3 Reasons Why You Need On-Premise POS Data Insights for Your Alcohol Business

In a cut-throat industry like alcohol sales, where the margins are already razor-thin, you must use every tool you can to gain a competitive edge. On-premise alcohol POS data, which refers to the obscure alcohol sales that take place in bars and restaurants, can give you the insights you need to make informed business decisions and beat your competitors.

This data ensures that you always know what alcoholic beverages sell best, according to every grouping you can think of (more on this later). This is even as states and cities experience and recover from covid-19 at different rates, since all data is collected in real-time and tailored to what you want to observe most. As such, you can easily assess your performance, and determine your next move to making bigger, more expensive sales.

Given today's technology-driven, data-rich world, the chances are that some of your competitors are already harnessing on-premise POS data insights. Of course, this gives them a significant edge, making the playing field uneven. Continue reading to find out the reasons why you could benefit from using on-premise POS data insights for your alcohol business.

How on-premise data makes you a superior alcohol supplier  

Without accurate insights into alcohol sales, retailers are unsure of their purchasing strategy and don't know what to buy to optimize their sales volume. This means retailers in the bar and restaurant industry will have no strategy to drive growth within the critical alcohol category, and their profit margins will remain low.

As a supplier, you can become the superhero and present data to your clients that they may not even know exists. You can accurately predict trends backed by real-world on-premise POS data that helps your clients feel confident when buying your supply. As a result, you'll be able to attract more clients—this means more sales and a much higher return on investment.

What you can gain with exclusive access to alcohol POS sales data

Getting exclusive access to the alcohol industry's POS sales data can help you maximize your sales and make informed decisions to compete more effectively. You can gain access to data and insights you never had before for on-premise locations across the US and all major classes of trade —and realize the following benefits:

1. Better analytics and organized reporting

POS sales data enable bar and restaurant operators to run their businesses smoothly and provide useful information that helps them evaluate performances across each product category (wines, spirit, and beer) –by location, drink type, brand, and more. This ensures that you gain valuable insights into the pricing of all of your products at the point of consumption and allows you to determine areas where your products are not selling well, or rather not as well as they should.

As a supplier, here is a breakdown of some of the insights you can gain from on-premise POS data: 

• Class of trade and location insights: POS sales data enables you to see prevailing trends and your latest performances by segment and geography: Independent, Regional, and National, and by class of trade: casual dining, bar, fine dining, and by city, market, region, and state. 
• Brand, category, and product insights: Knowing how well your products perform compared to those of your competitors helps you understand how competitive they are. Brand and product insights can help you develop more targeted sales stories. Moreover, you won't go to your customers blind since you'll be aware of what sells. 
• Assortment insights: A well-structured on-premise POS data can provide you with a wealth of actionable insights on product assortment. Extensive, fact-based assortment recommendations can help alcohol businesses close gaps in their drinks menu and discover new ways to grow their sales and margins.

With this information, you can create more targeted sales stories, expand your product range, ensure your best brands are being marketed correctly, and find opportunities to increase sales and margins.

2. The ability to test pricing strategies your competition hasn't thought of yet

Of course, you know what restaurants and bars pay for your products and the type of support and incentives that you offer them to increase your sales volume. Nonetheless, you might not be aware of what they are charging their customers for your products. On-premise POS data insights enable you to find out what bars and restaurants are charging for your products. It also enables you to determine what's selling and what's not. From there, you can help guide them to create winning prices using the following strategies: 

• Perceived value: The term cheap can either mean a low price or a poorly-made product. Most people tend to associate cheap products with poorly made ones. They assume that the higher the price of a product, the better quality it has. 
• Boost customer confidence: Highly-priced products portray exclusivity and value, and mid-priced products can represent a reliable, more affordable choice. You can work with your retailer(s) to offer optimal pricing with data showing that customers are willing to pay standard or higher prices for a product, and that a price rise wouldn't impact the product’s demand.

3. Hassle-free payment processing

Cloud-based on-premise data solutions like iControl also offer alcohol businesses all-encompassing payment processing that supports electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments. This payment method is more secure, faster, and can be used across various platforms. As such, suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers can gain more convenient contactless payments without the risk of losing cash or checks on delivery. 

Optimize the sales of your alcohol business with on-premise POS data insights

There is no doubt that on-premise POS data provides several actionable insights about your products, competitors, partnered retailers, and of course, the end consumer. Alcohol businesses that effectively use on-premise POS data insights can boost their marketing efforts, improve operational efficiency, and raise their bottom line. 

Do you want to learn more about why you need on-premise POS data insights for your alcohol business? Check out our recent blog here.