Every day, Eric Langswager considers how to make his micro markets shine among his competitors. As the business development manager at the Birmingham, AL headquarters of Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, the largest privately held Coca-Cola bottling company in the United States, it is a daily challenge. “We operate in an extremely competitive market," he said. "Our customers have options and they know it." Langswager is one of 54 employees in his division of the Birmingham office where there are currently 28 full-line vending routes and two exclusive micro market routes that are expanding as demand increases. For him, the continuous evolution, technological advancement and innovation in the industry are some of the most interesting facets. Recently he has seen success with strategic additions to the check-out area that encourage impulse buys.
Increasing sales opportunities
People like value. Therefore, one strategy Coca-Cola Bottling Company United uses is a "value bin" at the point of sale. Easily accessible, it offers consumers options that are discounted because they are close to the sell close-date. This makes customers happy and decreased the amount of product that needs to be thrown away due to spoilage.
Free-standing beverage racks have been another micro market sales driver. In his micro marts, Langswager has begun including 1-liter ambient water racks to impulse zones. It has been very popular with consumers.
Varying product assortment and placement has led to some of the biggest impacts relating to increasing foot traffic and lifting overall sales at the company's micro market locations. "We allow for flexible inventory shelves in our beverage plan-o-grams that are used to showcase new products," explained Lansgwager. "All of our new items are placed at eye level, and we use static door clings to communicate brand, package and pricing. A similar approach is used to promote new snack and food items, as well." Many of these new products are rotating seasonal inventory to keep customers engaged and consistently coming back.
Pro micro market from the start
Langswager almost immediately thought micro markets would be a great addition from the first time he was introduced to the concept several years ago. “I developed and piloted a micro mart program for our company in early 2012 that has completely changed the way we engage our customer base,” he recalled. “It has allowed us an opportunity to present our full beverage portfolio and expand our snack and fresh food offerings now that we were no longer restricted to the vending spiral.”
The company uses 365 Retail Markets exclusively for its micro market locations. "Partnering with 365 has been instrumental to our success. Their array products, industry knowledge, and exceptional customer service, provided us with the confidence needed to successfully introduce the micro mart [also called micro market] concept," Lansgwager said. Customers have especially enjoyed interacting with the 365 kiosk due to being able to interface with the kiosk easily, quickly and securely. "The 365 software allows our customers to make purchases and manage accounts effortlessly. And, because they are the only market provider that is CPI certified, our customers feel secure about their account information and activity," Langswager added.
