The
deceptive thing about change is the nearly imperceptible pace at which it
happens. Such is the case with shifts in consumer preferences. At times these
trends can be perceived at the street level, but more often not they're so
broad in scope that it takes an aerial view to really see what's going on.
In
an extensive on-line consumer study conducted for Cheers Magazine, Mike Ginley and Next Level
Marketing of Westport, Connecticut surveyed 2,260 people who frequent casual
restaurant. Out of that group, 1311 (58%) responded that they had visited a
chain restaurant within the past 30 days. Of those people, 728 (56%) said that
they had purchased beverage alcohol while at the restaurant and they were ones
selected for the study. Four hundred and two of them were (and remain) women.
Ginley
and his team uncovered a number of significant consumer trends that throw light
onto the question of what people in the United States really want to drink. The largest group of
consumers (22%) responded that they prefer socializing with cocktails and
spirits, compared with 19% who said that they are primarily beer drinkers and
11% who drink wine.
For
most of us in this business, beverage plays a huge role in profitability.
Industry wide beverage sales average around 25% of revenue, while at the same
time account for over 50% of average gross profits. The survey found that 60%
of the respondents--more than half of which were women--told us that they
"usually to always" order a beverage alcohol drink when they go out for dinner.
Of interest also is how the consumers responded when asked how many drinks the
order per occasion. Over 80% responded that they stop after the second drink,
while 32% said that they hold after the first.
It's
particularly interesting to look at what consumers have to say about what
motivates them to order a particular cocktail or drink special. According to
Next Level's on-premise research, it's clear that if your marketing strategy
doesn't include a well-conceived drink menu, you might be spinning your wheels.
The
large majority of consumers (75%) said that they take the time to read drink
menus and 25% of people identified drink menus as what most influences their
purchasing decisions. Over 70% of consumers said that the drink descriptions
are most influential, 47% were swayed by pictures of the drinks, while 41% were
influenced by drinks listing brand names. These findings suggest that bar menus
are a must, and that spirit branding, colorful pictures and well-written drink
descriptions positive sales drivers.
In
addition, the survey revealed that consumers are influenced by special price
promotions. Twenty percent of the respondents stated that they were favorably
predisposed to ordering drinks that were discounted in price. Incidentally, the
fifth (12%) and sixth (12%) most significant influencers are drink special
boards and table tents.
According
to the survey, another significant order influencer is promoting drinks within
the restaurant's food menu. Seventeen percent of consumers reported that they
were swayed to purchase a specialty drink while pursuing the food menu. This
dovetails perfectly with the growing trend of pairing food items on the menu
with cocktails, wines and beer.
Ginley
also discovered that the best way of motivating guests to order new drinks is
by offering them small samples of the concoctions. Over half of the respondents
said that sampling the drink beforehand prompted their decision to purchase.
One
last interesting glimpse into the collective minds of your guests. When not
socializing with beverage alcohol, 42% of the respondents said that they would
be interested in ordering alcohol-free beverages priced up to $4.00. There has
been a steady increase in the acceptance of beverages prepared without alcohol.
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