Pub industry can learn from supermarkets

Pubs should steal the five principles supermarkets use to help drive their sales, according to research company him!.

Katy Moses, business development manager, said the five principles were occasion merchandising; be famous for something; make it local and personal; healthy options, and keep up.

She said changing A-boards during the day and serving food at different key occasions is a technique pubs are "not exploiting" despite the fact it is not expensive to implement.

Moses advised pubs to think about dividing up their venues so families and children are placed away from after-work drinkers.

"It doesn't have to be a hassle. You just have to look at things like using smaller tables and placing newspapers and magazines on them.

"Make sure these are situated away from larger tables, which might have cocktail menus on. Then maybe have four or five tables which would have kids' entertainment packs on."

She advised licensees to concentrate on what they are good at by choosing one thing that makes them distinctive, adding that if they can do it well they should tell people about it.

Consumers place an increased importance on community, Moses claimed. Following the lead of Tesco by promoting its community credentials in venues can only work to a pub's advantage.

The Tesco store in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, has a community board highlighting that it uses local suppliers and that the majority of its staff are local.

"This is probably true of most of your pubs, but you're not telling your customers about this."

She also advised pubs to consider offering healthy options on their menus as 27% of customers claim they think health and wellbeing will become more important in the future. To keep up with the opposition, pubs should consider optimising technology by using the internet, mobile phones and social networking sites.

Moses also advised pubs to consider initiatives used by other retailers, such as a Starbucks' pre-pay card, which allows customers to add cash and then use it at a later date.

This will help pubs with their cashflow, she added.