Stocking up for Christmas: PoSitive ideas

Sam Ellis of Drink Tank explains some pub psychology in time for Christmas.

Christmas is a stressful time for you and your staff, but have you ever considered how stressful it can be for customers ordering a drink at the bar? It's meant to be a relaxing, social occasion but for some people, particularly those who are non-regulars - likely to be a higher proportion of your clientele during the festivities - the first few minutes can be a taxing experience.

Drink Tank, a marketing initiative set up by Leeds-based sales promotion agency Poulter Partners, has come up with some new research that gives you an idea of how people behave and feel as they approach your bar and how you can make them feel more comfortable and influence that behaviour.

It conducted a range of studies that included customer focus groups, interviews with licensees and staff and observing just what people do when they go up to the bar.

To sum up the findings simply, it concluded that using point-of-sale (PoS) material in a more intelligent and focused way can improve your customers' experience and increase your sales.

"As people come through the door their first concern in an unfamiliar pub is to locate the bar," explains Sam Ellis, who heads the Drink Tank project.

"Once they have located the point where they can make their order they start to look around, assess the bar and soak in the atmosphere. Then they might start worrying about ordering. Will they be seen? Surely it's their turn next?

Finally, they have to try to remember the order.

"So if you think a quick poster or busy blackboard is going to positively influence their purchase, think again."

One problem at Christmas is that there's so much information you feel you ought to get across to people. But that could be your first mistake. "Of course, customers want choice," says Sam. "But when they get to the bar they want that choice to be made simple.

"The temptation at Christmas is to over-inform and bombard the customer with an abundance of choice and messages. Blackboards, menus, posters, tent cards, cut-outs all vie for attention. The danger is that this 'noise' fails to register and your opportunity to influence purchase in terms of a more premium product or additional purchase has been lost."

To illustrate this Sam says one pub customer told Drink Tank, "I see the posters, I just don't see what's on them".

It is generally assumed that it's relatively easy for publicans and their staff to influence decision-making.

There's a figure that's been bandied around for several years that says, on average, 70 per cent of customers don't know what they are going to order when they get to the bar.

But Drink Tank's new research throws considerable doubt on this. In its survey of 1,000 pub consumers 96 per cent of respondents claimed they know what type of drink they want before they enter a pub and 77 per cent know which brands they will order.

"If this is the case there isn't much time to influence their choice," Sam points out. "In our study we found that many pubs tend to ignore the key decision-making corridor, what we call 'the last 10 feet'."

Sams says licensees should make this 10 feet the point at which they aim to break into the customer's consciousness and try to sway them from their habitual choice.

"Until this point, customers can suffer from tunnel vision - the need to locate the bar and order point and assimilate the environment takes priority," she explains.

So what can you do about it? As a starting point this Christmas you should separate decorative material from PoS that includes a key selling message. "Get a good balance between the two and keep your key hot spots for key selling messages," Sam advises.

"When under pressure customers need rational, instructional communication," she adds. "Being too creative can blur the message. Great product images, a strong motivational message that's large enough to read and refreshment and taste cues can all work hard to get the message across and whet the appetite."

This will not only make enjoying themselves easier for your customers. "The benefit to you, the licensee, is increased profit, a speedier service and better customer care," concludes Sam.

How to improve promotional communication​

• Reduce the number of products displayed or promoted
• Focus upon your best opportunities to appeal to your core target market on specific occasions
• Deliver a single, strong call to action to induce purchase
• Sell the rational benefits of the product, such as value, taste, refreshment, indulgence or how new it is. Don't just rely on image
• Make sure customers can read your PoS
• Change displays or messages to suit the time of day.

Buying in rounds​

As the festive mood mounts so does the inclination for inexperienced pub-goers to buy a round for their mates.

Buying drinks for friends, however, only exacerbates the stress of buying at the bar. As well as trying to get noticed, there's an order to remember.

Drink Tank's research found that younger customers in particular stress that looking and staying poised and self-assured is paramount. "You can't afford to look stupid in front of your mates," as one put it.

For this reason, explains Sam, there's often a reluctance to ask staff for information. "Instead, customers revert to top-of-mind, simple drinks, which may not be the most profitable option for the licensee," she says.

So at Christmas-time it's worth giving some thought to how you can improve the process for customers buying in rounds.

For instance:

• Use staff better to process orders or payment
• Use added value solutions that make a set round an easy option
• Display suggestions prominently within the last 10 feet and use instructional messages to guide customers into the order.

Remember, the speedier you can make bar service, the more profit you'll generate as more customers will be served.

Offer a wider range of soft drinks​

It's not only the occasion that influences people's buying decisions in the pub, it's who they are with - and Christmas, of course, is a time for families.

"When they go for a meal at the pub with the children, the first priority for mum or dad is to get the kids sorted. This tends to be mum, while dad goes to the bar," says Sam Ellis.

"Food tends to be the driver and the drink is secondary so less thought goes into choosing the drinks. The habitual or 'default' drink almost certainly kicks in - it's a 'no-brainer' as one mum put it. This can be a hard purchase to influence so concentrate instead on trying to encourage a second drink that's more premium.

"Use tables and locations within eye vision that tempt the customer and are presented as an interesting treat or alternative. Think more about how you can link drinks to meal solutions to add value for customers and increase your cash margin.

"Visits with children are less likely to be alcohol-led occasions and both parents may drink soft drinks," she adds. "Make sure that you offer an interesting alternative to standard carbonated or juice drinks - Drink Tank's research found that the thought of another fizzy drink was often the prompt to go home.