Prop 125 Passed But Colorado Liquor Stores Can Still Compete Against Grocery Stores

So, Proposition 125 passed which will allow grocery and convenience stores in Colorado to start selling wine on March 1st 2023. While this is disappointing to liquor store owners in Colorado, there are some ways to compete. Having visited hundreds of liquor stores across the US, including stores located in states that already allow the sale of beer and wine in grocery and convenience stores, I have gathered these various tips:

You can decide to only sell spirits and eliminate beer and wine from your product mix.

Convenience stores and many grocery stores will not have the same selection of wines that a liquor store can offer. Consider offering price matching for wines that the convenience and grocery stores actually sell.

Offer special ordering options – convenience and grocery stores generally don’t offer any way to special order a specific wine.

Have a customer loyalty program as a way to encourage loyal repeat customers.

Have a “good neighbor” discount for local loyal customers. This can normally be done via a button at the point of sale software screen.

Have an employee mystery shop the grocery store to know what wines they offer and at what price (or look at their weekly online ads). You could also do this with any nearby convenience stores.

Be wary of customers that will use your wine knowledge but then go to the grocery store to make the actual purchase (aka “floor shoppers”). Recommend wines that are not available at a convenience store or grocery store.

Use Dual Pricing so you can at least re-coup merchant services fees when price matching. This will increase your margin by around 2.5%.

Use the Cloud Retailer liquor store point of sale software so you can adjust margins by individual product instead of by department or category.

What tips, questions, or suggestions do you have? Please share them by contacting Kevin Antosh at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com