QAVAR

After 13 years in the food and beverage industry, working as a waiter assistant, barman, and bar manager, Spyros Raptis wanted to connect day with night and follow his own professional path. So, in 2017, he timidly started his dream with a wholesale liquor warehouse and a van. Six months later, he opened QAVAR—a small retail shop in the western suburbs, specializing in rare and select spirits. Continuing to work in wholesale, when the second lockdown started and restaurants closed en masse, his business turnover literally dropped to zero. Spyros knew that in order for his business to survive, he had to find a way to keep his goods moving. That's when he got the idea to try selling his products online through Skroutz.

"When we joined Skroutz, it was like entering the Google of Greece." , Spyros characteristically states.

"We were getting calls from all over Greece and Athens, both wholesale and retail, asking about our spirits." he adds.

By joining the Skroutz marketplace, Spyros not only dramatically increased his sales, but also had the opportunity to study the competition and discover consumer preferences. In this way, he managed to find new, cheaper suppliers and predict trends in the spirits category, which helped him both in choosing merchandise for his shop and in his wholesale collaborations. At the same time, he managed to go beyond the borders of his area and open up his market to more areas of Attica with great interest in premium spirits, such as the northern and southern suburbs. Today, with 3,500 active products on skroutz.gr, he continues to dream of an even stronger future for his business.