Small Business Tips

Liquor Store Impulse Items: 7 Products To Increase Sales

Feb 01, 2024 • 5 min read

73 percent of Americans say most of their purchases are unplanned.

Are you capturing your share of these profit-boosting add-on sales? If not, you’re missing out. It’s an easy way to increase your average basket size, and with the right tools and strategies in place, you can find out what your customers need — instead of guessing and ending up with inventory you can’t shift.

In this article, we dive into the top liquor store impulse items you should stock, how to position and price them, and how your point of sale (POS) system can help.

What Are Liquor Store Impulse Items?

If you’ve ever been in a store, waiting in line to be served, and something catches your eye; it’s likely been placed there for that exact reason — to capture your attention and get you to make an unplanned purchase.

You can do the same in your liquor store. When customers pick out a nice bottle of wine or whiskey, what else could you provide that compliments their purchase? It’s a smart play to leverage the impulse zone — near your checkout counter — and encourage customers to grab a snack, drink mixer, or novelty item.

Once customers are ready to purchase a bigger item — an expensive bottle of wine — they’re more likely to be drawn in by cheaper impulse purchases. Perhaps they’d like some artisanal chocolate with their bottle of wine to complete their evening watching Netflix! The urge to put one more item in their basket feels harmless in the moment.

And this is why strategic placement of liquor store impulse items is crucial. Bright packaging draws the eye to items they might not notice otherwise. But which items should you stock?

Top 7 Impulse Items to Increase Your Liquor Store Sales

Let’s look at the specific impulse items you can sell to help customers and boost sales.

#1: Flavored Miniatures

Customers might want to experiment at home. Perhaps they have friends coming over that they want to impress. Mini bottles of flavored spirits like spiced rum, vanilla vodka, and honey whiskey make perfect add-on purchases. You can stock various flavors and brands to appeal to diverse tastes.

#2: Ready-To-Drink (RTD) Cocktails

Single-serve RTDs eliminate the need for customers to mix cocktails themselves but still get the cocktail experience. The ready-to-drink cocktail market is expected to expand to a $2.4 billion market by 2030 — now is the time to jump on this trend!

#3: Barware and Glassware

With more people drinking at home instead of paying for expensive drinks in bars, you can help by providing barware. Things like bar tools, shakers, shot glasses, and glassware displayed behind counters naturally capture interest.

#4: Snacks

Salty snacks like chips, nuts, and jerky complement a drink at home. Prominently display compatible flavors near liquor selections. Clever pairings like spicy snacks with bourbon or cheese cubes with wine are a good play — get creative!

#5: Gift Sets

Make gift-giving easy with pre-packaged bundles. Curated sets take the guesswork out of giving gifts. You can theme gift sets around different occasions like birthdays, housewarmings, Father's Day, and more. Or base gift sets around specific types of alcohol — think "The Whiskey Lovers Set" with glasses and whiskey stones.

#6: Party Supplies

Stock up on ping pong balls, plastic cups, hangover aids, drink stirrers, and other party must-haves. Party-themed merchandise displays can remind customers to grab supplies for their next event.

#7: Premium Mixers

Offer unique sodas, juices, coconut water, and ginger beer, beyond basic mixers — perfect for non-drinkers or crafting specialty cocktails. Stocking premium mixers elevates your selection. Analyze historical sales data to ensure you’re selling the most common mixers.

Pro Tip: Use your POS system to identify top-selling impulse products. Your POS should integrate with vendors for easy reordering of popular items.

How to Position Impulse Items in Your Store

We’ve covered the top liquor store impulse items you should stock. Now let’s discuss how to make the most of them in your store’s layout.

The main priorities are that they’re visible and accessible. They should be in your customers’ sight line — ideally near registers. Use endcaps, counters, racks, and refrigerators to merchandise must-haves here.

Also, consider high-traffic areas like main aisles. Use the flow of your store and secondary displays as reminders. For example, place an endcap with different flavors of chips near the RTD cocktails. Strategic pairings spark ideas.

Pro Tip: Your POS system can help plan your store layout. You can track inventory levels by section to avoid stockouts and decide which areas are prime real estate for impulse items.

Pricing Impulse Items for Maximum Impact

You can encourage impulse buys and create high-profit margins with the right pricing strategy. For example, odd prices ending in .99 or .95, like $2.99, come across as discounts compared to rounded numbers. The lower the price, the lower the risk for customers.

This doesn’t mean you should undervalue products. The goal is to boost incremental sales, not lose profits.

For best results, vary your pricing strategies. Running short-term “5 for $5” specials on drink mixers can nudge customers toward impulse purchases. You could also discount gift sets depending on seasonality, or offer incentives, like a free wine glass with every $50 purchase.

Pro Tip: Use your POS system to discount items on the fly and create bundles and deals. Use reports to see which items don’t sell well and try strategic markdowns to move stagnant inventory.

Leveraging Seasonality and Events

Timing promotional pushes around seasonal events and holidays can boost impulse purchases.

Around summer, stock up on flavored vodkas, citrus garnishes, and tropical cocktail mixes. On July 4th, you could display chips and dips, or recipes and ingredients for “patriotic punch.” Other ideas include themed shot glasses and candy for Halloween and gift sets for the holiday season.

Use email, social media, and in-store signage to promote seasonal items. You could run football-themed contests or share festive cocktail recipes and provide the ingredients.

Pro Tip: Use your POS system to send targeted emails to customers. For example, you could use built-in loyalty features to offer personalized discounts and coupons around holidays. Also, events like the Super Bowl might see underage customers trying to score some alcohol. Liquor-specific POS software comes with robust age verification features to ensure you stay on the right side of the law.

Make Liquor Store Impulse Items Work for You

Impulse purchases can provide a significant boost to your bottom line. The key is selecting the right mix of impulse items that appeal to your customers. The best way to ensure you’ve got the products is to look at historical sales data, customer behavior, and customer surveys.

Experiment with different product selections, pricing strategies, and promotional timing. What do your customers respond to best? With data-driven insights from liquor store POS systems, you can tap into profitable impulse-buying behaviors and watch your average transaction sizes grow.

Bottle POS is designed for liquor store owners. Our software simplifies sales tracking, inventory management, and more. You’ll find no hidden fees, and the system is easy to use for your whole team.

When you have powerful, industry-specific POS tools, you can meet customer expectations and drive profitable growth in your business. See how by requesting a demo today!

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