Top brands and trade-ups brew added profits in beer coolers

Drug Store News,  April 6, 1992  

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Cooler space in drug stores is so valuable that effective management of beer shelf space is essential. Few product lines can match beer for its ability to generate productive fill-in store visits or high-impulse purchases from well-merchandised cold displays.

To capitalize on these benefits in the limited space available, retailers must emphasize brands that appeal to the most consumers. To do that well, they must have ready access to data on sales, unit movement and profits--by item, brand and category. With that data, they can tailor shelf sets to individual store need and maximize beer sales and profits.

Miller Brewing Company, the maker of such leading brands as Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft and Sharp's, offers "Vertibrand--It's The Arrangement," a space management program that gives retailers unparalleled flexibility and maximum control over beer displays. Vertibrand is a proven, effective approach to planogramming beer, using full-color schematics or photographs as guides for setting shelves and maintaining cooler displays.

Indeed, a gross profit evaluation program is part of Miller's Spaceman Program, which analyzes cost of product sold, average retail prices and investory levels. By fine-tuning this information and partnering on the local level, each store's coolers can be made most productive.

In one recent example, an independent test of 30 stores--chosen by the retailers--showed the power of Vertibrand over a distributor type set: unit sales were 10.8% higher, dollar sales 11.0% higher and gross profit 12.8% higher. The projected annual gross profit dollar increase per store: $4,496.44.

Today's business environment mandates intelligent use of all resources--especially on the selling floor. Yet "many retailers are still devoting as much as half their space to brands and packages that account for less than 10% of total department sales," says Rod Blucher, Miller's VP-National Retail Sales.

Vertibrand calls for beer brands to be arranged in vertical alignment on the cooler shelves, with packages arranged horizontally. Space is allocated to brands and packages based on sales shares. The total category is organized by price segment: imports and super-premiums are first in the traffic flow, followed by premium brands, then by popular and budget-priced brands.

With this plan, adds Blucher, "the cooler is much more organized and aesthetically appealing. This helps customers find preferred brands more quickly. There is less occurrence of out-of-stocks and the cooler 'sells down' more evenly. Moreover, organizing by price encourages consumers to buy the higher-priced, better-margined brands and discourages trade-downs. With out-of-stocks minimized and more productive brands in the mix, the optimum space-to-sales shelf alignment leads to maximum profits."

Miller is an innovative profits partner that develops products, packaging, planogram programs and consumer demand--all aimed at making retailers more productive. Miller is your single source that makes sense.

COPYRIGHT 1992 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
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