One of the most important contributors to your success is how well you stock your shop to match what your audience wants. Here are some tips. [level-members]
Most obviously, you can’t stock nothing but Yellow Tail and Two-Buck Chuck if your audience is hedge fund managers and titans of industry. Similarly, first-growth Bordeaux is not the way to go for a solidly middle-class or working-class audience.
Beyond that, though, you need to work with your distributors to actively seek out wines that do three things:
- Deliver value to your customers
- Match the personality of your shop
- Differentiate you from the competition
Not every wine needs to score a ’10’ on all three points, but every wine in your shop must work toward one of those goals. (And needless to say, every wine must also contribute to your profitability. If a loss leader gains you more traffic, than it is part of a profitable strategy, but don’t sell at a loss or even razor-thin margins for any other reason.)
Take a look around your shop and evaluate each wine individually. If it’s not furthering your long-term goals and isn’t currently profitable, find a replacement. There’s nothing wrong with keeping a few bottles of an under-performing wine tucked away for a customer who favors it, but don’t waste shelf space on it. Try something new.
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