John Robertson set up Drinkly in 2016, a technology platform that allows customers to buy beer, wines and spirits online and have them delivered to their doors in one hour. Robertson wants the business to be in 30 locations in the next five years.
Name: John Robertson
Age: 38
Position: CEO
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
Drinkly
WHERE IS IT BASED?
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
I HAVE always worked in the drinks industry. I worked for whisky companies like Whyte and Mackay which was bought by an Indian company and I had the chance to work for Kingfisher Beer. When I was living in London I noticed the most interesting brand I could buy was Innis & Gunn as it was unique and had a backstory. I contacted the company as I thought it had an interesting business model.
The founder Dougal [Sharp] said I could work with him and I thought working with a guy who has his own business would be interesting. I worked there for four years then left because I felt it was time to do my own thing. I did a Saltire Fellowship in the US and everyone was talking to me about e-commerce. I found Drizzly in 2012 in the US – a business that does what Drinkly does now.
When I came back to the UK I got a smart car with Drinkly on the side and tried to get customers. We tried to launch it just on weekends and customers kept coming back. We started with a small product mix but customers started asking for a wider range.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
IT is a licensed product. We are trying to set the gold standard in the way alcohol is delivered. Our drivers are trained in licensing. We also want to empower the retailer to make the sale to the consumer so if they see the consumer has ordered too much they can block them. When you buy alcohol online at the moment you don’t have to show ID and the product can be left outside. The customer knows they will have to show us ID when we come to their door.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
THE drinks market in the UK is worth £40 billion. The e-commerce of that market is about 10% – mostly in wine subscriptions. There wasn’t a go-to place to order a mix of beers, wines and spirits to your door. There are people doing elements of it – you can order drinks on Deliveroo or Just Eat but it is a side thought. It might just say ‘white wine’ and you don’t know who made it or where it comes from. No-one else is doing exactly what we are doing.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
WE initially wanted to target consumers who are driven by smartphones. This was pre Uber and Deliveroo. We could see a massive convenience trend. We tried to target the text-savvy market who don’t do a big weekly supermarket shop but go every few days. The target was young professionals initially and we didn’t really think about the gifting market and office drinks, which have both been popular.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
NO day is the same. I enjoy coming up with solutions because resources are tight in a start-up so you can’t just spend money and hope for the best. I like the challenge of it. Until six months ago it was just me but now we have four members of staff.
Scotland is an incredible place right now to set up a business. The support from Scottish Gateway and Scottish Enterprise is amazing. Scotland has a thriving tech sector led by businesses like Skyscanner – there’s lots of money and knowledge in those types of businesses. We are part of SeedHause [a tech investment scheme] with other people who have developed a business. The whole ecosystem, for business in Scotland is getting stronger.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS TIME?
I HOPE we will have created a successful business. I’ve worked for some good companies and some not so good companies so I’m keen that everyone who works with us able to push their careers in the direction they want. I want us to be the go-to place to buy drinks online. It is hard to predict but I want us to be in 30 locations in the next five years. Maybe we could be in 100 locations in 10 years with about 30 staff.
Brexit is a concern but everything is a concern to an early stage business – Brexit is just another element of that. The price of wine could increase because it is imported. Consumers will then shop more local wine as import duties could be higher. Our ambition is to go international. As a tech business we are not fixed by geography so that’s potentially a small bonus.
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