Going for the soft sell

Soft drinks deserve as much prominence on the back-bar as alcoholic drinks

Sorry to confuse you, but while you're puzzling over which bottles of alcohol should take the best positions on the back-bar, don't forget about soft drinks.

Softs are now the third largest category in the on-trade and deserve at least as much merchandising attention as your premium beers, ciders and FABs.

The major suppliers provide extensive advice to their customers on how to manage soft drinks in order to optimise sales and it covers range and space management as well as merchandising and promotions.

That task has grown more challenging as the choice of products available to licensees has expanded, as Sue Garfitt, director of category planning at Britvic Soft Drinks, pointed out.

"There has been lots of innovation in the on-trade recently and in particular we have launched brands like J2O exclusively in this market," she said. "As a result, there is now a great deal of choice available to drinkers. Good range management and display are therefore essential in order for them to be aware of what's on offer and potentially buy more on each visit."

Karen Salters at Beverage Brands, which markets Caledonian Clear bottled water, agreed. "All publicans would do well to give more prominence to the range of adult soft drinks available, particularly in the summer when people are looking for long, cool refreshment," she said.

"Strong merchandising and positioning in the chiller can also drive impulse sales as the weather warms up, and premium packaged soft drinks offer publicans higher margins while taking up the same amount of space as some cheaper brands."

"We always recommend that publicans display and serve premium packaged soft drinks from the chiller, concentrating on the more impulse products like Britvic's dedicated on-trade brand J2O," continued Sue Garfitt. "To make sure drinkers are aware of the full range, we also advise pubs to display the range of soft drinks on offer on the back-bar, using a back-bar display unit where possible."

Britvic also supports its major brands with point-of-sale material for tables so people who do not go to the bar are aware of what's available.

But for any licensee who wants to increase sales of soft drinks, correct shelf space planning is fundamental. Britvic's advice is:

• allocate space in your chillers for soft drinks - they give just as much percentage profit as bottled beers and ciders.
• make sure people can quickly and easily see what soft drinks you offer
• stock the appropriate range for your pub and customer profile
• allocate as much chiller space as you can to premium packaged soft drinks. It is vital that the bottles are properly chilled or people will be disappointed
• stock innovative products which are driving the market and unique to the on-trade
• cluttered shelves are confusing and may lose you money. On the other hand, too few products can lead to people feeling there is little choice
• to help customers choose, 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
• position popular brands on shelf "hot spots". A natural hot spot is the top shelf of your chiller
• maximise your selling space. Only use the visible sections of the bar to display things you can sell
• never sell from bottle displays - use these for display only and sell the displayed brands chilled from the fridge. People will switch brands if their first choice is not chilled.

As well as displaying the bottles themselves effectively, there are other kinds of merchandising that can help drive sales. Britvic recommends publicans adopt these tried and tested techniques:

• use branded point-of-sale material, menus and chalkboards to emphasise the range of premium soft drinks you stock
• be tidy - keep the displays tight and close together
• good quality, impactful merchandising can improve the overall look of the bar.

Licensees' view​

"We're opposite the town hall and get lots of workers in at lunchtime so soft drinks are really important to us. We train our staff to promote J20 as this offers customers value for money and profitability for us. We display it on the shelf behind the bar and use point-of-sale and this definitely speeds up sales. We serve J20 in a 16oz glass with ice and we're offering a special summer promotion of J20 cocktail jugs."Kate Simpson (pictured)​, the Salutation, Hammersmith, West London​

"Merchandising soft drinks is very important as they offer a good profit margin. I'd advise other publicans to seriously think about what soft drinks they stock and display them properly as this has certainly worked for us. We display Britvic 55 and J20 on the shelf behind the bar to jog people into buying a premium packaged soft drink which is more profitable to us. We always sell soft drinks chilled and we put J20 and Britvic 55 on the top shelf of the fridge on the eye-line of customers at the bar. We list our soft drinks on chalkboards that are visible when you come in the door as well as on a poster behind the bar."Simon Burrell, the Pheasant Inn, Stone, Staffordshire​