Brewing innovation: Why New Belgium chose Pear to power what’s next in AlcBev commerce

New Belgium Brewing Co. partnered with Pear Commerce to power Tied House-compliant, inventory-aware shoppability. In an A/B Landing Page vs. Pear Connect media test, New Belgium boosted engagement, lowered media costs, and drove significantly more retailer clicks, setting the foundation for what’s next in beverage ecommerce.

Summary

New Belgium Brewing Co. replaced a legacy where‑to‑buy solution with Pear Commerce to gain accurate store‑level inventory, built-in Tied House compliance, and shoppable media that actually moves shoppers to trusted retailers. The team seamlessly stood up Pear across four brands (New Belgium, Bell’s, Lightstrike, Kirin), ran an A/B test of Pear Connect vs. a traditional landing page flow, and used the results to unlock excitement with Sales and buyers at key retailers.

CHALLenge

Accuracy issues, manual workflows, budget pressure, & limited ability to run compliant offsite media.

SOLUTION

Pear’s real‑time inventory data and compliant paths to purchase, plus Pear Connect dynamic ads.

IMPACT

Smoother day‑to‑day, peace‑of‑mind on compliance, rapid implementation, and a standout Pear Connect test that outperformed traditional media.

RESULTS SNAPSHOT

Company

BRAND: New Belgium Brewing Co. Includes New Belgium, Bells, Lightstrike and Kirin.

TEAM: Cross-functional with E-Commerce, Paid Media, Sales, and Retail partners

CATEGORY: Alcohol

The Challenge

The New Belgium team inherited legacy vendor MikMak, and quickly ran into blockers that limited growth:

Data trust & accuracy: Ongoing accuracy issues created anxiety about what shoppers would see at retailer destinations.
Manual ops: “I still have flashbacks of filling out Google spreadsheets for links, tracking, and assets.”
Budget pressure: High costs with limited proof; e‑comm had to justify every dollar.
Compliance roadblocks: Little/no ability to run compliant offsite and retail media (plus, Drizly deprecation removed a key outlet).
Stalled innovation: Wanted a partner that moved quickly on new capabilities, not months later.

What they needed ‍

A compliant, accurate, and fast where‑to‑buy foundation that played well with advertising — including dynamic shoppable media and support for last‑mile marketplaces.

Why Pear

Leader on innovation: “Pear puts a clear emphasis on technology… they’re not just following trends, they’re creating new ways to do it.”
Behind‑the‑scenes inventory scanning: More thorough, store‑level accuracy and coverage.
Service that feels personal: Sales and success that are intentional and consultative. “I never feel pushed, Pear always has our team’s best interest at heart.”
Fast implementation: Smoother and quicker than the prior provider; very streamlined for web/dev teams.
Built‑in compliance: Confidence to activate offsite/retail media without risking tied house violations.

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Solution rollout

Products: Store Locators, Landing Pages, Pear Connect

Marketplaces/last‑mile shoppability: Pear added Instacart and DoorDash to all retail ecommerce experiences – a high‑priority requirement for the team – improving coverage and helping meet compliance thresholds.

Retail media enablement: Foundation to activate Walmart Connect and Kroger Precision Marketing with compliant, inventory‑aware paths to purchase.

Pear Connect vs. Landing Page A/B test

Objective

Reduce friction and increase retail outcomes by replacing a traditional Landing Page destination with dynamic, inventory-aware Pear Connect ads.Reduce friction and increase retail outcomes by replacing a traditional Landing Page destination with dynamic, inventory-aware Pear Connect ads.

SETUP

CHANNEL: Meta

BRAND: New Belgium

AUDIENCE & CREATIVE: Identical across both test arms; only the destination changed

KEY METRICS

OUTCOME

“We assumed Connect would be better… it improved in more ways than we expected – across the board.”
Pear Connect created a smoother, more intuitive shopper journey — increasing engagement, lowering cost, and sending exponentially more shoppers directly to retail.
The A/B test became a flagship internal success story, frequently referenced in Sales and Paid Media meetings.
The Sales team shared Pear Connect mockups with retail buyers, showcasing ads featuring retailer logos directly inside the unit – something far more compelling than a traditional Landing Page flow.
Results validated Pear as the preferred path-to-purchase strategy, influencing future planning for TikTok, retail media activations, and cross-brand rollouts.

Day-to-day impact

Trust in the tools: “I don’t have to be in it every day – that’s a good thing.”
Accuracy peace‑of‑mind: No more fear of shoppers encountering wrong info on the store locator or in-store.
Built-in Tied House compliance: New Belgium can confidently run offsite and media without the fear of advertising violations (thanks to Pear unTied), and connecting to last‑mile partners (Instacart, DoorDash) helps meet compliance thresholds and improve shopper experiences by expanding in‑stock options.
Faster issue resolution: Early bumps and questions were resolved quickly, fostering confidence.
Reporting when it matters: Click‑level insights are “always there when we need them” for recaps and leadership/Sales share‑outs.

What’s next

Scale Pear Connect across more brands and channels; test on more social media channels where Voodoo Ranger already has strong organic traction.
Test creative formats with Pear Connect beyond static ads (video, carousel, TikTok native integrations) to drive incremental retailer visits.
Deeper retail media integrations and joint planning with buyers using Pear’s click‑level insights.
Strengthen sales team enablement by packaging insights and results from Pear Vision into additional retailer presentations, buyer decks, and joint business plans.