Liquor stores face fierce competition from convenience stores and online distributors, making the strategic marketing of your brand and products all the more important.  This can mean putting more money behind your marketing efforts, adding to your product offerings and making a concerted effort to interact with your customers.  Here we present four tactics you can use to improve sales at your liquor store.

Classes And Events

There are a variety of different events and classes that you can host within your liquor store:

• Mixology Classes – Bring in a seasoned bartender to teach prospective customers a few new drinks and how to master the classics. These classes can help to bring awareness to lesser known spirits and some different uses of traditional favorites.
• Wine Pairing Classes – Wine is big business and is becoming increasingly popular among younger generations due to its perceived sophistication and proven health benefits. Where many fall short is in the knowledge of what foods go best with each vintage.  Consider hiring a sommelier to educate your customers about appropriate wine pairings.  Taking it a step further and hiring a chef to provide food samples along with your wine selection can have an even greater impact.
• Tasting Events – Consider featuring a variety of wines or spirits on a monthly basis and holding tasting events where your customers can try several new items for a flat cost. These events help introduce customers to new tastes and can aid in moving less popular inventory.

Upscale And Expanded Inventory

Many drinkers are placing a higher priority on quality over quantity.  Bringing in higher ticket items such as fine wines, craft brews and imported spirits can greatly expand your customer base and improve your profit margins.  Having something unique to offer is what will separate your liquor store from the convenience store competition.  You may also consider adding complimentary items such as artisan cheeses, crackers, pretzels and accessories such as bottle openers, koozies and wine keys.  Train your staff to speak intelligently on your upscale items and how to upsell your various complimentary products.

Brand Awareness And Online Presence

Your ability to be found online will have a direct impact on the number of new customers you are able to bring in.  Maintaining an updated website and consistently posting to social media will help to build your online presence and brand awareness.  Publishing a mix of both educational and entertaining content through each of your online channels will help to improve your search engine optimization, making it easier for people to find you online.  Social media can be used to advertise specials and promote any events or classes you plan to host.

Bundles And Promotions

Bundling slow selling items with top sellers and pairing up complimentary items can help you to move inventory while still providing value to your customers.  These bundles can be placed into boxes or baskets and put in their own display to help bring attention to them.  You’ll also want to promote them heavily on social media and consider attaching some kind of theme to them.  Social media offers a great opportunity to run a variety of promotions such as contests and fun surveys as well as offering discounts or special offers who follow you online.

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