Technology During Covid
gotten used to online ordering , curbside pickup and digital delivery .
“ The panic buying will lessen , but we will have a lot of people saying that they don ’ t have to go back to the stores anymore ,” Rosen says .
Retailers still unprepared for this broader ecommerce shift still have time to catch up . Companies like 3x3 Insights are here to help .
“ Our platform uses digital and social media to do finely targeted marketing based on purchasing data ,” says Provance . “ Most stores have a good handle on existing customers , but do not do nearly as good of a job when bringing in new customers .”
3x3 Insights can identify shoppers from a business ’ market : people with a high propensity to purchase products that beverage alcohol retailers provide .
“ We can expand potential shoppers from the net of people who haven ’ t heard about your store ,” Provance says . “ The platform focuses on top- and middle-of-the-funnel customers through Facebook , Instagram and programmatic advertising .”
SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS MORE In our increasingly digital age , social media is paramount .
“ Even before the pandemic , we saw this shift from traditional media to digital media ,” says Provance . “ You recently saw Diageo flip from 70 % traditional media and 30 % digital to reserving those percentages . You want to excel where people shop . You want to meet the customer where and when they ’ re buying , and that ’ s increasingly on phones , tablets and computers .”
How beverage alcohol retailers can best utilize social media is through experiential content . As Provance explains , these stores still have the sense of discoverability : the joy for customers of finding new products . With panic buying starting to subside , more people may soon want to experiment again , as was popular before the pandemic .
One way to tap into this trend , while remaining safe in a COVID-19 world , is through virtual tastings . In-store sampling is likely impractical until we have a vaccine . Instead , stores can replace this experience — plus that of browsing through the aisles — with digital tastings .
Store staff presents new product and explains the flavors , origins , branding , etc . All the same info a customer receives from an instore event , minus the actual tasting .
“ These digital experiences are content-driven , experiential-driven ,” says Provance . “ You ’ re not just selling a product online but linking to the site and getting people to explore the site . This may replace hand-selling for stores .”
Virtual tastings can also be used as exclusive events for store regulars , creating exclusivity — an aura of unique and different . This ties into another important aspect of social media marketing . “ You want to leverage your brand personality more online ,” says Provance .
PAYMENT AND SANITATION Even as more of the economy reopens , many consumers will remain wary of COVID-19 . Masks will not disappear anytime soon . Nor will the fear of contracting the virus through germs picked up via touch .
Contactless payment will likely become more common . “ People want to touch as little as possible ,” says Todd Odasz , co-owner of
Merchant Preferred . The company specializes in the auditing of merchant services programs , AKA credit card processing .
It ’ s easier now to imagine world with less cash and more credit cards . Customers can wave their credit cards at payment machines to complete the transaction . Or people carry out this process using credit card information stored on their smartphones .
“ The employee doesn ’ t have to touch the card ,” Odasz says . “ There ’ s no back and forth .”
And there ’ s no tapping a touch screen to enter your pin . This removes a surface potentially covered with the germs of everyone who paid before you .
“ A lot of this is also about stores meeting the required protocols of being sanitized , by having less physical contact ,” says Merchant Preferred Co-owner Ken Handy . “ It makes it easier for businesses to maintain their facilities .”
Perhaps some stores and customers are not ready for contactless payment . In that case , there is still the tried-and-true method of using a chip reader machine for touchless credit card payment . And even the old-school swipe machines have evolved for 2020 .
“ We ’ ve seen a spike in plastic covers for credit card machines ,” Odasz says , “ making it easy for staff to spray down these machines and wipe them off . I saw that Target hired people to spray down and wipe down each credit card terminal after each customer .”
Staff themselves can go contactless if each receives their own stylus pen to tap the POS screens , says Johnson of Cybertill . “ That means less contact with the screen .”
WHAT ’ S NEXT ? Looking to the future , technology will certainly continue to play a bigger role in beverage alcohol retail .
“ Your website is more important than ever ,” says Johnson . “ Especially for smaller stores that want to compete with bigger stores . You need to adapt with websites and apps .”
Tech has become so important that it may no longer be an issue of companies getting ahead through investments in this area . Rather , it has turned into a necessity .
“ You have to be online in 2020 ,” says Rosen of WineFetch . “ You ’ d be insane not to . The visibility alone is critical , especially when out of ever five stores right now , two have their whole inventories online . Guess who the customer goes to ?” BD
PHOTO CREDIT : © AUREMAR - STOCK . ADOBE . COM
24 Beverage Dynamics • July / August 2020 www . beveragedynamics . com