R5m turnover from R250k investment in less than 18 months
I In the era of the App, many a splendid idea is turned into a business venture which sometimes disrupts a market. This was the approach when founder partners of Bottles App, Enrico Ferigolli, wife Martina Mondelli and Vincent Viviers, started developing their App. Thriving Magazine recently caught up with Ferigolli to find out more about their innovative venture, which has landed them a welcome investment from a Shark Tank appearance.
An idea sparks a profitable App
Ferigolli’s eyes light up when he recalls how the idea came about. He was enjoying a braai with friends in Durban three years ago when they ran out of the needed beverages to go with the ambience. Everybody had been drinking and they did not want to drive to a liquor store. They started talking about the different delivery services available at the touch of your smartphone. The seed was planted that an alcohol delivery App could be a useful service with many advantages. The three partners decided to bootstrap the business with their combined two decades of marketing experience.
Start-up capital
After the App had been active for four months, the partners started looking for investors to take the business to the next level. The investment happened, but not through conventional pitches. Bottles landed a R500 000 investment from investor Gil Oved (co-founder of The Creative Counsel), when pitching their business idea on the Shark Tank programme. With a 10% stake in the business Oved also aims to be involved in mentoring the Bottles team.
Easy to use
The concept is a user-friendly one. Simply download the free App and follow the prompts. It is iOS and Android friendly with straightforward navigation. Apart from the convenience of ordering and receiving your drinks within 60 minutes, partygoers do not need a triptt to their local liquor outlet and top up their cooler bags – especially after having had a few already. After opening the App, it connects with the location of the customers and the closest liquor outlet in the area. Another tap and the menu appears to order anything available in the liquor store closest to you – including mixers, charcoal, chips, chocolates and cigarettes. Check out and the order is underway. Bottles partner up with independent liquor outlets that run maximum operating hours in order to provide a service from 08:00 to 20:00. And the plan is to roll out the service nationwide.
Customers guarantee
Customers are guaranteed to receive exactly what they ordered. “We refund or fully re-supply damaged orders, or any items that might have gone missing between point of order and point of delivery.” The bill can be split between a group and is done online by customers registering their credit cards, to be billed once the delivery has been done. A minimum order of R150 per call is required. “Liquor prices depend on the partner retailers of Bottles in the customer’s area,” says Ferigolli.
No underaged drinking allowed
“You have to be at least 18 years old to order. There are several measures to avoid delivery to underaged customers.” Ferigolli calls it the “age gate”. When the courier arrives at the destination and the person who ordered the alcohol appears to be younger than 18, ID is required. At the time of going to print the service was available in certain areas of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Personal journey
“As deodorants category manager at Unilever Africa I was basically selling deodorant, but I wanted to get into something more exciting.” He says over the last few years he gathered more experience in the digital world when he resigned from Unilever to become business unit director and board member of Gorilla Creative Media. From here it was the big jump to become CEO of Bottles. What started as a personal project has become his full-time venture.