We’re now five months into this pandemic that flipped our industry upside down, and there’s no clear end date in sight. While some bars and restaurants have been allowed to open now in a limited capacity, on-premise sales are still a fraction of what they would normally be during the busy summer months.
So you find yourself even more reliant than ever on liquor, grocery and c-store sales to meet your payroll and keep brewing beer. But so is everyone else. So how do you compete?
We’re seeing more breweries offering their products at discounts to help move volume than ever before, which is an effective way to move products quickly… but at what cost? No, it’s not simply the $2 per 6-pack. In fact, the effects of discounting your beer could be felt for years down the road.
Once a customer sees you as a cheap option, they won’t be willing to pay more because there will now be other brands they still see as “quality” or “cool” at the same price, which is more value to them.
How? It has to do with resetting customer expectations. The brand you’ve worked your butt off to build and protect has a certain value or categorization in the customer’s mind. Are you seen as a “high-quality” brand? Or a “cool” brand? Or a “budget” brand? Unless you already identify as a budget brand, you probably don’t want to be seen as such, because it’s very hard to go back.
Is there a significant segment of consumers who buy solely on price? Of course, but you’re also never going to win the price war against big beer corporations that are set up for this and are able to absorb any kind of loss to win out.
So what can you do to sell more?
The answer is to help your BRAND stand out!
Good branding and packaging are important, but they are no longer enough to make the difference among hundreds of other well-designed brands. You have to do more.
Whether it’s a sign or decal in an outward-facing window to ensure you are top of mind as customers enter the store, or a strategically placed sign above a stack of cases leading customers to your products, investing in POS is a fantastic way for you to grow your off-premise sales while strengthening your brand, not discounting it.
Successful examples of POS marketing in off-premise accounts
Let’s take a look at some effective visual marketing examples from some of our clients and what makes them so successful.
New Belgium Neon Sign
Big chain liquor stores draw in an impressive number of potential customers, but the challenge is for brands to be able to convert those customers into buyers.
New Belgium does a fantastic job here at using the large neon sign to command attention to their display that would otherwise blend in to the other displays in the aisle. It also helps customers associate the New Belgium name with their assortment of beer brands.
Avery Brewing Beer Display
For specialty craft beers sold in single bottles, they are often all lumped in with the competition on a shelf section of the store. This helps the consumer find this general type of product, but leaves the brands with very little control over standing out among the sea of bottles.
Here, Avery Brewing is taking back control by providing a display rack that is both attention-grabbing and useful. The easier you make it for your customers to buy your products, the more they will! The built-in chalkboard header allows the retailer to update the inventory and pricing as the beers are seasonally rotated, making it SO easy for customers to narrow their consideration set to your brand, and make a decision quickly.
Deep Ellum Neon Sign
Grocery stores can be particularly tricky when it comes to available wall space placement for signs. This holiday display by Deep Ellum Brewery manages to draw you in without the use of wall space, and the iconic neon sign immediately drives you to the stack of Dallas Blonde to the right. Brilliant!
These are just a few examples of ways to boost your sales in stores without discounting your products. The decisions you make now are critical to the future of your company, and you cannot afford to not invest in your brand. To learn more about the ROI of signage, check out our blog post here.
When it comes to POS marketing, there are solutions to fit any goal or budget that will set you up for success in off-premise accounts. To learn more, view our Off-Premise Tool Kit, or contact us today to chat about how we can help!
Cheers!