Competition is fierce in the wine and spirits market, with a slew of brands vying for consumers’ ever-evolving tastes. For many larger alcohol producers and brands, the problem is made worse by their lagging adoption of modern marketing practices. That puts them at a disadvantage in the era of e-commerce and social media. It is also why LQR House (NASDAQ:LQR), the marketing agency specializing in the spirits and beverage industry, thinks it could be an interesting acquisition target with an appealing value proposition for one of the alcohol industry’s bigger players. 

It may not be a stretch to think so. The industry is an acquisitive one, with the first half of 2023 bringing an uptick in M&A. Of the 44 publicly announced deals, 19 were in the spirits category. Buyers include well-known brands including Diageo Plc. (NYSE:DEO), Bacardi and Pernod Ricard SA (OTC:PRNDY) to name a few. They are making acquisitions to offer consumers more products. But as they churn out new spirits and beverages, they also need a way to reach new buyers. That is where LQR House comes in.

The LQR House team has spent the last twenty years specializing in providing website management, design, development, email marketing and search engine optimization to the spirits market, helping brands grow their name and sales. That’s been the case for CWSpirits.com, the wine and spirits website with over 125,000 customers that LQR House recently acquired. Since working with LQR House, the company reports that CWSpirits.com is getting thousands of unique sales per week, representing a return on investment of over six times. Under LQR’s charge, CWSpirits.com has built a name for itself by curating a selection of up-and-coming, well-known, premium and rare spirits. The platform is popular with wine and spirits brands and consumers thanks to easy delivery options, a selection of thousands of popular SKUs, the ability to access up-and-coming brands and exclusive deals and benefits through its Vault rewards platform. The platform also uses artificial intelligence to improve targeting and conversion rates. 

Those capabilities alone, the company argues, make it an appealing acquisition target, but the acquisition of www.cwspirits.com takes it to the next level. Now, LQR House will have direct oversight of CWSpirits.com’s inventory, which enables it to facilitate the delivery of a wide range of boutique and mainstream alcohol products to customers’ doorsteps. It also gives it insight into which products are trending, losing their luster or steadily chugging along – valuable data for any distiller. LQR isn’t a supplier, wholesale or retailer, but will operate the website and drive consumers to it. LQR earns a percentage from each sale generated through the CWSpirits.com platform, putting it in a unique position to further drive sales.

LQR also reports that it has the experience, skills and tech know-how to reach consumers where they live and hang out online, especially as more people get used to shopping for beverages on the internet. Online alcohol sales are forecast to grow 20.58% from now through 2027, reaching $20.48 billion. At last check, LQR House has over 255 influences in its network, more than 38.4 million followers and over 559 million likes, underscoring its ability to reach consumers on social media.