Just as in any other industry, beverage alcohol companies need to adjust when they see how the economy might be impacting sales. Whether it’s during a recession or facing factors such as inflation, a company can’t continue with business as usual when both customers and the industry are dealing with repercussions from the economic environment.
The beverage alcohol industry has weathered economic storms before, and a key way to navigate it is by using data. Here’s how data can impact decisions, and what Dimensional Insight can do to help.
State of the industry
The beverage alcohol industry is dealing with a unique situation right now. Following a period where sales soared when people were home during the pandemic, overall volumes and earnings from some of the world’s biggest alcohol makers are down in 2024. Lisa Hawkins, chief of communications for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), told CNN, “As the spirits industry continues to recalibrate following the extraordinary sales boost during the pandemic, inflation and high interest rates are slowing the growth of the spirits sector.”
Experts say the sales are partly because the industry is returning to pre-COVID levels, but also because customers are not spending on higher-priced items. In a weaker economy, often customers don’t stop drinking, they just change their buying habits. They will buy more affordable products, or they will drink at home because it is cheaper than going out to a bar or restaurant.
The role of data
The only way for organizations to track these changing habits is through analytics. And the advantage for companies now as opposed to in the past is they have increasingly better data that enables them to track customer preferences and boost sales. Data helps decision-makers find the right price points to make sure customers can afford the beverages they enjoy without it feeling like an economic burden.
Organizations can use data to identify new markets in any kind of economy. If cost-cutting is necessary, analytics can help inform those decisions, whether it is to find efficiencies in existing procedures or taking advantage of other possible money-saving opportunities.
How Dimensional Insight can help
Sales executives need to be aware at all times of the way economic pressures are impacting their work, and adjust strategies as needed. Dimensional Insight brings the most up-to-date data to anyone in your organization who needs it in real time, allowing for cost-benefit analyses to optimize pricing and promotional strategies.
Dimensional Insight helps sales executives recognize the changing customer behaviors that accompany economic shifts, enabling them to make decisions that allow companies to maintain profitability. There are business opportunities that come along with the fact that more customers are drinking at home. Dimensional Insight provides the tools that help distributors identify which stores they should be selling to, whether that is traditional liquor stores or convenience stores and other places customers go for their alcohol.
At the same time, Dimensional Insight enables organizations to keep up with and meet all regulatory requirements that add to the complexity of the beverage alcohol industry. For all of these reasons and more, Dimensional Insight is the analytics leader in the beverage alcohol industry. With the right technology and a wealth of industry experience, Dimensional Insight helps your organization get the results it needs. The economy is unpredictable, but with the right data and the right analytics solution, the way you react when the economy shifts doesn’t have to be.
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