Stupid Retail Displays

I was at a large, well known Denver area wine store today that I have not frequented yet. When I walked in I was surprised to see all the wine was displayed in alphabetical order. So you can’t go to the Pinot section, you have to walk every aisle and look for Pinots by letter. WTF. Why?

It’s easier for low paid employees to figure things out alphabetically versus learning 38 or so varietals AND stack them in alphabetical order.

I tried to set up my walk-in humidor alphabetically. Had to rearrange things every week. Not any more. Now, you’re on your own to find your brand.

Another thing the wife pointed out is that in retail, if people can walk right to where the product they want is, they will never notice or try the other products that may be better and cheaper. This from the woman who won’t shop at Walmart because nothing is where it should be.

The BevMo chain, in the Western states, divides their domestic wine by variety… sort of. But they may have 200 Cabs that are totally random within the Cab section. From what I’ve learned, they put the highest priced wines just above eye level and the majority of their proprietary labels (presumably highest margin) right AT eye level. That pushes their profit and also makes customers peruse everything if they’re looking for something specific.

Perhaps they should have used the Dewey Decimal system instead?

Bruce

I’ve been to that store and it is very strange way to shelf things. Can’t say I’ve been back…

That’s a really stupid way to do it. Most times when I got to a wine shop, I know what type of wine I want to buy, but not necessarily which bottle. I’ll walk up to the section with white Rhones, for example, and browse. I wouldn’t go to that place, ever.

I constantly get asked if we have a certain brand of wine without any mention of a particular bottling. So many customers assume that if we have one wine from Kendall Jackson, for example, we must have their entire lineup. Usually when I ask “which of their wines are you looking for?”, they look at me like I’m stupid and just repeat “Kendall Jackson!”. I suppose this setup is designed by people who know very little about wine to cater to that same crowd. If I walked in there looking to browse and saw that, I’d be right out the door.