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Branded app for your brewery? (Q&A)

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  • Branded app for your brewery? (Q&A)

    Hello,

    I am an app developer that is working on an idea that is geared towards small breweries. My idea came about from not being able to find my favorite brewery's beers near work, so I could pick it up on my way home. A lot of breweries I find do have a distribution list on their site, however still leave it up to the user to figure out what the closest location is. After minutes of research, I found a liquor store that sold the brand but didn't find the specific beer I liked. I went home empty handed and wasted my time. We live in the age of fast information and mobile technology, finding beer I like should not be this hard. Doing some research, I found that some companies already have apps like this ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ders_app&hl=en, https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...gium.NBB&hl=en, https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...sixpoint&hl=en ).

    I think the reason a lot of breweries don't consider having an app is because of the high cost of hiring a consulting firm to create the app. My current solution to combat that issue is having a code base that I can just re-brand for a brewery or any business. We would be able to push out to iOS, Android and Windows Mobile. We would work on a monthly fee model with no contract. That way you don't have to pay thousands of dollars to get your feet wet in mobile.

    We currently have a list of features we would offer. We would have the products that the brand/brewery offers and descriptions of them. Locations of where all the products are sold, this will take advantage of the GPS on the mobile device. Events that the brewery is involved in, promos and a loyalty program. Taproom info and hours will also be available via the app. We are still in the design stage but I wanted to post to get some feedback from the breweries.I also wanted to see what features you think an app that is created for your brewery/brand would need.

    We hope to get visuals to present soon.

    You can reply here or send me a private message.

    Thanks,
    Emmanuel

  • #2
    Taplister exists.
    Chief Fermentation Officer
    Oregon Mead & Cider Co.

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    • #3
      Hi,

      I looked in Taplister. I tried it out. I search for several breweries and it didn't seem to have a lot of info on it, as it requires bars to list what is on tap. As a branded app for a brewery, we would know where that brand is sold. Taplister is for more for bars and restaurants, our solution would be for breweries/brands. Does that difference kind of make sense?

      Thanks,
      Emmanuel

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      • #4
        Google Research

        Google released some research it has conducted on brands and how their mobile presence influences consumers.

        Some takeaways: "82% of smartphone users consult their phone while in a store.", "51%, More than half of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product when conducting a search on their smartphone","51% of smartphone users have purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended to because the information provided was useful","61% of smartphone users say they're more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites or app customize information to their location"

        You can view full research presentation here.

        Hopes this info helps to prove what he think consumers want and why having a branded app with useful info is important.

        Thanks,
        Emmanuel

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        • #5
          UI prototype

          Thanks!

          We have just finished the our UI prototype. https://invis.io/5B5ZVUDET This is not the actual app, it is just a presentation tool to convey our idea visually. Also note that you can only click on the blue regions of the pages. This is also not the final UI concept as we used prototyping tools for this. We just want to get some feedback from businesses that could potentially use this.

          Is there anything that we missed or anything you had questions about?

          Thanks,
          Emmanuel

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          • #6
            Brewpub App

            Similar lines but not, we are opening a brewpub with a quick service model (counter order) and were batting around ideas for getting people to order more beers/food without having to wait in line again. The idea of a branded app that would let people peruse our beer offerings and menu and place the order, or close out a tab, etc. came to mind. Is this in the realm of affordable possibility? Or too different from the theme of this thread to consider?
            Cheers,

            Colin Cummings
            Amarillo, TX

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            • #7
              We definitely plan on adding ordering and e-commerce capabilities to our solution, that is in our version 2 goals. Our version one would help inform your users about your beer offerings and menu. I will pm you our prototype so you have a visual of our idea. I am not sure about closing tabs, we can definitely look into what your needs are and see if it feasible with our idea.

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              • #8
                What about a nice web site?

                Is there any particular reason a brewery needs an app as oppose to a web site? I'm annoyed when I have to download what is essentially a 30MB plugin to get functionality that should be on a company's web site -- especially when there are no special features (i.e, maps, sensor controls) that require it to be in an app.

                If you get people to install it, most people only use 5-10 apps on a regular basis, and one specific to a brewery is probably not going to be in that short list except for a brewery's most die-hard fans. A web site, on the other hand, requires no installation and updating (from the user's POV) and is always there when you need it.

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                • #9
                  Sorry for the late response

                  The main reason is that a majority of sites offer a subpar experience on mobile. Most of the brewery websites I have ran across aren't even mobile optimize. We are conscious that people watch their MB consumption when they download apps so we will be pushing the app size as small as we can. Our first version is below 30MB, however we will be implementing some other strategies to get it down even more in future versions. You are right about an app not being needed if the website can provide similar functionality. However if the app provides a better experience people will still use it versus the mobile site. Companies like Domino's, Facebook and Amazon have both a mobile app and a mobile site that provide similar if not exactly the same features. However you can see that a lot of people still prefer just using the app because it just a better overall experience. Our first version has a beer locator feature with a native implementation on iOS and Android so this will speed up the process of people getting the information they want. However as we progress through different versions we are looking to offer more features for the end users to surpass a mobile website experience. For example, implementing a loyalty program and a fluid e-commerce experience for merch.

                  Let me know if you have more questions.

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                  • #10
                    Does this have a reward function? I feel this would be worth looking into if it could take the place of a punch card, do push notification of beer releases and events, and also a where to find this beer" feature for distributed beers.

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                    • #11
                      We have most of those features

                      Hello,

                      We have push notifications to allow you to announce anything easily. We have looked into reward type punch card type concept, it might be something we implement in the future. We are starting with a couple of breweries in the chicago land area to see what works and what they find valuable. We will grow the feature set from there. https://applicity.io/ is the site for our software and applicityio@gmail.com is our email if anyone on this thread is looking for more info.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by scotts View Post
                        Is there any particular reason a brewery needs an app as oppose to a web site? I'm annoyed when I have to download what is essentially a 30MB plugin to get functionality that should be on a company's web site -- especially when there are no special features (i.e, maps, sensor controls) that require it to be in an app.

                        If you get people to install it, most people only use 5-10 apps on a regular basis, and one specific to a brewery is probably not going to be in that short list except for a brewery's most die-hard fans. A web site, on the other hand, requires no installation and updating (from the user's POV) and is always there when you need it.
                        Breweries think they need one, but they don't, we have built an app, breweries can have a page, along with their beers listed, and their events for free. We have also done this for guilds. Feel free to check it out and play with it a little bit.
                        Just Beer is a community for beer lovers and enthusiasts. Making beer approachable. Find, share and learn about beer.


                        Lee

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