After countless hours of crafting a business plan, curating your product selection, and designing eye-catching displays, your liquor store is finally open for business.
Now it’s time to face your toughest challenge yet: building a loyal customer base and generating a steady flow of sales.
In this blog, we’ll share everything you need to know to accomplish these goals — including six tried-and-true alcohol marketing strategies you can implement today.
Before we dive into specific techniques, let’s cover the basics of alcohol marketing.
In an ideal world, your excellent customer service and top-shelf selection would speak for themselves — but without an intentional marketing strategy, potential customers have no reason to learn about or stop by your liquor store.
That’s why you need a marketing approach that builds awareness, drives foot traffic, increases customer retention, and boosts revenue.
We should also note that liquor stores face unique challenges when it comes to alcohol marketing, including:
Ready to explore some cost-effective, regulation-compliant alcohol marketing strategies to help you stand out from the competition and sell more bottles? Let’s get started.
The first step in creating an effective marketing plan is to identify your target audience. In other words, who are your customers, and how can you tailor your marketing efforts to their preferences and habits?
If you’re opening a brand-new liquor store, you’ll have to start your market research from scratch. Research your neighborhood’s demographics, talk to your family and friends, and consider launching informal surveys to build a profile for your ideal customer.
For example, let’s say you’re opening a boutique liquor store specializing in celebrity and luxury bottles. In this case, you might use social media posts and exclusive events to generate buzz and attract your target audience: young, wealthy customers who want to network and enjoy fine spirits.
If your store has been open for a while, you can rely on your point of sale (POS) system’s sales reports to learn more about your customers. These reports should reveal your shoppers’ favorite bottles, shopping habits, and more — giving you insights into what they want and how you can better appeal to them.
Let’s say your sales reports show high demand for traditional spirits, liqueurs, and mixers. You can assume that your customers are interested in mixology, then use this insight to create promotional bundles that include all the ingredients for seasonal cocktails.
Promotions aren’t just a quick and easy way to boost your bottom line. Done right, they can increase inventory turnover, improve cash flow, and create more shelf space for your bestselling spirits.
To accomplish these goals, your promotions need to target the right products.
Dig into your sales reports to identify which bottles are flying off the shelves and which are collecting dust. From there, you can offer strategic discounts to promote your underperforming liquors.
Consider launching percentage discounts like 20% off each bottle or buy one, get one (BOGO) deals to sell them quickly. Pairing a popular and unpopular liquor together as a discounted bundle is another great way to encourage customers to branch out and try new spirits!
Your POS system should make it easy to schedule these discounts and ensure they’re automatically applied at checkout.
Hoping your promotions will lead to a huge revenue boost? Make sure your customers know about them!
Consider starting an email newsletter or SMS marketing program to keep shoppers up to date on everything happening in your liquor store — including new product arrivals, limited-time promotions, and upcoming in-store events.
A quick marketing email or SMS message can also give you an immediate foot traffic increase on your slowest days. Consider sending a one-day-only coupon over text to give shoppers a reason to stop by your store and stock up on their favorite bottles.
Implementing this alcohol marketing strategy might sound intimidating, but the right POS system can make it a breeze. Look for one that can help you stay compliant with SMS regulations, collect and manage customers’ contact information, and even send personalized messages.
A loyalty program is a must-have if you want to compete against big-box liquor stores and grocery stores that sell alcohol.
With a loyalty program, you can reward customers every time they shop with you by allowing them to earn points, unlock discounts, and get exclusive perks like invitations to tastings or free swag.
Along with giving shoppers a reason to rely on your store for all their beverage needs, a loyalty program incentivizes them to spend more during each visit. The more they spend, the more they’ll save.
Related Read: Implementing a Liquor Store Loyalty Program? Read This First
Social media is a valuable tool that can help you build a relationship with new and existing customers.
While many social media platforms have strict rules about how liquor stores can advertise their products, you can still take advantage of organic social media posts. Here are a few ideas to engage with your customer base and promote your business:
Posting regularly is key for your liquor store’s success, so set aside a monthly time to plan your social media efforts. Don’t forget to post about your upcoming events and promotions!
E-commerce is more than just a trend — it’s a powerful alcohol marketing strategy.
Launching an online liquor store expands your reach and helps you appeal to new customers. Plus, an influx of pickup or delivery orders will significantly increase your overall sales.
Selling liquor online might sound complicated, but the right tools can help. We recommend investing in a POS system that seamlessly integrates with liquor industry-specific e-commerce platforms like BottleZoo.
This makes it easy to track your online and in-store sales in one convenient place.
Related Read: How To Sell Liquor Online: Tips, Tools, and Regulations
So, how can you attract new shoppers, increase customer retention, and make more sales? Let’s recap our top tips:
This might sound like a tall order, but Bottle POS can help you put all of these strategies to work! Our all-in-one liquor store software includes powerful reporting and analytics, flexible promotion scheduling, email and SMS integration, e-commerce integration, and a built-in customer loyalty program.
Plus, we offer all the tools you need to handle your store’s day-to-day operations, like real-time inventory tracking, scanner-powered age verification, and more.
See these features in action by scheduling your live, personalized Bottle POS demo today.
