10 Strategies To Boost Sales At Your Liquor Store

Need some ideas how to improve liquor sales at your store? From liquor store promotional ideas, to partnerships, there are numerous ways liquor store owners can engage their customers and attract new ones.

Which marketing tactics work best for increasing sales?

Really, it depends on your market and target audience. A liquor store in a college town, for example, might not want to host a high-end wine tasting (but that type of promotion might work well in the suburbs). Hopefully this list of tactics to grow liquor sales will provide you with some strategies you can use in your market.

The Best Tactics to Increase Liquor Store Sales

The liquor industry is hyper-competitive. But there are numerous marketing strategies businesses can try to stand out.

From conducting market research, to leveraging digital signage to drive impulse sales and bundles, these promotions can help you grow quickly. Here are 10 strategies you can use to increase liquor sales at your shop:

1. Determine What Sells

Sales data contains a lot of rich insight. And if you’re using a powerful liquor store POS platform you can get a lot of rich data. In particular, there are a few points that you should be looking for:

• Product performance: Determine the products that are your best sellers, which are declining, and which products have potential for growth. This will help you align your inventory to customer preferences.
• Seasonal trends: Analyze data over different time periods. Summer = cold beer, while the holidays = mulled wine. Seasonal data will help you with inventory planning, as well as in-store signage and displays.
• Price sensitivity: Identity how pricing changes purchase behavior. For example, you could find the average cost of a bottle of wine (about $14 nationally). You can use this data to optimize pricing for your audience.
• Cross-selling opportunities: Look for product combinations that regularly sell together. This will help you make strategic product placements, or offer cross-sells at the register.

Your sales and customer data is full of insights and inspiration. That’s why the best liquor store POS platforms that offers user-friendly analytics tools. 

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2. Find Your Customers

Another data analysis task that can drive sales growth: Determine who your customers are and what they prefer. Some ways you can do this:

Identity customer demographics

If you collect customer data, you can determine the average age, gender and location of your customers, as well as average order values for each segment. This data helps you tailor marketing efforts to these demographics.

Customer feedback analysis

If you don’t already, ask for customer feedback via a suggestions box. Plus, monitor social media and online reviews. In particular, look for positive and negative areas to improve or refine, as well as get suggestions for new products to carry.

Promotional effectiveness

Look at past promotions and determine which sales tactics worked best. You can use these to generate ideas for future promotions.

Finally, you can observe in-store shopping behavior. See how customers move around your store. This can help you create better displays and optimize product placement.

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3. Choose a Specialty (But Branch Out)

Be the best at something. Do you have the best selection of craft beers? Is your team always ready to suggest the perfect bottle of wine? Craft cocktails? Do you appeal to bourbon connoisseurs?

Whatever your specialty is, let your customers know. Digital signage and displays will help you do this! And this is also a great source of material for emails and social media posts.

But even if you have a specialty, don’t forget to carry the staples. You should carry recognizable brands, as well as complementary products like wine keys, beer and wine glassware, ping pong balls, mixers, fresh citrus, and cocktail making supplies, if you can do so legally.  

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4. Digital Signage and In-Store Displays

Merchandizing is very useful for increasing sales in a liquor store. In-store displays can draw attention to new products, promotions, or bundles. A great way to do this with a Digital Signage platform.

Using Digital Signage software you can create:

• Signage to promote events, product launches, etc.
• Set day-parting schedules to change signage throughout the day or week
• Draw attention to new promotions and special offers

Typically, digital signage is more cost-effective way to create engaging in-store advertisements (compared to rearranging products), and it’s less time-consuming.

>>> Get more tips for using digital signage in liquor stores.

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5. Cross-Sell and Upsell

These tactics help you increase the value of every transaction. But they’re also great for building a connection with customers and generating loyalty. Some simple ways to upsell and cross-sell in liquor stores include:

• Promote a premium product – If a customer regularly buys a specific brand of bourbon, you can introduce them to a premium brand in the same category.
• Suggest add–ons – When a customer buys tequila, you can suggest adding limes to the order. Keep handy impulse items near the register (like lighters, wine keys, bottle openers, etc.)

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6. Create Product Bundles

Bundling products helps make shopping easier for customers, and it’s a useful tactic liquor stores can use to increase order values. For example, you might try:

• Craft cocktail bundles – Combine all the ingredients needed for a popular cocktail.
• Create gift bundles – Liquor gifts are popular around the holidays. Creating a wine sampler bundle would be great as a gift.

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7. Host In-Store Events with Partners

Connect with the business community and find unique ways to partner. Partnerships can be mutually beneficial and can help your business reach new customers. A few ideas for collaborations and events include:

• Wine / Craft Beer Tastings – Showcase new items or connect with wine or beer enthusiasts.
• Pairing Events – You could work with a local catering business to host a pairing event with your wines.
• Mixology Workshops – Team up with a local bar tender to have a craft cocktail workshop.
• Fundraiser Events – Another way to drum up business for an event: Partner with a local business for a fundraiser. For example, with a wine tasting, you could use donations or tickets to attend, and then sell your wines to attendees.

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8. Launch a Customer Loyalty Program

Monthly wine clubs, exclusive deals, and VIP clubs can help you enhance customer engagement and foster loyalty. Learning how to engage your loyal customers can help you unlock growth.

Fortunately, if you choose a POS system with loyalty programs, the program will be easier to launch and manage. Some ideas you can use include:

• Exclusive deals – Provide special offers or early access to new products for your rewards members.
• Monthly clubs – Host a beer-of-the-month or wine-of-the-month club promotion for loyalty subscribers.
• Volume-based discounts – Use a points program to help customers earn rewards after spending a set amount in your store.

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9. Be Strategic With Promotions and Discounts

You can use promotions and discounts to drive sales. However, don’t over-rely on this strategy. If you discount products too frequently, or offer deep discounts, customers will learn to wait for a promotion, rather than paying full price. Some ideas include:

• Seasonal and holiday-based discounts – e.g. rose in the summer, and stouts in the winter
• Promoting sales of complementary products like wine and cheers or spirits and mixers
• Deal days on slow sales days, e.g. Wine Wednesdays with a 10% off promotion.

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10. Expand Your Inventory

A diverse range of products will help you attract a wider customer base. One option would be carrying local products. You could partner with a local distillery to be an exclusive retailer. Also, offer a range of price points. You want to cater to budget-conscious and high-end customers. For example, in your wine display, you might display wines under $15, as well as your mid-range $15-$30 next to each other to appeal to all customers.  

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How a POS System Can Help Your Liquor Store Grow

The right POS system can help you open up a liquor store and be more successful. Ultimately, FTx POS has a wide range of POS features for liquor stores, including: 

• Loyalty Programs – Use Loyal-n-Save to set up and manage a convenient, mobile app-based loyalty program. Your customers find your business on Loyal-n-Save and can start earning points. Or contact us for a white label solution.
• liquor store inventory management – Our POS includes liquor store inventory management tools that alert you to low stock levels, allow for restock automation, vendor management tools, and more.
• Digital Signage – Create vibrant digital displays with AdPro (included free with FTx Digital Signage). With 1000s of templates, you can drop-and-drag professional signs in minutes, and FTx Digital Signage makes it easy to manage throughout your store.
• Age Verification – FTx Identity creates a seamless, online-based customer verification system. Allow your customers to leave their IDs at home and verify age through the platform.

Learn more about FTx POS. Contact our team today for a demo to see these features in action.