However, at visit's end, guest enthusiasm too often dissipates out the door, into the parking lot and down the road like so many windswept promotional brochures.

How then to turn a property's sizeable hospitality expenditures into equally impressive returns at the winery shop cash register? The elements of operating a profitable winery-based shop are not fundamentally different from those of any successful retail operation.

Sure, there is all that touring and the sampling as well as the additional concerns over "ambience" associated with the wine culture. However, when it comes right down to it, the public spends an hour or so on a property where they are given reasons to buy. The winery operator hopes to push the right buttons as the wine and related products are offered for sale. Think of it as a live infomercial with cocktails.

All the ingredients of any thorough marketing program figure into the mix - advertising and promotion, merchandising and sale - over the course of a single winery visit. And that's the perspective to take on a winery retail outlet that must pay its way. Improve the quality of the message (advertising and promotion) and capitalize upon what has been communicated (merchandising and sale).

Advertising and Promotion

The first step is to devise a bold marketing plan. The messages to visitors as they are toured, entertained and sampled must be strong, repetitive and unequivocal. By emphasizing a few basic concepts that set the winery apart - quality, terrior, winemaking methods, varietal types, value, etc. - attention is focused on product features and benefits just as would be the case in any effective marketing presentation to the consumer.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC MARKETING THEMES
Which gems out of the thousand-and-one perspectives from which the winery's products are viewed should be selected as the focal point(s) of an impactful marketing campaign?
Appellation?
Perhaps oak-aging?
That quarter-century award-winning tradition?
The history of the property?
The unique vision of the winemaker?

The larger the portfolio, the longer the list of themes needed to tell a winery's story accurately and effectively. However, the critical point is that once the notions that best distinguish the winery and its wines have been identified, they must be presented in every facet of an operation's marketing.
Presented in every piece of the winery's literature.
As part of what is said to those touring the facility.
At the tasting bar.
On the packaging.
And most importantly, in how the portfolio is organised and presented to the public.

PORTFOLIO PRESENTATION
The roster of a property's wines - the list that visitors view at the tasting bar, in the retail shop and ultimately carry home - can be a winery's most powerful marketing tool. This list should be arranged in such a way that it gives each individual wine catalogued the maximum opportunity to be noticed by the public in the retail setting.

At its best, the structure of this portfolio reflects fully developed marketing themes. As outlined above, these reinforce what makes the winery and its products stand out and where each individual wine fits into this vision.

THE TASTING BAR
The products selected to be poured at the tasting bar should reflect those that a winery most wants to sell. Whether or not consumers are charged for samples, setting these priorities is key to receiving the greatest return for a major investment. As such, the "default" selections at the tasting bar may change on a periodic basis as winery priorities shift.

This is yet another opportunity to underscore the characteristics that make the winery and the wines being sampled "special." By now the consumer should be getting the message unequivocally, as themes which were introduced in winery literature and on the tour are reinforced.

THE DISPLAY OF AWARDS
Focus attention on products that can be purchased today. While an award-winning tradition is a powerful testimonial, the most is done to bolster sales when the display of award winners centers on vintages and varieties currently available.

Merchandising and Sale

Ultimately it is dynamic merchandising that assures retail success. When consumers come to the final stop of their visit - the retail shop - remember to "ask" them to buy. This is where buttons are pushed and because there have been clear and common threads to the presentation, finding these buttons should be less troublesome.

Even a superior customer service staff is not sufficient to guarantee the success of a retail operation. There are times during busy summer weekends or at the time of seasonal festivals when even the most attentive crew cannot provide personal service to each and every customer. It would, of course, be ideal if they could, but when a tour bus arrives at an already-busy shop, customers' questions go unanswered; their requests unfulfilled.

BOUTIQUE AS SILENT SALESPERSON
The answer is an effectively laid-out and merchandised retail shop that "speaks" directly to visitors, clearly communicating the features and benefits of a winery's products. These are the same selling points introduced on the tour, in the promotional literature and at the tasting bar. The same ones the staff would be communicating if they had the opportunity to break away from the long line at the cash for even a moment.

In "speaking" to consumers, the retail room becomes the winery's most consistently effective "sales representative." Attention-grabbing product presentation, thoughtful and attractive signage and overall organization should each reflect the strengths of the wines, thus "asking" shoppers to buy.

This approach is comfortable for consumers, as well. They have been conditioned to self-service shopping on a daily basis at the discount store and supermarket near home.

ORGANIZING RETAIL SPACE
One key to maximizing a return on all marketing investments is to enhance traffic flow throughout the winery shop. Sales opportunities are increased when consumers find it easy to move to any product location within the store - at the wall or on the display floor - from any other location. There should be no dead corners!

This intuitive organization not only will result in more selling locations where products will be noticed and considered by shoppers, but also will make for a more comfortable shopping experience. Shoppers are thus encouraged to linger. As a result, product sales on impulse are maximized.

DISPLAYING AND SHELVING WINES FOR SALE
Well presented bottles of wine are shimmering jewels, imploring customers to take them home. Positioning products so they face consumers as they navigate the shop encourages impulse purchases by taking advantage of thoughtful and attractive packaging and all that "advertising" visitors have digested during their time at the winery.

Effective presentation of product goes beyond just the size of a display or the manner in which bottles are situated on shelves and racks. Products at retail should be grouped to reflect the themes developed during the tour and reinforced at the tasting bar and in promotional materials.

One major display opportunity often overlooked is the area most adjacent to where wines are sampled by the public. At the tasting bar, wineries frequently will make any and all of their wines available for guests to sample. However, a more effective strategy is to first offer those that consistently make a positive impression or ones where current inventory levels or seasonal marketing programs mandate a sales push.

Even at the tasting room where every product in a portfolio is made available to an interested visitor, the priority selections - those wines systematically poured first for everyone who is tasting - should be displayed and fully merchandised nearby. When guests must go in search of these selections, sales are lost.

SELLING WINES ON IMPULSE
The focused promotion conducted on a winery's tour has primed visitors to buy. At the retail shop, the judicious use of powerful merchandising assures that a larger proportion will when . . .
shelf talkers and other signage are shown at the point-of-purchase and are direct and make reference to the features and benefits of the products introduced throughout the winery visit.
additional graphics are used to engage the public, compelling them to interact with the displays and to linger just long enough to take notice of individual products.
a sense of urgency is created at each display, whether on the basis of price, the arrival of a new vintage, a special varietal, limited supply, award(s) won or any of a hundred of other themes. Display locations are not shelf extensions and should never be handled as such. A well-merchandised display has the potential to sell five times more product than a shelf placement of the same bottles.
priority products are placed at eye-level so they are seen and at hand-level so they are reached more easily. These are rules #1 and #1a for the merchandising of both shelf and display locations.

TRADE-UPS AND OTHER SHELF TECHNIQUES
There are any number of industry-tested shelf merchandising techniques that serve to frame the products of higher quality or greater value (read "larger size") that a winery most wants to sell.

By bringing spatial perception concepts, such as an individual's maximum horizontal and vertical viewing ranges at the shelf, into play, it can be assured that the greatest number of individual wines is noticed. And when more products are noted, there are increased instances where the consumer must make that "yes, I'll buy it or no, I won't" decision.

Suggestion is a powerful retail tool, especially for encouraging purchases in multiples. Whether it’s a thematic presentation of "special" wines (e.g., "oak-aged" or "estate-bottled") in an attractive three-bottle package or the simple reminder that an empty (and fillable) 12-bottle carton is available for the customer's convenience, the investment is small and the return impressive when customers are "traded-up."

CROSS MERCHANDISING
Accessories, apparel and souvenirs can add impressively to the bottom line. Branded items also add powerful secondary marketing as visitors carry the winery's message home with them.

There are a number of approaches for integrating non-wine items into a winery's retail shop. The optimum presentation for individual items can depend upon their price and mark-up as well as the available floor and wall space. There is also the decision of whether to integrate accessories throughout the wine shop or to dedicate a space - a "boutique" - to them.

MAINTAINING AMBIENCE
The creation of a magical winery retail atmosphere requires striking a proper balance. It is a winery that visitors have come to see and they have carried some powerful and romantic expectations through the front door; these are often inconsistent with the perceived manipulation of hard-sell. While there are many techniques from the science of merchandising that the winery retail shop can borrow from mass merchandisers to boost sales, their quiet and tasteful application is the key.

(Revised 04 January 2001)

© The Retail Detail of Canada, 2001

to Email Ken Tuccoli.

Niagara Growers Businesses www.littlefatwino.com