Key Takeaways
- Close launched Bartesian in 2019 and has led the brand beyond $100 million in sales.
- The brand sees “millions of dollars in a week” during the busy holiday shopping season.
- Close suggests an intentional strategy and leadership style to maximize Black Friday sales.
Bartesian founder and CEO Ryan Close’s business started with a simple question: “How do we create an incredible cocktail experience for home use?” Inspired by an appreciation for 1950s cocktail culture and the fact that today many people are intimidated by the idea of making their own drinks, Close wanted to bring a high-quality, seamless product to market.
The focus was never on drinking more or to excess, but on elevating the home cocktail experience. “For me, if I’m going to have a couple of drinks, I want to make sure they’re good, or I’d rather not have them,” the founder explains. “And the beauty of Bartesian is you can dial the strength up or down as you wish. You can have a mocktail.”
From the outset, the product was the priority. Close and his team were so “hyper-focused” on getting it right that they sometimes joked they were “the world’s slowest startup.” Not only did the company have to perfect its hardware for the machine, but it also had to figure out the food science for its drink pods. That process left no budget for creative marketing, and Close says the early branding “was horrific.”
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Still, the intentionality behind Bartesian — named to capture the company’s “artisanal approach to refined cocktail experience and luxury craftsmanship” — led to Close’s desired result: an aspirational product.
Bartesian launched in 2019 and surpassed $100 million in direct-to-consumer sales in under three years.
The founder never set out to forge partnerships with every retailer; in fact, the brand has turned down those that don’t align with its image, Close says. Nowadays, the brand is available in major national retailers, including Williams Sonoma, Target, Best Buy and more.
The brand was also cautious when it came to its discounting and pricing strategy, Close adds, noting that he didn’t want to launch a “gimmicky brand” that ended up in an airport store “like a gadget.” Instead, he envisioned the product becoming as ubiquitous as home espresso machines are now.
We make sure we have something to offer during the busiest times when people have their wallets open.
Bartesian’s approach has never been about staggering deals and discounts to make a sale, but like most major U.S. brands, it would be remiss not to use Black Friday and Cyber Monday to its advantage. Last year, U.S. shoppers spent $10.8 billion on online purchases on Black Friday and $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Analytics data.
“I’m not a huge shopper, but [around this time of year], I’m starting to look and say, ‘Okay, what do I need, what can I get that’s out there?’” Close says. “So we make sure we have something to offer during the busiest times when people have their wallets open.”
Bartesian closely measures customer acquisition costs, which help drive its strategy.
“When we say, ‘Hey, we spent $1 million in marketing in December last year, and when we had this deal live, that $1 million had 7x or 10x return on ad spend, but when we didn’t have it live, it was 3x,’ the numbers are so significant that it’s like I’m just a fool, really, if I’m not offering discounts,” Close says.
We’re competing against ourself…it’s a real juggling act.
Managing price integrity across the company’s various sales channels is one of its biggest challenges, according to Close. Even a seemingly small shift like losing Amazon’s “Featured Offer” (or Buy Box) status, which highlights the product and allows customers to add it to their cart directly, can translate to a major revenue drop.
“When you’re looking at doing millions of dollars in a week — which we do in this season — you having or not having that [Buy Box] badge can [be significant], the difference of a 20%-30% swing in your sales,” Close says.
Bartesian offered one machine, its original Bartesian Cocktail Maker, for the first five years in business. The company has since added its Bartesian Professional, which holds five one-liter spirit bottles, and Bartesian Duet, a more compact version. The product expansion adds another layer of complication to inventory management across multiple sales channels.
“ So we’re competing against ourself versus Target or Williams Sonoma or Amazon,” Close explains. “Then we could be left with inventory in January, and it ties up cash. So it’s a real juggling act.”
What’s more, although the brand earns more through direct purchases on its website, its sales strategy can’t be as simple as trying to have Bartesian’s website “win” every single sale. “You also have to support those retailers because if they don’t have good sell-through, they’re not going to take [your product] line come January,” Close explains. “They’ll drop you.”
Treat your customers like you would treat your family or close friends.
Despite the challenges that come with increasing offerings, Close looks forward to doing just that, noting that the additional complexity is “worth it all day long” because it means more opportunity across Bartesian’s different sales channels.
To any business hoping to maximize its own sales on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and beyond, Close recommends leading with authenticity whenever possible. The founder says that being authentic has been one of Bartesian’s core pillars from the start — extending from the cocktails themselves, to the people the company hires and how the brand communicates with its customers.
Related: How Being ‘Real’ Can Backfire for Leaders — and What True Authenticity Looks Like
Close prioritizes getting people to experience the product and leading them to the best deal possible, even if that means sacrificing some margin on Bartesian’s direct on-site sales.
“We’re not trying to trick or get one past anyone,” Close says. “If you do, that’s a short-term win. You might get short-term wins, but it’ll burn you in the end. If you’re trying to build a long-term, successful business that can be profitable, treat your customers like you would treat your family or close friends.”
要点总结
- Close 于 2019 年创立了 Bartesian，并带领该品牌实现了超过 1 亿美元的销售额。
- 在繁忙的假日购物季期间，该品牌“一周内可获得数百万美元的收入”。
- 克洛斯采取了有意识的策略和领导风格，以最大限度地提高黑色星期五的销售额。
Bartesian 的创始人兼首席执行官 Ryan Close 的创业之路始于一个简单的问题：“我们如何才能在家中创造令人难以置信的鸡尾酒体验？”受 20 世纪 50 年代鸡尾酒文化的启发，以及考虑到如今许多人对自制饮品感到畏惧，Close 希望将一款高质量、便捷的产品推向市场。
他们的重点从来不是多喝酒或过量饮酒，而是提升居家调酒体验。“对我来说，如果我要喝几杯，我希望它们品质上乘，否则我宁愿不喝，”创始人解释道。“Bartesian 的妙处在于，你可以根据自己的喜好调整酒精度。你甚至可以调制无酒精鸡尾酒。”
从一开始，产品就是重中之重。克洛斯和他的团队对产品精益求精，以至于他们有时开玩笑说自己是“世界上最慢的创业公司(这是一种常见的宣传自己产品好的营销策略，但是也是事实，好的公司首先要保证产品质量有特点，其次才是广告)”。公司不仅要完善机器的硬件，还要研究饮料胶囊的食品科学原理。这个过程使得他们没有预算进行创意营销，克洛斯说早期的品牌推广“简直糟糕透了”。
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尽管如此，Bartesian 背后的用心——其名称旨在体现公司“对精致鸡尾酒体验和奢华工艺的匠心独运”——最终实现了 Close 所期望的结果：一款令人向往的产品。
Bartesian 于 2019 年成立，不到三年时间，其直接面向消费者的销售额 就超过了 1 亿美元。
创始人从未打算与所有零售商建立合作关系；事实上，据克洛斯称，该品牌甚至拒绝了那些与其品牌形象不符的合作。如今，该品牌已入驻包括威廉姆斯索诺玛 (Williams Sonoma)、塔吉特 (Target)、百思买 (Best Buy) 等在内的多家全国性大型零售商。
克洛斯补充说，该品牌在折扣和定价策略方面也十分谨慎，他指出，他不想推出一个“噱头十足的品牌”，最终像“小玩意儿”一样出现在机场商店里。相反，他设想这款产品能像现在的家用咖啡机一样普及。
我们确保在客流量最大、人们最愿意掏钱的时候，能提供一些商品和服务。
Bartesian 的策略从来都不是靠铺天盖地的折扣和促销来促成交易，但和大多数美国大品牌一样，如果不利用“黑色星期五”和“网络星期一”这两个购物狂欢节，那就太可惜了。根据 Adobe Analytics 的数据，去年美国消费者在“黑色星期五”的网购支出为 108 亿美元，“网络星期一”的网购支出则高达 133 亿美元。
“我平时不太爱购物，但每到这个时候，我就会开始看看，然后想，‘好吧，我需要什么，市面上有什么可以买到的？’”克洛斯说。“所以我们要确保在客流量最大、人们都愿意掏钱的时候，我们能提供一些东西。”
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Bartesian 密切关注客户获取成本，这有助于推动其战略发展。
“当我们说，‘嘿，我们去年 12 月在营销 上花了 100 万美元，当这项优惠活动上线时，这 100 万美元的广告支出回报率是 7 倍或 10 倍，但当这项优惠活动没有上线时，回报率只有 3 倍’，这些数字如此显著，以至于如果我不提供折扣，我简直就像个傻瓜，”克洛斯说。
我们是在和自己竞争……这真是一项艰巨的任务。
据克洛斯称，管理公司各个销售渠道的价格一致性是其面临的最大挑战之一。即使是像失去亚马逊的“精选商品”（或称“购买框”）地位这样看似微小的变化——该地位可以突出显示产品并允许客户直接将其添加到购物车——也可能导致收入大幅下降。
“当你一周要完成数百万美元的销售额时——就像我们这个销售季一样——拥有或没有‘购买框’徽章可能会产生重大影响，销售额可能会因此波动 20%-30% 。 ”克洛斯说道。
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在公司成立的头五年，Bartesian 只推出了一款产品——最初的 Bartesian 鸡尾酒机。此后，公司又推出了可容纳五瓶一升装烈酒的 Bartesian Professional，以及更为紧凑的 Bartesian Duet。产品线的扩张也给跨多个销售渠道的库存管理带来了新的复杂性。
“所以我们既要和自己竞争，又要和塔吉特、威廉姆斯索诺玛或者亚马逊竞争，”克洛斯解释说。“这样一来，我们一月份可能就会积压库存，占用现金流。所以这真是一场艰难的平衡术。”
此外，虽然该品牌通过其官网的直接销售获利更多，但其销售策略不能简单地指望Bartesian的官网“拿下”每一笔订单。“你还得支持那些零售商，因为如果他们的销售情况不好，到了明年一月他们就不会再进货了，”克洛斯解释道，“他们会放弃你。”
对待顾客要像对待家人或挚友一样。
尽管产品种类不断增加会带来挑战，但 Close 期待着这样做，并指出额外的复杂性“绝对值得”，因为它意味着 Bartesian 不同销售渠道的更多机会。
对于任何希望在黑色星期五、网络星期一及之后提升销售额的企业，克洛斯建议尽可能以真诚为先。这位创始人表示，真诚一直是Bartesian自创立之初的核心支柱之一——从鸡尾酒本身，到公司员工的聘用，再到品牌与客户的沟通方式，都体现了这一点。
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Close 优先考虑让人们体验产品，并引导他们获得最佳交易，即使这意味着牺牲Bartesian 直接现场销售的 一些利润。
“我们不想欺骗或蒙混过关，”克洛斯说。“如果你那样做，那只是短期的胜利。你或许能获得一些短期利益，但最终会让你付出代价。如果你想建立一个能够长期盈利的成功企业，那就应该像对待家人或挚友一样对待你的客户。”