How a Saskatchewan Nanobrewery Pivoted in a Pandemic
How a Saskatchewan Nanobrewery Pivoted in a Pandemic
Late in March of 2020, provincial COVID-19 preventative measures were quickly impacting small business activity in the prairies. Time was of the essence if 9 Mile Legacy Brewery was going to keep revenue coming in, staff employed and customers hydrated. Shawn, 9 Mile CEO & GM, reached out wanting to take action on an idea that we had tossed around some months before — providing the taproom experience, online.
While building an online store isn't technically complicated to do, Shawn and Garrett at 9 Mile Legacy Brewing Co. have established a business and team with a vibe and service attitude that is uniquely theirs. To seamlessly transition online, they needed a virtual taproom that:
- Communicates 9 Mile’s differentiating feeling and level of service
- Integrates to help, not hinder, bookkeeping and inventory management
The Results
With the investment in an online store, 9 Mile was able to navigate a difficult time with resilience by replacing lost revenue with new opportunities, allowing them to keep their staff fully employed, all while investing in a long-term asset.
How We Got There
Collaboration
While a typical project progresses in a (somewhat) linear fashion, this project had designers, developers and 9 Mile working in tandem to get the platform launched as quickly and efficiently as possible while ensuring an on-brand, functional user experience.
ALL HANDS ON DECK
The design team hit the ground running in order to meet a launch date of 'yesterday'. We referenced examples of UX success stories and refined shopping cart workflows in order to quickly produce visual designs that would come to life in development. The team at 9 Mile worked with the payment vendor to align their operations with our production team as the site came together.
Functionality & Customization with Drupal Commerce
Drupal Commerce provides ultimate flexibility and customization. This open-source platform offers bookkeeping integration and inventory management tools, ensuring efficient operations and expandability. This while keeping the 9 Mile exceptional level of service and brand at its core.
Support Local
Most importantly, the Virtual Taproom has allowed the 9 Mile team to continue doing what they do best—delivering smiles to happy customers at a time when everyone needs some cheer(s).
When we were faced with rethinking our business model and transitioning our sales channels to online delivery, short-term needs met long-term strategy. We needed to develop a prototype that married a user-friendly experience with a solid foundation for future digital expansion, and we needed this yesterday. We turned to zu because we knew that they had both the talent and vision to develop a solution to our once-in-a-lifetime problem.