Pepsi Launching Soda that is Naturally Sweetened on Amazon

PepsiCo announced that it is introducing for the first time a product exclusively through online retailer Amazon.com as the maker of soft drinks and snack looks to increase is footprint in the growing e-commerce industry.

The product, which is naturally sweetened soda, will be called Pepsi True. In mid-October the drink can be purchased on Amazon in 24-pack cases of 7.5-ounce cans, said the company.

The drink will not be available in any brick and mortar stores, though Pepsi has said it eventually will sell the new True in stores.

By introducing the new soda on Amazon, Pepsi said it could better make an assessment of demand and gain valuable insight into where the soda is being purchased prior to making a wider launch of the new soft drink.

Insiders in the industry said this move is an example of how the beverage and food industry is expanding into distribution channels that are non-traditional such as e-commerce as it looks for additional growth.

Kraft Foods Group has started recently to sell Jell-O molds of university logos and mascots through grocery stores and Amazon. In addition, other businesses are using e-commerce giant Amazon to test markets when reintroducing products.

Coca Cola said recently that it would be bringing back Surge, which was discontinued more than 12 years ago. The soda will be re-launched on Amazon.

A spokesperson for Coca Cola said that although demand exists for Surge the company is not sure how quickly or how much it will sell.

Amazon said the area of consumer goods is one of its categories that is growing the fastest. Last spring, Prime Pantry was introduced on Amazon, where its members of Prime can shop for many household items including laundry detergent, cereal and soft drinks.

At Pepsi, selling online is relatively new said Pepsi’s Chief Marketing Officer in North America Simon Lowden.
However, he added that going forward one should expect that commerce online will be a much larger part of our positioning.