Rethinking Digital Transformation in the Beverage Industry: The Swire Coca-Cola Story

In the fast-paced world of FMCG and beverages, standing still means falling behind. Even iconic brands like Coca-Cola’s bottling partners can’t rely on legacy alone. Swire Coca-Cola, the 5th-largest bottler in Coca-Cola’s global network with nearly 60 years of partnership, knew this well. Facing intense market competition and rising consumer expectations for personalized experiences, the company embarked on a bold digital transformation journey—one where eBest played a pivotal role in building AI-powered tools and supply chain digitization solutions that turned challenges into growth.

From Standardization to Personalization: Laying the Digital Foundation

Swire Coca-Cola’s digital journey isn’t new—it began over two decades ago with the launch of its first smart sales system. But by 2019, the company realized digital needed to be more than a side project: it became one of the 5 core strategies for its business operations, aiming to move beyond “one-size-fits-all” operations to hyper-personalized service—a critical shift in today’s “digital-first” FMCG landscape.​

The road wasn’t easy. Like many traditional enterprises, Swire Coca-Cola grappled with three critical hurdles:​

• Maintaining business stability while updating technology (think “replacing an engine mid-flight”).​

• Upskilling its 25,000-strong team and fostering cross-department collaboration.​

• Turning new tech into actionable value—without getting stuck in siloed data or “blind spots.”​

That’s where eBest stepped in. Recognizing the need for a unified, end-to-end digital framework, we partnered with Swire Coca-Cola to rethink its system architecture. Together, we addressed past inefficiencies (like fragmented data from department-specific tools) and built a cohesive digital chain—linking front-end tools to back-end data and business platforms. This wasn’t just about tech; it was about aligning every digital touchpoint with Swire’s goal: understanding consumers better, no matter the scenario.

From Sales to Supply Chain: Building End-to-End Digital Ecosystem

By 2023, the fruits of this collaboration were clear—starting with the all-new SFA, with eBest’s expertise in FMCG beverage-specific digital tools.​

Today, over 10,000 frontline teams use eBest SFA as their “external brain”: powered by AI, it analyzes historical sales data and consumer demand to suggest tailored product mixes for each retailer. We streamlined clunky features, added AI-driven tools, and even paved the way for future upgrades like automated order recommendations—cutting administrative work and letting reps focus on what matters: building customer relationships.​

The reps collect real-time sales and customer data, which we combine with festival, seasonality, and local trends to:​

• Advise nearby stores on inventory and product combinations.​

• Predict sales velocity for new products.​

• Fine-tune marketing strategies—ensuring consumers always find their favorite drink when they want it.​

Swire Coca-Cola’s digital transformation is not only limited to sales, it extends to the whole supply chains, too. Swire also digitized the shipping updates and logistics tracking, keeping retailers and consumers in the loop. For end-users, they created the consumer mini-program: consumers earn points, redeem rewards, and find nearby redemption spots—while store owners get automated records and seamless prize restocks during their next order. Every step is data-connected, turning “orderly operations” into “personalized experiences.”

AI-Powered Innovations: From Image Recognition to Personalized Marketing

AI isn’t just for tech giants—it’s reshaping how FMCG teams work, and Swire Coca-Cola is a prime example. AI has permeated every layer of the business:​

• Image Recognition: Swire processes hundreds of millions of images yearly (from store displays to product checks). Manual review was impossible—so we implemented AI-powered image recognition to speed up tasks, reduce errors, and free teams to focus on strategy.​

• Personalized Recommendations: SFA’s order suggestions? They’re powered by generative AI and big data , ensuring reps pitch the right products to the right retailers.​

• Consumer Engagement: Coca-Cola’s recent campaign in marketing, let users upload photos, and AI transformed them into “brand ambassadors” by uploading photos that are automatically enhanced to feature them holding a Coca-Cola product. It’s fun, shareable, and turned everyday consumers into marketing advocates—all through scalable tech.​

• Internal Efficiency: Generating a sales report used to require technical skills and endless clicks. Now, employees just input or speak with natural language commands, “Show me southeast region’s cola sales trends for the past six months” —and AI delivers results in seconds.​

As Swire’s team puts it: “AI boosts efficiency, but people bring critical business insight. The two work hand-in-hand.”

The Road Ahead: Turning Experience into Data, Data into Industry Models

Today, Swire is moving from “building digital tools” to “running digital operations.”

Its next goal? Creating industry-specific models—infusing decades of beverage and FMCG expertise into AI and data systems.

The vision? Not just to improve its own business, but to lift the entire industry—making digital tools more accessible and affordable for other brands.