Good news: Independence Day ranks as one of the strongest holidays for beer sales in convenience stores, indexing higher than any other major holiday, according to Nielsen data.
Bad news: The grocery, drug, liquor and mass-merchant channels all index even higher. (See related chart below.)
It’s one of the dichotomies of the c-store industry: While holidays rate as some of the best times of the year to be in the beer business, the channel doesn’t achieve the lift that other retail outlets do.
“Historically, the top three single biggest beer days in c-stores are Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and then the combined days of Thanksgiving and the day before,” says Joe Vonder Haar, CEO and partner of iSee Store Innovations, St. Louis, and a former Anheuser-Busch executive. “What you see on a weekly basis is that c-stores maintain their sales rate and growth, but the market expands during the holidays.”
So suddenly, more people are shopping for beer (a good thing!) to help them celebrate the holiday with family and friends, but they’re more likely to shop somewhere else (not so good).
“During holiday weeks, large-format (grocery) stores are overindexing on sales and winning beer sales,” says Ashley Yu, senior manager of trade marketing for Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis. “Consumers are buying their beer during stock-up trips for holiday events at grocery stores and mass merchandisers when they are already shopping for food and other goods vs. making separate trips to convenience stores.”
Another issue is the holiday shopping list. Consumers are looking for variety and large pack sizes to satisfy multiple drinkers and avoid running out. And unfortunately, many of them don’t think of convenience stores as a place to find those two things.
“Shopping (for the holidays) typically translates into mom shopping at the grocery store for the best price on a large pack,” Vonder Haar says. “Grocery and big box own that shopping trip with their (pricing) strategy. So c-stores don’t lose their core customer, but they don’t gain the other.”
Ultimately, it’s a matter of marketing—letting the customer know the c-store has what they need. But first, retailers must make sure their store selection really does meet those needs.
Size Trumps Temp
Mapco Express, Brentwood, Tenn., aims to meet consumers’ holiday beer needs with small but strategic moves.
“Customers [have] a one-stop-shop buying habit where they can go to grocery stores and get all their shopping needs for their holiday events,” said Damian Wyatt, director of category management for Mapco.
“We focus on adding larger packages inside our floor layouts,” he says of stacking 12-packs on floors and shelves. “We really don’t change our sets per se for holiday traffic. However, bundling beer with chips and ice has proven to be successful. We also use creative outlets such as social media and digital to call out our beer offers, the variety of packages and the coldest beer in town.”
Of course, “cold beer” is the call of the traditional c-store marketing plan, and for good reason: More than 75%of c-store beer is consumed immediately (within an hour), according to Anheuser-Busch research.
For retailers, moving beyond that may require a change of thinking, but suppliers say it’s worth it to capture the holiday shopper. Nielsen data shows convenience stores sell 29.8% of their total beer volume during eight primary holidays, while all other channels sell as much as 32.3% during those periods.
Right Beer, Right Time
Two key ways to grab some of that volume are capitalizing on variety packs and stocking and promoting the right beer for the right occasion.
“We encourage thematic merchandising that calls out beer displays around the holidays,” says Joe Kaczynski, national channel manager for The Boston Beer Co., Boston. “Convenience stores can complement top-selling craft-beer six-packs with matching 12-packs in the beer vault or a floor display.”
Boston Beer has capitalized on seasonal variety packs for years with Samuel Adams Fall Variety, Winter Classics and Beers of Summer 12-packs. Similarly, MillerCoors has had success with its Leinenkugel’s Autumn Sampler Pack, and Heineken USA has driven trial of its Strongbow ciders with a variety pack timed along with the fall apple harvest.
“Seasonal and other craft-beer variety 12-packs serve as an impulse item for a customer to grab and go for a holiday occasion,” Kaczynski says.
And having a rotating set of seasonal beers—something for every season—can help a retailer build a reputation as a go-to beer store.
“Seasonal beers can provide brewers and c-stores an opportunity to capitalize on incremental sales while providing variety to their customers,” says Tim Ferenchik, category development director of convenience for Heineken USA, White Plains, N.Y. “The opportunity for c-store operators is to feature the brands that sell well during holidays and offer rotating seasonal beers as part of the mix.”
Similarly, some beer brands have become almost synonymous with certain holidays: Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day, Corona on Cinco de Mayo or Budweiser for the Super Bowl.
Driving home that connection, and simply making sure consumers know those brands are in stock, can go a long way toward making a c-store a destination for those holidays.
“Mexican imports like Dos Equis and Tecate and domestic premium lights play a key role during the summer holidays,” says Ferenchik.
“For Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is a shift in choice toward the high-end segment, especially European imports like Heineken and Heineken Light. In fact, Thanksgiving is the best-selling holiday for Heineken in the c-store channel.”
The key, says Wyatt of Mapco Express, is to communicate what’s in stock, tie it to the season and explain the offer as simply as possible, because “customers make their decisions quickly in our stores.”
Holiday Beer Sales by Channel*
Convenience stores overindex on beer sales during six of eight key holidays throughout the year but still have catching up to do compared to other channels of retail.
| Holiday | Food | Drug | C-store | Liquor | Mass | Total U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Bowl | 91 | 92 | 90 | 88 | 88 | 90 |
| Easter | 99 | 101 | 101 | 96 | 102 | 100 |
| Cinco de Mayo | 97 | 100 | 99 | 95 | 98 | 98 |
| Memorial Day | 124 | 109 | 106 | 116 | 121 | 114 |
| July Fourth | 143 | 122 | 115 | 141 | 140 | 128 |
| Labor Day | 120 | 111 | 108 | 115 | 113 | 113 |
| Thanksgiving | 115 | 112 | 108 | 122 | 117 | 112 |
| Christmas/New Year | 108 | 115 | 101 | 124 | 102 | 106 |
Source: Nielsen via North American Breweries | * Total beer, malt beverage and cider sales index to average weekly volume; 100 = Average
Tips to Get More Beer Under the Christmas Tree
Do: Communicate the offer simply.
Don’t: Run the risk of out-of-stocks; keep an eye on supply.
Do: Consider merchandising that ties a product to a holiday.
Don’t: Hesitate to stack warm multipacks on the floor.
Do: Bundle beer with beer—a six-pack for now and a 12-pack for later.
Don’t: Forget to bundle beer with snack chips, nuts or ice.
Do: Keep prices competitive.
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