Six of the UK’s top retailers met in Diageo’s Customer Collaboration Centre in London for the bi-annual My Store Matters forum. The fourth forum was attended by convenience retailers including Raj Aggarwal, Rav Garcha, Paul Cheema, Sunder Sander, Kay Patel and Vip Measuria.
At the forum, Diageo presented the latest insights and trends in the spirits category, and showcased its new summer innovations, including Pimm’s Cider Cup, Guinness Golden Ale and Captain Morgan White.
The group discussed best practices coming into summer with a key focus on spirits. Their top tips and strategies hinged around making spirits easy to shop by:
- Always stocking the top-selling brands, including fractionals
- Stocking a full range of PMPs, and ensuring clear, bold pricing on spirits behind the counter
- Placing freezers and fridges close to tills, with clear POS for pouches and premix offering
They also recommended making spirits exciting to shop. Retailers should:
- Cross-merchandise spirits with other cocktail ingredients, and include package deals
- Focus on the finished drink, and suggest recipes including eye-catching serve imagery
- Create an ‘Occasion Station’ in-store, and merchandise display units around current events
Patricia Mota, Category Development Manager and head of My Store Matters, Diageo GB, urged retailers to grab hold of the summer opportunity.
She said: “You can’t underestimate the appetite for spirits – there are 10m spirit searches on Google every month across Western Europe. Particularly as we come into summer, we want to help retailers grow their sales through our simple and easy steps to implement in store.
“Summer is a time when people come together to share food and drink. Hosting is the perfect opportunity – 60% of shoppers are hosting at home. Retailers should aim to inspire their shoppers to get creative with spirits, experiment with cocktails and personalise their occasion at home with friends.”
Diageo has launched its ‘Shake It Up’ spirits campaign for the summer, encouraging consumers to tweet and post pictures of their cocktail creations using the hashtag #letscocktail, to drive spirits penetration across the warmer months. Retailers can take advantage of this campaign in their store through eye-catching POS, including cocktail recipe booklets and shelf barkers, counter-top units, and free-standing display units.
