"Beer consumers have said they are trying to avoid convenience trips due to the perceived higher costs," said Dan Wandel, senior vice president of IRI, Chicago. "If [[image-nocss] c-stores] want to start going after other consumers, we've got to start doing things differently."
Added Tom Fox, partner in the CM Profit Group consultancy in Troy, Mich., "We have to rethink the store. It's based on impulse now, when people are using more lists for shopping and planning ahead before they leave the house."
John West, director of sales and marketing for 7-Eleven licensee Alon Brands, Odessa, Texas, agreed, saying, "There have been so many changes outside the c-store channel that we had to take a new look at our selection. And I think that will happen again [before the recession is resolved]."
Todd Jenney, CEO of Martin & Bayley Inc. dba Huck's in North Carmi, Ill., made changes too, introducing a "Choose Your Brew" make-your-own six-pack offer that allows consumers to choose from many craft and import-beer singles without committing to one brand of beer that, if being tried for the first time, they may not like. "I make more on a six-pack of that than I do on a 30-pack of anything else," he said.
Wandel said that's the kind of innovation retailers need to embrace. "If you want to start driving new kinds of traffic, I suggest you start varying your selection," he said. "Work with your supply partners and look at the consumers who might not be shopping the [beer] category now."
For more on how high-end beer sales are being affected by the economy watch for the August issue of CSP magazine.
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