Retailers Get Creative To Balance Allocated Spirits Sales

Amid ongoing shortages of small-volume Bourbon releases, allocated items play a key role in making spirits retailers relevant to Bourbon drinkers. “Stores that don’t overcharge earn the respect and loyalty of their customers,” says Scott Niecko, co-owner of Michigan’s Mega-Bev chain. “And that respect is the key to long-term growth.”

Limited supply of sought-after Bourbons and other spirits is frustrating for both consumers and retailers. And while some retailers may capitalize on shipments of the coveted products with sales at exclusive price points where legal, others are opting for game plans designed to ensure fairness to all customers and aimed at building the stores’ reputations. Increasingly, retailers are getting creative when it comes to divvying up allocated spirits, with practices ranging from full-scale store events to tie-ins with loyalty and single-barrel programs to raffles and even charity auctions.

Many retailers now utilize raffles as a solution to the allocated spirits conundrum. At Molly’s Spirits in Colorado, twice-yearly virtual raffles allow winners to purchase rare bottles such as Pappy Van Winkle, W.L. Weller, and Elijah Craig at retail price. Under the system, customers who are members of the stores’ Spirits Club earn one raffle ticket for every $500 they spend in a six-month period.

According to Justin Marcotte, liquor manager at Molly’s Lakeside, Colorado store, “the nice thing about the raffle is that it rewards our regular customers,” compared to a system that attracts bottle hunters from outside the area. Previous approaches employed by the retailer included auctions and raffles available to anyone, programs that “didn’t take care of our regular customers,” Marcotte notes. The current system also helps build Molly’s loyalty program, as membership has grown 20% since implementation.

At Southern Spirits, a 12,000-square-foot store in Indian Land, South Carolina, not far from the North Carolina border, a Saturday morning allocation event takes place every four to six weeks. “We send out a message the day before on social media, and customers will immediately begin to line up, camping out overnight,” says general manager Drew Podrebarac of the first-come, first-served event. The sale typically attracts about 350 people, and each person can purchase one bottle, and sometimes two, all priced at the MSRP. Market Watch has more on retailers’ strategies for handling the buoyant market for allocated spirits.

Tagged : Mega-Bev, Molly's Spirits, Southern Spirits

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