RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina retailers could use coupons or membership cards to sell beer and wine at a discount in legislation that a State House panel approved Tuesday. State Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Commission rules now prohibit cents-off coupons or free beverages as part of alcohol advertising. But this bill would allow stores that sell beer and wine to provide sales incentives, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The retailers just want to be able to reward their customers, said Andy Ellen with the North Carolina Retail [image-nocss] Merchants Association, which has pushed for the change over the past year. It was a delicately manufactured compromise.
Grocers and other stores that sell alcohol through a license sometimes offer reduced prices on a six-pack of beer or bottle of wine passed along by the manufacturer and distributor. But state ABC rules say cents-off coupons or coupons offering free alcoholic beverages shall not be used as a method for advertising.
The bill, which now goes to the full House, would allow an exception to the rules if the retailer offers a discount coupon to purchase beer and wine or requires a customer to use the buyer's membership card, discount card or loyalty card to receive the discount. Free alcoholic beverages still wouldn't be permitted.
The change wouldn't apply to state ABC stores, which sell liquor and where manufacturers sometimes offer instant coupons on their products.
Ellen said retailers could use discounts to highlight North Carolina wines, for example, in addition to offering regular reduced prices. The language would not permit manufacturers to offer coupons or rebates on beer and wine a decision that would appear to clarify the current ABC rules. Miller Brewing Co., for example, has offered a mail-in rebate on their beverages that lists North Carolina among the states where the offer is valid.
The language has the support of leading beer-makers in the state, the North Carolina Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association and winery groups, according to Ellen.
The Rev. Mark Creech with the Christian Action League of North Carolina said allowing the coupons could boost sales, particularly among college students who are prone to binge drinking and possibly ethnic groups that have been historically targeted for malt liquor sales.
Any time that you have a two-prong approach of teaming advertising with a discount price for alcohol sales ... you have a rise in consumption levels, Creech said. This is a sweeping change in alcohol policy in North Carolina.
Ellen said he doesn't expect the coupons to alter consumption habits.
The Senate declined to insert the language in a separate alcoholic beverage control bill that passed the chamber last week, Creech said.
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