Why Use Digital Labels to Achieve a Quality Liquor Store

Achieving a quality liquor store is not just about offering as many types of alcoholic beverages as you can or as many brands of liquor as possible. 

In the competitive world of alcohol retail, it is paramount for liquor stores to aspire to be more than just average establishments. Striving to be a good liquor store brings numerous advantages. A good liquor store creates a welcoming and pleasant shopping environment for customers, fostering a positive experience that encourages loyalty and repeat visits. 

Also, exceptional customer service provided by knowledgeable staff ensures that customers receive personalized recommendations and assistance, enhancing their overall satisfaction. 

Ultimately, being a good liquor store cultivates a strong reputation, fosters customer trust, and sets the stage for long-term success in a competitive market.

This is where digital labels like Newton come in. Newton Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) are essential to keeping the place modern, efficient, and successful.

Not all liquor store shoppers are connoisseurs. Some are casual drinkers and others may be clueless when it comes to picking the right drink for the right occasion.

Newton ESLs can help with that problem. These digital labels have a 7-page display capacity as part of their information sharing feature. Unlike ordinary paper shelf labels, Newton ESLs can display all the important details needed when selling liquor and other alcoholic beverages. This includes manufacture dates, expiration dates, alcohol percentage, ingredients, allergens, and other nutritional content. Each digital label can even include any age restrictions on alcohol consumption.

Updating prices in Newton labels is quick and easy, making it possible to cut labor costs. With ordinary paper labels, the liquor store staff would have to manually change prices and labels, working overtime and increasing labor costs. By eliminating the time needed for the staff to manually change labels and update prices, the store can reduce their labor costs and the staff can focus on other, more critical tasks. 

This is what happened in The Whiskey Exchange, a quality liquor store in the United Kingdom that implemented Newton ESL on their shelves in 2018. By switching from paper tickets to ESL, they have made their operations faster and most cost-effective.

“They [ESLs] take no time in creating, cutting out, and changing them,” says Polina Malinovskaja, Assistant Manager of The Whiskey Exchange.

Aside from showing shoppers extensive product details about alcoholic beverages, Newton labels can also make product searching easier through their built-in LEDs. 

SUNKA, a hypermarket in Catalonia, Spain, has integrated the Newton labels into “Moments” their own seld-developed tablet application to help shoppers get the right wine they are looking for. Shoppers can go to an interactive touchscreen tablet where they tell the application “Moments” if they are looking for a bottle of champagne to celebrate with friends or for a bottle of red wine to compliment a romantic dinner.

“The customer can simply select a moment on the tablet and it [the system] automatically picks a suitable wine for the occasion,” explains Carles Hurtado, Director of Innovations & Projects of SUNKA. “The label starts blinking where the bottle can be found. This project helps and surprises customers a lot.”

Newton ESLs also have near-field communication (NFC) capabilities for downloading digital coupons, website browsing, and mobile payments. And in case they need more assistance and want to talk to customer service, they can use the labels’ built-in multifunctional programmable buttons to call the nearest staff for help. 

Quality liquor stores and other specialty liquor stores most likely have climate-controlled areas to properly store alcoholic beverages. Newton labels are durable and can function in areas like this. There are also Newton freezer labels made specifically for freezers and areas with extremely cold temperatures. These can operate from -25 to 0℃.

Newton ESL can also contribute to the marketing efforts of a liquor store. These labels can have custom designs, as well as advanced display features that will entice customers to browse and shop for more. Discounts, sales, and promotions will also be advertised immediately on these labels.

They can also be used to advertise other products such as cocktail garnishes, wine glasses, bar stools, and other bar or party supplies. Interactive display labels can also leave a unique impact on customers. Overall, these electronic labels will add to the visual merchandising of the store.

Electronic shelf labels also make inventory management easier. Liquor store staff will have a streamlined system for performing inventory tasks—checking shelves and aisles, checking accurate price labels, restocking shelves and displays, and more. Store management can achieve maximum efficiency with a solution like SOLUM Newton labels.

Once workflows and operations are streamlined and in-store marketing is boosted, Newton labels can also lead to better profits. Quality liquor stores will have better sales performance, better customer service, and a more engaged customer base. The happier customers are to shop in a liquor store, the more they will patronize it and spread the word.

Having proper Newton ESL can also ensure the public and consumers that the liquor stores are adhering to the laws. In some states in the US, alcoholic beverage control (ABC) stores only sell spirits and wine, not beer. In some Canadian provinces, only a limited number of private wine shops sell at the same price as the government liquor stores. Age restriction is also a point in these regulations. It’s important that liquor stores include this and other crucial information on their shelf labels.

A Newton label is without a doubt one of the most advanced in the market. And with its state-of-the-art technology, liquor stores have a lot of possibilities on their horizon. Here are some of the Newton ESL features ideal for quality liquor stores:

• 7-page information capacity
• IP67 rating for dustproof and water resistance
• 7 LED light indicators
• 10x faster update speed, fastest RF-based ESL in the market
• 10-year battery life
• Two multifunctional buttons
• Built-in protection cover
• Custom designs
• Wide variety of screen sizes
• Near-field communication capabilities
• Location-based service

To get started on ESL solutions for your liquor store, talk to SOLUM now.