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Tap and Cooler Door Optimization

New studies and statistics help determine tap lineups and cooler door layouts that will maximize profits. 

With indoor dining resuming and life returning to some semblance of normal, what better time to look at how to best optimize your tap lineups and cooler door placements. 

In the on-premise, the tap lineup and menu play a huge role in what consumers decide to drink. A study by The Boston Beer Company revealed that price is the top determining factor for consumers’ beverage choice, but much more surprising is that drink descriptions on the menu are the next most important factor. Luckily, Origlio makes it quite easy to keep your descriptions updated – head to Origlio.com for descriptions on all beverage offerings in our portfolio.  

But the all-important question is, what beers should you feature to satisfy the largest swath of drinkers? Studies show that an on-premise account in the Atlantic Division can satisfy 97% of drinkers with just 8 taps and 10 can or bottle selections. For a tap lineup those selections should include two domestic beers (Coors Light, Yuengling), one specialty domestic (Blue Moon), one import (Corona, Heineken) and four craft handles ranging from local options (Dogfish Head, Sly Fox, Evil Genius, Dock Street) to national brands (Sam Adams, Firestone Walker, Sierra Nevada). 

Suggested can and bottle quantities and categories are: three domestics, three imports, two national crafts, one cider and one seltzer. Not only does this selection satisfy 97% of drinkers, but also drives 4.2 drinks per drinker and $404 in profit in the first 100 servings.  

But what about the off-premise and grocery accounts, where customer base, number of cooler doors and overall space can vary widely? Origlio’s Director of Off-Premise Sales, Adrian Archer, says that accounts should, “Recognize two strategies to maximize cooler door optimization: product flow and category captains.”  

Each cooler door should have a flow that makes it convenient for a consumer to shop. Depending on how many doors an account has, they should be broken into easily recognizable categories. One example of a flow would be a single serve door, followed by FMBs (leading with seltzers), ciders, crafts, imports, premium/domestic and economy. 

But how can consumers easily recognize each cooler door’s category? By the door’s category captain, a high velocity product that indicates what type of products that door will hold. For example, if a consumer is entering a store looking for Corona 12-packs, the last thing you want is for them to be looking high and low for their desired product. Having that Corona 12-pack as a category captain, placed front and center in your import door, helps consumers shop.  

Of course, no one knows your customers like you. But by using these optimization strategies in tandem with your own knowledge of your customer base, you can mix and match what domestic taps would work best, or which category captains will be most effective – thus maximizing your profits and keeping your customers coming back for more!

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