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Back Bar Merchandising |
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Licensees should realise the potential of the back-bar, says Patrick Huggins.
It's behind you! That's right. Your most important marketing tool could be skulking just over your shoulder. In spite of your no doubt attractive bar staff the back-bar is the biggest, most imposing thing your customers will see as they uncertainly approach the bar clutching that bank note you're so eager to whip from their grasp. What you do with your back-bar can have a profound effect on their buying decision. For Patrick Huggins, Director of BHMA Limited, and trainer of Back Bar Merchandising Skills Courses for many years, the back-bar area is "potentially the most influential selling space in a pub". "Research shows there are a number of things you can do in the pub which influence consumer choice, including ensuring optimum product quality and having a balanced range. One of the biggest influencers of drink choice, however, is visibility − people tend to buy what they see," he explains. "Visibility is key in helping licensees build their business. It's not enough to stock profitable brands if your customers don't know they're there." On 88 per cent of visits to the pub, drinkers will stick with one brand, so it's vital you steer them to the most profitable brands for that first purchase. "There is a definite opportunity for licensees to use back-bar display to do this," says Patrick. "And it's also an effective way to make drinkers aware of new brands and encourage them to give them a try." Research seems to prove that good results can be achieved for very little effort. "Live tests have shown that back-bar merchandising can produce significant sales uplifts for the featured brand". "A well-merchandised bar can increase sales by between 10 per cent and 35 per cent. Not only that − a well laid-out back-bar can increase speed of service which helps improve the quality perception of a pub and overall consumer satisfaction." So what you put on your back-bar and how you organise what's there is worth spending some time on − and be ruthless. "The back-bar should certainly not be used to store items such as glasses, because you don't sell them and it only wastes a prime piece of selling space" says Patrick. In fact, his advice is that less is quite often more when it comes to making an impact. Focus & Consolidate he continually says. He adds: "It is important to take a selective approach when planning your back-bar display. Cluttering it with lots of brands will confuse people and lead them to picking the first thing they see or recognise − and that's not necessarily the one you want to push. For maximum impact only one or two brands should be displayed at any time." You have a number of options when deciding how to make the most of your back-bar. They include promotional displays − branded material, for example, that is available through your supplier to raise awareness of a consumer promotion. Or you can display the products themselves. Research shows, for instance, that sales can increase by up to 25 per cent when premium packaged lagers are stocked on the back-bar, and that includes a spin-off rise in draught sales of the brand, which alone can increase by as much as 13 per cent. Patrick advocates that you should double up the draught beer font, side by side to create the impact from the profitable draught beers and lagers. "Licensees can rotate products on the back-bar on a regular 10 day maximum basis in order to drive sales across a number of brands, maintain interest and avoid the temptation to clutter the bar with several brands at a time," suggests Patrick. Chill out for hot profits Back-bar chillers have become a vitally important marketing tool for licensees here are some rules.
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