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Based in Northern England, House of Malt is an independently-owned family firm that has grown into one of the most prominent online sellers of whiskies and spirits in the U.K. The company was founded in the year 2015 as an independent family business and have used for their online business since 2017.
House of Malt has a physical store as well as a warehouse located in Northern England, though a significant portion of their transactions are done online via their online store. They currently ship across the U.K. and plan for international expansion.
Woo talked to Jethro Hazelhurst, House of Malt's Director of Ecommerce.
for Whiskey
House of Malt chose as their ecommerce platform because they wished to stay away from other highly-regulated platforms They liked the fact that they could customize the Woo platform can be and also wanted to own the majority of their business online and operations as they could.
Since then, House of Malt has partnered with Woo through Woo's Enterprise Ecommerce program, which has improved their cash flow. Woo is a blessing for their business in numerous other ways, too: an increase in average order value along with conversion rates, as well as a decrease in time to deposit from seven days to one day, have all assisted them make sure they have enough working capital to support the growth of their business.
Big wins
- The conversion rate was increased and the average order values to 22% since implementing Apple Pay through WooPayments.
- Decreased their cash deposit time from seven days to just one day with help from Woo Customer Success. Woo Customer Success team.
- In 2015, House of Malt was founded. House of Malt has grown to become one of the top three online sellers of spirits in the U.K.
Key Extensions
- WooPayments with Apple Pay
- Payments through PayPal as well as Pay Later with PayPal
- Searchinise
- Storefront theme
- Google Listings and ads
- Klaviyo email marketing
Success in the time of Brexit and Covid-19
Much like many British businesses, House of Malt was impacted by the export tax charges imposed by the Brexit laws. Due to the issues that resulted and a need to adapt, they decided to shift the focus of their business to customers in the U.K. The company has now become among the top three firms in the U.K. to offer online-based whisky sales.
In the event of the Covid-19 closures, House of Malt was in a position to continue their operations even through the closures. They operate solely through their website.
Now, their physical store is an essential element of their branding and offers unique experiences to customers that other stores aren't able to match.
Malt matching: Using data to serve customers
House of Malt has a fantastic understanding of the clients who use their website and this informs their ecommerce strategy.
Generally speaking, House of Malt serves four distinct customer needs:
- People who want to test the latest products available on the website.
- Repeat buyers who return to houseofmalt.co.uk for their top products, and then purchase the same items every time.
- Collectors who want to keep up to date on new releases and collections.
- Wholesalers who can't find a product anywhere else, and frequent House of Malt for repeat purchases that restock bars and small stores.
The data can be extremely useful due to ad restrictions which are imposed on liquor merchants, which House of Malt combats with a strong email marketing program.
Increase the average order value by 22% when using Apple Pay and WooPayments
House of Malt offers a number of different payment options that include PayPal, PayPal credit card processing, Apple Pay and Google Pay via WooPayments.
They decided to bring on WooPayments to support Apple Pay particularly due to the volume of traffic they receive on their website. Jethro said "The majority of our users are mobile, and Apple users are on Safari. I can easily see why the conversion rate will increase due to the fact that we have Apple Pay. It's hard to think of a justification why it shouldn't. There's just no friction. This has been an important game changer to us."
Since adding Apple Pay, House of Malt has noticed a 22% increase in order volumes as well as the rate of conversion has increased after offering additional payment options.
"The more payment methods we offer the better -- 100 100%. The conversion rate has increased when we began offering various payment options. Utilizing all payment options as well as WooPayments We've witnessed a nice increase in our business over time. It's all been looking good to carry on using the methods to expand." -- Jethro Hazelhurst, Ecommerce Director, House of Malt
The process of transferring whiskey across lake
House of Malt is planning for international expansion, first to Europe before moving to the U.S. They're working to find shipping partners along with their customs logistics in the hopes of providing the best customer experience when ordering overseas.
Thanks to their brand new warehouse, House of Malt anticipates thriving under periods of high order volume, like the holiday season and their potential international expansion.
Incorporating more product and payment options
House of Malt is also working on expanding their product catalog, improving their user experience, and developing a subscription service and loyalty program for their repeat customers.
They're continuing to look for other payment options to meet customer preference for payment. They're also expanding their buy now, pay later (BNPL) options by partnering with other suppliers.
Hazelhurst is certain about the benefits of BNPL: "The fact that customers can make use of buy now pay later also increases an average value for orders. Buy now, pay later choices will assist."
Overall, House of Malt has enjoyed a wonderful experience its customers, and we are looking ahead to the next chapter.
"All you've done on WooPayments is making a nice little impact," Hazelhurst said. "Somewhere in northwestern of England located in a small little corner of an ancient town. We're putting great whiskey in the hands of people with Woo."