Thoughts & Thoughts & Observations Observations

point of sale 'POS' point of sale 'POS'

For the uninitiated, ‘point of sale’ is what the industry calls the sales enhancements/back cards/racks/et cetera which aid our customers in selling wine & spirits. Our reps know that properly merchandised displays, shelves and cold boxes are an important part of the overall ‘store conditions’ which enhance a retailer’s sales activity Due to the large number of top suppliers we represent, we have LOTS and LOTS of POS: our point of sale warehouse is 24,000 square feet larger than most of our competitors wine warehouses!

Due to recent growth, we recently needed to relocate all of our POS to a new warehouse, which was quite a task, and also very eye-opening. First, we noted that there has been a slight move away from the traditional norm of having metal racks and back cards for every wine in a store: many operators prefer ‘a less busy’ look and/or smaller POS and signs. Additionally, as costs rise for wineries (like the rest of us), some suppliers are cutting POS production, a way to tighten your belt and help reign in these costs.

This said, not everyone is cutting back: as we were sorting through our inventory, we found many instances where we had 300 back cards for brands we only sell 200 cases of a year And then we have some instances where we get say, 20 very cool wooden racks, but we have a need for 75 of them; clearly sales and marketing at some of the wineries are having their lines crossed.

The point of this missive is to remind all our staff and our customers that POS is alive and well (very well). Though it has shifted in format, we still have PLENTY, and it still works Our new POS pickup point should be good to go in the next couple of weeks. Store conditions matter, so take advantage! If you need something to draw attention to your wine and spirit business we can help.