Stocking up for Christmas: Prepare to take stock and pile up

Selling drinks in pubs at Christmas is the proverbial no-brainer. Just to spell it out, according to recent AC Nielsen statistics, in December alone drinks volume increases by 20 per cent against an average week. It is the crucial month of the licensee's year. So those who plan their drink stocks carefully will gain the most.

However, every so often, when it comes to planning for Christmas, the calendar can throw a curve ball at you. And 2006 is no exception.

This year there will be two extended weekends during the Christmas period, with Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve falling on a Sunday. So whereas pubs usually get ridiculously busy in the afternoons and evenings of Christmas Eve, after everyone has finished work, this year the whole country will be heading for their locals as soon as you open. Probably only a few hours after they left the night before.

So the evening of Friday 22 and the whole weekend of Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 will be a massive sales opportunity. The same goes for Friday 29 and Saturday 30 the following week leading to the New Year.

As far as Graeme Mitchell, on-trade controller for Carlsberg UK, is concerned, serious preparation with your drinks offer is key. "With Christmas just around the corner it is essential that cellars and fridges are fully stocked," he says.

"We anticipate unparalleled sales over the Christmas break, with much of this focused on the four-day weekend. Our experience shows that beer sales start increasing as early as five weeks before Christmas as the party season gets under way, so we suggest that licensees plan well in advance to meet that demand."

So clearly with your draught beer offer getting stocked up in time requires sensible planning with your suppliers. But what of the more tricky question of your back-bar offer? Do you make specific allowances for the festive season?

Back-bar fridge​

Look at your back-bar fridges. When demand is so high, space is really at a premium. Should you increase your range or simply focus on your top sellers?

Andy Slee, trading director at Coca-Cola Enterprises, argues that pub-goers at Christmas are a different animal to your regulars. He says: "People who visit the pub at that time of year are people who only visit the pub two to three times a year. And when they are there they expect to see brands and well-known brands at that. They demand familiarity."

So it is probably wise to ensure you are well stocked with your top three or four selling brands, be they ready to drinks (RTDs), premium packaged lagers (PPLs) or soft drinks.However, Karen Salters, marketing director at Beverage Brands (owner of WKD), goes even further. In an effort to make your back-bar offer even stronger she suggests certain items should be pushed out of the fridge and kept on top of the back-bar.

She adds: "Given the massive demand placed on chiller space why not keep anything that is served over ice outside of the fridge? And increase your facings of PPLs and RTDs?"

It is certainly an interesting idea and one that might help increase sales of RTD and PPLs, and given that products such as Magners are already served over ice it should not have too much effect on those sales.

But soft drinks brand owners think this idea is a non-starter. "Given the premium consumers pay for soft drinks, there is an expectation of a pre-chilled bottled drink," says Andrew Marsden, category director at Britvic. He believes working hard at restocking your fridges after hours will really help sales.

"It is so important to plan ahead at Christmas. Make sure you bottle up at night. Bottling up in the morning is a bad idea as the product won't have time to chill properly. Many customers come in first thing and want chilled soft drinks," he adds.

Three-point plan​

Karen Salters' (marketing director of Beverage Brands) three-point plan for licensees this Christmas:

• Focus on those brands that are doing well rather than just looking at how categories are performing
• Don't be tempted to stock a brand just because of a price promotion - look for value added promotions and advertising support which attract consumers so there's no need for deep price cuts
• Review your chiller range: declutter. Devote more space to fewer lines to ensure that the best-sellers are served properly chilled.