{"id":402,"date":"2012-07-16T16:54:47","date_gmt":"2012-07-16T20:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/batchat.net\/?p=402"},"modified":"2012-07-16T16:54:47","modified_gmt":"2012-07-16T20:54:47","slug":"the-value-of-in-store-tastings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/16\/the-value-of-in-store-tastings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value of In-Store Tastings"},"content":{"rendered":"

We just wrapped up an in-store tasting program for one of our clients and I had to remind myself once again that in-store tastings are probably the most effective tool we have to make a direct impact on moving more boxes while building the brand<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. (This is in contrast to couponing and discounting which can also have a significant volume impact, but at the risk of undermining, rather than building a brand.<\/p>\n

An\u00a0effective, well-managed tasting program can deliver a lot of benefits, but the one most difficult to measure one is perhaps the most powerful…the WIIFM effect.\u00a0 (What’s In It For Me).<\/p>\n

The most successful retail promo programs are those that help the retailer increase their volume and margins.\u00a0 When the supplier\/importer\/distributor helps grow the retailer\u2019s business, they\u2019re working in collaboration with the retailer for mutual gain, not just using them as a soon-to-be-forgotten checkout register.\u00a0 But as they say on TV \u201cBut Wait!\u00a0 That’s not All\u201d.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a list of some of the other lessons of a successful tasting program we relearned:<\/p>\n

\u201cRemind\u201d the trade that the brand moves.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if it might not be the sexiest new product in the store, a brand that is a \u00a0proven volume generator is part of the foundation on which the retailers\u2019 business is based. As is often the case, the attention of management and line folks at the distributor and importer level is often diverted to other priorities.\u00a0 Tastings keep your brand top of mind by making your brands\u2019 sales velocity and customer satisfaction strengths more visible.<\/p>\n

New Distribution<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The same is true in terms of new distribution; tastings can be a great tool for sales to use to increase distribution for proven brands, not just new brands.<\/p>\n

Increase Volume <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Moving boxes is the name of the game.\u00a0 In this program we increased average sales per store 16X the day of the event, and we\u2019re just in the process of measuring the residual volume lift.<\/p>\n

Repeating Events Tell a Stronger Story<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scheduling a series of events in a given store can dramatically increase the run rate in between events.\u00a0 The retailer will be more receptive to stocking inventory and reordering based on sales in their own store.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a great way for local sales to demonstrate support for your best accounts.\u00a0 Implicit message… \u201cwe\u2019re here to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scaling Perception into Reality<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A good goal is to achieve a 30% conversion rate\u202630% of the people tasting, purchased product.\u00a0 And depending on the price point, that conversion rate can often be in multiple bottles purchased.<\/p>\n

In fact, we executed this particular promotion in what we considered second tier markets, and the conversion rates there reached almost 60%.\u00a0 Clearly, showing a little love can pay off in spades.\u00a0 The same point is true in terms of bottles purchased\/event.\u00a0 Where we had corporate chain support we nearly doubled the average number of bottles sold per event.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, there\u2019s a lot of great new promotion ideas out there, but in the wine and spirits business, blocking and tackling is critical to focus attention on your brands at retail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“In-store tastings are probably the most effective tool we have to make a direct impact on moving more boxes while building the brand”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[25,149,197],"class_list":["post-402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-brand-building","tag-tastings","tag-wine-tastings","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7k1BV-6u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}