A look inside The Beverage Journal, Online
By Laurie Buick
The Connecticut and Rhode Island Beverage Journal’s newest online product ordering portal available through our website offers a direct link to your wholesalers’ portfolio and this might surprise you, it has been available for many years already in conjunction with our network partner, Beverage Media Group. What started out over ten years ago, as basically a search and order site is now “sexier” with bottle shots, explanations of products and abilities to print sell sheets, manage lists and email favorite products to customer.
Sign up for a one or two-year subscription to your state Journal–and automatically get a User Name and Password. Signing in is easy. Go to www.thebeveragejournal.com. To log in, button to click on, “Search & Order” – as seen on the top of every web page on our site in the nav bar.
Enter your user name and password as prompted by the screen. Here is a list of Q&A’s on what’s inside:
Q: Are all of the distributors online?
A: Any distributor that is listed in The Beverage Journal is online, too.
Q: What product information is available?
A: You will see the same pricing information as is offered in each Beverage Journal edition. There are some products, especially wines, which will give you Tasting Notes, Ratings, Supplier Info and additional information about the product such as where the grape was grown, or perhaps how the vodka is distilled. You will also see price indicators and more comprehensive breakdowns.
Q: Can I find a product by name?
A: To search an item by name or SKU there is a search box on the upper right hand side. It is very forgiving of spelling. Also, the page you land on offers “SEARCH” on the nav bar drop-down. If you click on that link, a page comes up that offers many kinds of categories–from regions, to distributors or variety–each category can be arranged by number or alphabetically. Also offered are price ranges that you may be interested in, and at the end of each month, you have the ability to see what is on post for the following month.
Q: Can I save product information?
A: Selections of searches can be saved. On the top right of every search result or Item Detail page, there is a Save link which opens a window for saving the search again. These searches will appear on the Welcome page for easy access later. Saved searches will change from month to month as new items are added and prices change.
Q: Will the system keep a copy of my orders, searches or lists?
A: Yes. There is a “Past Orders” choice that you can click on to search by distributor, or date you ordered. Also available is “Portfolio” which is a collection of products you regularly order. You can add items to your portfolio by searching for the product and adding to the portfolio under “Lists,” located under each item.
To learn about list saving, list making, sharing PDFs, tasting notes and direct ordering, read next month’s article. Call Brian or Laurie at The Beverage Journals, 203-288-3375, to schedule a demonstration and get started.
