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Hold wine tastings or mixology classes. Suggest food pairings. Boost your online presence. Sponsor local events. Request promotional items from distributors. Stay on the right side of the law.
Since consumers are more educated than ever before, they appreciate the nuance of a good drink recipe or learning about a small, unknown winery like never before. Try to use the educated consumer to your advantage. While this isn't always an option due to local laws, if it is legal in your area, classes like these are a great way to keep consistent traffic inside the store. Even if you can't hold wine tastings or mixology classes on the premises, you can get creative to accomplish the same goal, partnering with local restaurants or securing alternative spaces. As the sommeliers say, "what grows together, goes together." Suggesting food pairings to go along with beer, wine, and spirits can be a great way to cultivate an air of expertise, which will appeal to higher-end customers. You can even take this strategy one step further and sell some of the foods (like fruit, cured meat, or cheese) to go along with your beverages. Your customers will pay for the convenience. Create a high quality, professional website, start an email list, and encourage your customers to post online reviews. Get active on social media and announce flash loss-leader specials (selling a product at a loss for a short amount of time to drive up traffic). Do whatever you can to boost your visibility and ingratiate yourself in the fabric of the community. A good way to ingratiate yourself in the community is by sponsoring local events like festivals and concerts. Not only is it an opportunity to boost sales at that event, but you can offer promotions to get concert-goers back in your store to keep the sales going strong. Most distributors will keep you stocked with new displays, swag, and signage. Make sure you keep it updated, because it will make your store seem fresh. Selling to underage customers, even by mistake, can cost you thousands in fines and can even put your livelihood in jeopardy. Check identification diligently, and ask local law enforcement what you can do to make sure you don't get fooled by a fake ID. You should also beware of criminals, as liquor stores have often been targets of criminal activity. Although robberies of convenience and liquor stores have declined along with the use of cash, it can still be a concern.