounting). These items are draft kegs of craft beer.
Independent craft breweries have earned the right to own the on-premise draft-beer category. For years, distributors and retailers treated craft brands as temporary rotation handles or optional “add-ons.” However, on-premise account buyers are now leveraging B2B eCommerce apps to manage draft lines with greater precision. Equipped with integrated digital tools, you can transition from temporary rotation options into a permanent, dominant player on draft lines across your territories.
Big Beer Dominance and the Way Forward
If online beer purchasing is booming, why do so many craft brands feel left behind? Macro beer conglomerates recognized the digital shift early and invested millions in custom digital teams, EDI architecture, and dedicated app integrations with wholesalers. When a retailer opens a B2B ordering app, macro brands occupy prime digital real estate, featured placements, and automated rep tasks.
If you are a craft brewer operating with a lean sales team, you can’t build custom, multi-million-dollar software bridges for every distributor in your footprint. Furthermore, standalone CRMs or legacy spreadsheet systems fail because they exist in isolation, and they don’t talk to the distributor’s underlying warehouse management system or the retailer’s B2B eCommerce platform.
Orbit offers a viable, scalable solution for craft breweries to engage with wholesaler B2B eCommerce platforms. Orbit acts as the direct operational bridge connecting supplier sales teams, distributor management systems, and retailer-facing eCommerce applications without forcing you to rebuild the tech stack from scratch.
Leveling the Playing Field
Orbit levels the playing field for craft breweries in several ways:
- Direct data syncing: Orbit integrates directly with distributor technology systems, providing your sales reps with real-time access to live distributor inventory and front-line pricing on their mobile devices before entering an account.
- Syncing commitments with execution: When your rep secures a new draft line or retail placement, that commitment is logged in Orbit and automatically injected into the distributor’s fulfillment workflow and the sales rep’s task list.
- Unlocking retailer eCommerce apps: By managing product information and programming in Orbit, you can tap directly into B2B eCommerce platforms (such as DSDLink), ensuring your kegs and package offerings are accurately represented, featured, and orderable 24/7 by retail buyers.
- Real-time verification: You can track open retail commitments against actual fulfillment data in real-time, eliminating guesswork and holding distributor partners accountable.
Operational Impact in the Field
When independent craft breweries deploy Orbit in tandem with distributor network integrations, the operational friction disappears. Your reps stop wasting hours calling distributor managers for stock levels or emailing spreadsheets that get lost in inboxes. Instead, your reps focus on high-value selling, securing draft lines, and instantly committing those orders into the distributor’s pipeline.
Navigating today’s distribution environment requires a dual focus on product excellence and digital execution. As a craft brewer, you should certainly keep making exceptional beer. Quality remains the prerequisite. Technology amplifies reach, but liquid quality builds brand loyalty.
In addition, you should harness connected tech across GTM channels and stop treating B2B eCommerce as a passive catalog. By using integrated solutions such as Orbit, you can command draft lines, protect margins, and compete directly with major brands on an equal playing field.