If you run a liquor store, you are likely already aware of the many challenges of promoting liquor products.
While the occasional discount might work sometimes, they’re hit-and-miss and probably won’t be enough to keep customers coming back for more.
But, by taking a thoughtful and creative approach to promoting liquor products, you can stand out from the crowd, boost sales, and reach more customers. Here are seven sales-boosting promotional ideas to try out in your store today.
1. Discount Codes and Member-Exclusive Deals
Everyone loves a bargain.
While in-store discounts can encourage people to buy items they may not have purchased otherwise, discount coupons often have an extra feel-good factor. Some studies even suggest that coupons can positively impact overall happiness and health.
Better yet, discount codes are a great way to test the effectiveness of your other marketing efforts. By linking specific codes to your newsletter, social media, events, and other channels, you can see which channels generate the most leads.
There are various ways you can distribute coupons to entice customers into your store.
- Newsletter: Provide weekly coupons exclusive to your newsletter to encourage customers to sign up.
- Social media: Use social media to promote seasonal deals, discounts, and more.
- Website: Set up discounts for first-time orders on your website to encourage more online sales.
Instead of tracking discount codes manually, set them up on your point of sale (POS) system so you can apply them automatically.
If you have a customer loyalty program (more on that later), you can offer member-exclusive discounts in addition to earning points on purchases.
Think of the membership benefits in many grocery stores. They offer a sale price that’s exclusive to members and applies automatically at checkout. This is a valuable incentive to join a (free) loyalty program and gives you another method of connecting with customers.
2. Tasting Events and Cocktail Workshops
Transform the act of buying alcohol into an experience by hosting various events at your store. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Alcohol and food pairings: Partner with a local bakery and a brewery to offer a beer and donut tasting. Or find a local cheese shop and pair artisanal cheeses with some of your favorite wines.
- Wine tastings: Host regular wine tastings highlighting different types of wines, particular regions, or specific vineyards.
- Mixology courses: Everyone loves a good cocktail. Hire a bartender and teach them to make their favorite drinks at home.
Whether or not to make the events free is up to you. You could charge a small entry fee for an alcohol and food tasting.
You can also offer exclusive discount codes for attendees. For example, for the mixology class, offer a discount code that gives 30% off on any of the ingredients featured in the course.
3. Mix & Match Bottle Promotions
Variety is the spice of life, and having a wide variety of products is often the appeal of a great local package store.
To upsell customers and encourage them to try something new, you should run mix and match bottle deals or buy one, get one (BOGO) offers.
- Mix and match example: Buy any three non-sale red wines and get 30% off your purchase. Or buy any two liquors and a mixer for 20% off all three.
- BOGO example: Buy two six-packs from X brewery and get a third at 50% off.
Mix and match and BOGO offers are similar. The main difference is that mix and match typically allows customers to choose from various items, whereas BOGO focuses on a single product or brand.
If it makes sense financially, you could entice people with freebies. Indeed, studies have found that freebies attract shoppers more than discounts.
Use the sales reports on your POS system to understand the profit margins for different products and when it makes sense to offer freebies. You can also offer free accessories (e.g., cocktail shakers and wine decanters) to incentivize larger purchases.
4. Custom Cocktail Bundles or Sampler Packs
As prices increase, many customers are hesitant to try new things or buy more expensive bottles.
Creating custom product bundles can help overcome this lack of confidence while upselling customers.
Use your POS system to create custom SKUs for various product bundles.
- Cocktail bundles: Create bundles for popular cocktails using recommendations from your experts (e.g., a selection of rye, sweet vermouth, and bitters for Manhattans) and sell at a slight discount.
- Wine beginner course: Create a sampler of different styles of wine, wines from different regions, or wines from a certain vineyard, along with tasting notes to create a beginner-friendly starter pack.
- Distillery or brewery sampler: Create custom six-packs for breweries or a collection of small bottles from local distilleries to give customers a sample pack.
- Monthly recommendations: Create packs of your favorite liquors, wines, or beers every month.
There are many ways to assemble a custom product pack, but the easier it is for customers to try new things, the more likely they are to do so.
Related Read: Increase Sales With These 5 Liquor Store Promotional Items
5. Educational Signage and Expert Recommendations
Another effective way to build consumer confidence is through expert recommendations. In fact, showing your expertise is one of the best ways to make your store stand out from the crowd!
Train your employees to know about the latest product arrivals, different bottles, and other information they need to make a recommendation to customers.
Another easy way to do this is through signage. Create shelf signs that tell customers why you love a particular bottle or share the story of a specific distillery or vineyard.
Related Read: Liquor Store Merchandising 101: Signage, Displays, and Layout
Having some background on certain bottles may just be enough to convince a customer to try something new.
6. Loyalty and Rewards Programs
Customer loyalty and reward programs can be fantastic ways to increase sales and build a loyal customer base. They also help customers feel special, creating an exclusive feeling.
Most importantly, returning customers tend to spend more than new customers, making customer retention a top priority for small business owners.
Most liquor store POS software includes easy ways to customize and manage your loyalty program.
The simplest form of customer loyalty program lets customers earn points on every purchase, which they can later redeem for discounts. However, you can also jazz up your loyalty program with exclusive discounts, event invitations, and more.
The key to a successful loyalty program is ensuring customers know what they’re getting. Have signs that explain how many points customers need to redeem rewards or even print how many points they have on their receipts.
Friendly customer service and expert in-store recommendations aren’t the only way to connect with customers; there are also ample opportunities to do so online.
Establishing an online presence is essential for showing up in local searches and a smart way to promote your liquor store with friendly, personable content.
- Website: Build a user-friendly website with an About page to introduce yourself, give recommendations, and more. If you plan to sell liquor online, ensure your website connects with your in-store inventory.
- Social media: Set up social media accounts to highlight seasonal promotions, introduce new products, and showcase your friendly staff.
- Newsletters and blogs: Write a regular newsletter and/or blog to share your expertise, talk about industry trends, showcase cocktail recipes, and more.
- Google business listing: Keep your Google Business Profile up to date to ensure you appear in local search results.
Consider your online presence an extension of your store and personality, including its look and feel.
Make Promoting Liquor Store Products a Breeze With Bottle POS
No matter what strategies you use to promote your liquor store, take a strategic approach. As a small business owner, you can’t afford to spend a ton of time and money on every idea that comes to your head and see what sticks.
Instead, start small and use your POS system to measure the results of every promotion. This will help you develop a unique marketing strategy that works for your store and your customers.
Not sure where to start? Talk to the liquor store experts at Bottle POS.
Bottle POS is an industry-specific solution for liquor shops, wine stores, and beer stores and packed with helpful features to help small business owners succeed.
With Bottle POS you can craft more effective promotions using:
- Mix and match promotions and other flexible discounts
- Built-in customer loyalty
- SMS and email marketing
- Auto-ranking to identify your bestsellers
- Reports to monitor the success of your promotions
Adopt a top-rated liquor store system today to level up your sales, increase customer loyalty, and smash the competition.
