Why retailers should arrange shelf sets by brewery, not style
Interesting read over on the mothership…
As the craft brewing segment matures, many brewers, distributors, and retailers have begun to wonder whether shelf sets organized by style (traditionally used by chain retailers to market wines) offer a better model for craft beer than the shelf sets organized by brand (traditionally used by chain retailers to market beer).
More >> Brewers Association.
For all intents and purposes, there are two styles of wine (red and white), each with a gradient scale of sweet to dry. There are an infinite and ever-changing number of beer styles, some related, some wholly unrelated. Stick to brands. It’s just easier that way.
With that argument, you could say “for all intents and purposes there are two styles of beer (light and dark).” There are just as many grapes/AVAs/styles of wine as there are defined styles of beers. I agree that package cooler sets are better suited to be set by brand, but if you have ever been in a store that sells a large number of single 12 oz’s, setting by style is AWESOME. It makes finding new beers to try amazingly easy, and keeps people from skipping over the unfamiliar. I also would like to add that nearly every decent beer bar lists by style on their beer lists and we all seem to agree that this is the best format. Why do we change our minds when it comes to retail?
Wine is easier to find by varietal and vintage rather winery. Beer is the exact opposite. We tried the beer by style in my store for about a month and we saw a decrease in beer sales. When we switched back to beer by brewery sales increased
every shop, specialty or grocery, that I’ve ever been in in Virginia arranges its stock by brewery. I don’t understand why anyone would do it otherwise and didn’t realize anyone was.
Did both in my stores. Both have pros n cons to them. My personnel opinion is it should be by styles . The brewery (Sam Adams) love to see all their beer together . The consumer ( who pays my bills) who wants n iPa ….loves too look at them all together n not have to filter through a wheat beer or something else ! What do you do with your NA beers ? Your gluten free ?
Think gluten-free and non-alc. are exceptions to the rule.
Better by Brand easier to find stuff and agree that gluten and na are the exceptions to that rule.
I think I like it by brewery at this time, but there may come a time when by style will be more appropriate as the number of brands increases
That said, if they sell singles (especially in mix packs like mentioned above) style may be better.
To each their own. I think it largely comes down to whether you discriminate based on breweries or by style (and if both, which do you discriminate on more?).
I’ve learned more and more about what brands I trust over time so for me, it’s important to separate those brands out from one another. I generally don’t discriminate against styles in the same way because I know that I didn’t like IPAs at first and now I obviously do. I want to see groupings based on brand and then by price (and maybe local for some folks). If I’m looking at a Green Flash 4-pack at eye-level with nice packaging (not a squirrel or some junk) and it carries a slightly higher price than other products, those are factors that should hint to a buyer that this might be a higher-than-average product in terms of quality. When I go to the supermarket and I’m buying something like hot sauce, I can visually knock out the cheap, no-name brands quickly because they’re lumped together on a lower shelf from the good stuff. It’s convenient. I don’t go in saying I want Chipotle hot sauce today. I go in saying I want good quality hot sauce & I know that those couple of brands hit the mark.
When you arrange by brewery, you are holding valuable shelf space for a brewery that may tackle a style that we all know is an “experiment” and it is marketing to see if it will sell. If it sticks, then the brewery keeps in the rotation. If not, it is replaced will another wacky recipe, then repeat the process. By arranging by brewery, the retailer takes the easy way out & just gives up precious space to a designated brewery brand/distrbutor to keep non moving beer SKUs in that valuable space. If a retailer is not involved with their SKU movement on regular basis, they will not maximize potential profits.
By arranging in styles, you can guide the consumer to help them to decipher the profile of beer they wish to purchase or pair with a meal. Similar to wine, this also allows the ability to hand-sell or up-sell to a consumer. It also shows more hand picked beers chosen by the retailer vs. just getting sold what the brewery/distributor wants the retailer to buy. PLus when a style is no longer available, it is easier to find a replacement from another brewery vs. having to shift your beer set around when arranged by brewery.
Lastly, either way can work for a retailer (by style or by brewery) however it is best that they focus & are strict about the beer selection & the pricing model they use. When retailers buy beer, they never examine the price point & determine where it fits in their beer sets. More & more breweries are using similar pricing model which in turn causing beer sets to have a horizontal effect in the reflective pricing. This takes away the ability to up-sell, maximize profits, when you have too many similar price points on the shelf. Retailers need to buy & arrange in vertical pricing terms. With ascending price points in beer sets, more profits will be made & brand visbility will be seen as the highest regard to the craft & quality of the product on the shelf. PROST!