The back bar is your pub's shop window and is an opportunity for you to show off your best and most profitable products. John Porter offers advice on making the most of this area.
It ought to be a simple question: "what can I get you, sir?" By the time you reach this point in the proceedings the customer has already made the decision to come into your pub and walk up to the bar. It's not unreasonable to assume that they might have given some thought to what they want to order.
Every publican knows, however, that all too often this question is met by the panicked look of a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
Consumer research conducted by Interbrew suggests that as many as one in four customers are undecided when they reach the bar. Among younger drinkers, who tend to have a wider repertoire of drinks and so a more complex choice, the figure is about one in three.
In order to avoid appearing like a complete doofus, the natural reaction of a customer in this position is to glance over the barperson's shoulder and order the first thing they see. So, if a common order in your pub is "a pint of glasswasher fluid, a postcard and the cellar keys, please", your back bar display is definitely overdue for a revamp.
The back bar is your pub's shop window, an opportunity to show off your best and most profitable products. The prominence and position of each product has a huge influence on how often it is ordered. All the main drinks suppliers have woken up to this message in recent years, investing large sums of money in developing templates for back bar layouts which put their products in "hot spots" to maximise sales.
Allan Tudor, on-trade sales director at Interbrew UK, says: "Effective merchandising is vitally important because it ensures retailers are maximising the sales potential of the bar area. Supermarkets have been using merchandising for years because they realise how big an impact it can have on their sales performance. The basic principle of merchandising is that people tend to order what they see: although the front bar is a key area, the layout of the back bar is also important."
Advice is a commodity you will not be short of when it comes to reorganising your back bar. What you need to do is juggle the demands of different suppliers and product categories to come up with a solution that works for your pub.
Among the key areas to consider are:
- The fridge: PPL and PPS brands are big business and there is pressure from suppliers to display as many brands as possible. Try to keep the display simple, sticking to a smaller range of key brands. This is also an area where brands go in and out of fashion, so review sales frequently and be ruthless. If a product is not earning its keep, replace it with another brand.
- The Optics: Spirits do have a higher level of "default" sales than beers and PPS brands so customers are more likely to order a vodka whether or not they can see it. Nevertheless, well-displayed premium brands will generate additional sales.
- PoS and promotions: There is a debate currently about the true value of point-of-sale material and brand promotions, with some pub operators and brand owners questioning how much they contribute to sales. What is clear is that too many messages confuse customers, so keep displays simple to maximise their impact.
- Glasses: Only use the visible sections of the bar to display things you can sell. Store glasses out of sight behind the counter
- Snacks and tobacco: Good displays can increase sales of these products. They may not justify the most prominent displays but can be useful to fill-in between hotspots.
Major pub operators have the advantage of pockets deep enough to call in a designer to plan their back bar display. John Cooke, director of consultancy at McNally Design Group, which has worked on outlet designs for pub and bar operators such as Yates Group and Chorion as well as for brand owners such as Guinness UDV, says: "Operators can miss significant opportunities by not understanding the potential that strategic merchandising can offer.
"The style bar sector has led the way in showing how effective a clean, uncluttered design can be in communicating their spirit-driven offer."
John suggests the following points to help stay in control of the backbar:
- The customer becomes blinded and confused by an array of products haphazardly presented before them. Simplify the product range by creating strong blocks of product by category and arrange these blocks from the centre outwards as a series of hotspots along the backbar. Rationalise the blocks by profitability and popularity.
- Pay proper attention to illumination of the product range. Less is more in this situation - don't overstock and eliminate clutter.
- The height of a display plays an important role. Make sure the customer can clearly see the merchandising.
- Consider flexible merchandising strategies to suit the time of day. Align your offer to suit the customer's needs across the day and across the week.
- Try allocating a dedicated space to PoS materials. This will be more effective that having too many confusing messages displayed around the back bar.
Soft drinks
Soft drinks displays are a neglected area in many pubs, often simply because of the demands for display space from other drinks categories.
However, it is worth bearing in mind that soft drinks are high margin products which are often bought on impulse. Prominent display can have an impact on sales.
Sue Garfitt, director of category planning at Britvic, said: "There has been lots of innovation in the on-trade recently and, as a result, there is now a great deal of choice. Good range management and displays are therefore essential in order for drinkers to be aware of this extensive choice.
"We always recommend publicans display premium packaged soft drinks in chiller cabinets concentrating on impulse products. To ensure drinkers are aware of the full range we also advise that pubs display the range of soft drinks on offer on the back bar."
Britvic's advice for correct shelf space planning for soft drinks includes:
- Stock the appropriate range for your pub and drinker profile and always serve with ice and fruit
- Allocate the maximum possible chiller space to premium packaged soft drinks. It is vital that bottles are chilled, otherwise people will be disappointed
- Stock adult products. They are driving the market and are unique to the on-trade
- To assist selection, plan your chiller layout in a logical manner. Group brands in blocks and stack in rows vertically to grab attention. Labels should always face outwards
- Maximise your selling space. Never sell from bottle displays, instead sell the displayed brands chilled from the fridge. People will switch brands if their first choice is not chilled