The spirit in-store…

Tina (name changed) finishes her monthly grocery stock up at a modern format retail store and then steps into wine section to browse around and pick up a bottle of wine to gift her friend for a special occasion.  She looks for the right label, puts it into her shopping cart and proceeds to settle the bill at the cash counter.  Where liquor retailing is concerned, this is a scene that not only reflects the modern format of retailing, but also the new age consumer. So how are these brands connecting with this new age shopper and how do they go about cracking the moment of truth at the point of purchase?   

The industry

To begin with, let's look at this industry in general. Says Jasmine Grover,  Head -- Corporate Relations, Studio Thorn,  "India is the fastest growing alcohol market in the world and is considered to be a lucrative unexplored destination for alcoholic drinks by several international companies. Growing urban population, increasing disposable income, rising acceptance of social drinking, alcohol consumption by women being no more considered a taboo, and increasing reach are the factors driving the growth in spirits market of India.”

Agrees Mahesh Shinde, Director, DMS Retail Works Pvt Ltd, "The liquor industry is on an upward swing due to various factors. With limited advertising scope, making noise at the retail space is definitely the way to get noticed for them. The biggies in this space are even importing a lot of POP material and are ready to invest in R&D and try new materials and new methods to improve and showcase world class POP at retail. The change in the makeover of the traditional daroo shop into a modern liquor shoppe / store and its entry into modern trade has also pushed this industry to do more justice to this space through POP and displays. "


Brands' approach to retail

So how are these brands tapping potentially captive market at retail? Pijush Chowdhury, Director-The Mission Xcellence says, "There has been a huge change in both the marketing initiatives on-premises and off-premises for liquor trade, which eventually led to the space war between the brands.  We saw in due course of time that the whole outlook for such products got changed and the tie-ups with retailers and clubs became the most important vehicle for all the companies to reach out to their TG.”

According to Joseph Sunderajan, Director, Edge Retail,  brands are now looking for new ideas with the control on minimum budget. He adds, "Project based budgeting is on now, while earlier, there was unit based pricing system. Now a budget is given for an entire project. Also, the number of projects has increased and so have the spends.  Competitive pricing and tender based projects have balanced projects and budgets. "





Scope for innovation

As in many other categories, the scope for innovation is far higher than what the trend reflects.  Says Praful Shettigar, BDM , Spur Display Pvt Ltd, "Innovation is not happening as much as it should, though glorified displays which are catchy are preferred by brands. For example, we had created a magnetic ring bottle which can be placed in ring for support which was appreciated by the brands.”

Says Jasmine in this context, "As on-trade channel needs to be explored in depth to establish consumer engagements that leave stronger impressions. The On-Trade Channel is unique as it allows greater flexibility to communicate brand propositions. Studies say that receptivity to brand messages increases in such a context. But it has to be done in innovative manner.”

Challenges

But innovation in this sector comes with its own challenges. As Jasmine says , "Product knowledge,  lesser exposure to brand and their propositions, semi literate counter salesman, low motivation on the part of the retailer to serve the consumer better, etc lead are the main challenges and these even leads to slower evolution of the consumer towards the brands.   This posses huge challenges on the BTL team to communicate the product proposition / offering to the consumers. You need to really shout loud to communicate your offerings.”    

She also feels that space is a big limitation particularly in geographies like Mumbai and Kolkata.  

For retail solution providers, the lead time for projects is also a huge challenge. As Joseph from Edge Retail says, "The main challenges are to do with the time line- the lead time, production time, and implementation time. The lead time given is very unrealistic.  Promotional events often come up at the  last minute for the client.  Also, the lack of advance payment for initiating projects is also a great challenge. "

Agrees M.B Bopaiah, Director, Streamline Communications, "There is usually hardly any time given to execute the whole project .  Within 4-5 days everything has to be done - recce, designing, execution etc, so it gets very tight. As we keep saying, the industry works on the principle of'Order today delivery yesterday'!”

So how can these challenges be worked for a win-win situation at retail for the brand and the solution provider?  Says Jasmine, "The alcohol shopper enters the retail shop with certain brands in mind, thus shop facade is important and allows the opportunity to enter the shopper's consideration. Carefully crafted sensory appeals can also create that consumer preference for a brand. Also, brand videos at retail through LCD screen helps establish a connect with shopper. Advanced Technology will play important role in the days to come and the company with first mover advantage will gain from it.”

Joseph adds further in this context, "Liquor retail formats include pubs, clubs, wine shops, bars & restaurants, wholesalers, and the rural outlets outside the city. Given all these formats, a new format offering products at prices lesser than the MRP can be introduced wherein the wow factor can increase and so can the branding opportunities along with the number of outlets.”

Says Pijush Chowdhury from Mission Xcellence, "The first challenge for us was to break the conventional scenario which prevailed in the retail counters in terms of the P-O-P materials. We also needed to remove the barrier to visibility. So we provided solutions of window displays, revamping the counter and keeping in mind the lifestyle branding approach. We tried to educate the individual retailers by showing and informing how their modern retail outlets may look like and discouraged them from showcasing the whole stock at one time.”

Praful Shettigar, however, feels brands should target lounges, "In retail there is lot of competition among the brands for visibility and display. Brands should go for surveys in lounges and showcase their products to consumers on their new products and also engage with them personally to know and understand them better. "

Well, it is one thing for these brands to get high on the market and another to actually tap the market potential at touch points. Brands could do well to remember and take into account all the factors and challenges at play at this space.  More importantly they should empower their retail solutions partner for holistic solutions by giving them the right budgets and more importantly the right time lines.