I thought the wine bar in Mariano’s was going to be a home run when it was introduced. It should be a great fit with the excellent onsite food service offering that includes a decent sushi bar. But I have yet to see a single person sitting at the wine bar. One day I was determined to try it at lunch, so I manned up and sat down even though I was solo. The attendant was “away” and I became uncomfortable enough sitting there waiting that I got up and moved on. I can’t believe it is “social stigma” in my Chicagoland suburb, but something seems to be holding shoppers back. As for “social shopping,” the mention of the Social Safeway in D.C. brought a smile. The Lund’s on Lake Avenue in Minneapolis was your Thursday evening destination if you didn’t have a date for the weekend yet in the late-’70s. It saved a young, single marketing assistant’s social bacon more than once as I recall.

Sipping while you shop is definitely a way to make the experience more relaxing! The biggest point of this is to differentiate on something other than price. It becomes an EXPERIENCE for the consumer vs. a chore. If customers are having fun you can only believe it will lead to more sales.

In a word, context. Serving beer and wine might make sense IF the supermarket has a environment focused on customer experience. There are some supermarkets that are perceived as “social hubs” and serving alcohol might be consistent with that experience. The best context is when stores can create an experience where customers learn how to pair wine or beer with food they are purchasing. If the alcohol is served to help supermarkets engage and educate customers, then the context might work very well. If serving alcohol becomes a primary means of getting customers to linger longer, then there is something wrong with the overall store context and experience.

Here in Atlanta we have the Disco Kroger! As for drinking while shopping, I can see it being a hit for a moment however not for the long haul. Most folks take their grocery shopping pretty seriously as well as their dollars, so they don’t want to come home with a whole bunch of snack foods instead of “real” food.

On the other hand, I can see stores offering tastings of new beers and/or wines. Sort of like Total Wines does. They have someone pour tastings and talk about pairing. Could work well in the grocery store and would create a great experience that just might bring the shopper back.

For my 2 cents

Brick-and-mortar retailers are looking for ways to create experience destinations … otherwise why not shop online? Wine and beer help create that destination experience.

I’ve not seen this in action and immediate thoughts were mixing alcohol and shopping might be dangerous! However, if it adds to a more relaxed and enjoyable experience then it’s got to be a good thing for both consumer and retailer. Having another reason to go grocery shopping and make it social event also is a great way to draw people into stores. Hey, the chance of a beer with a buddy might even entice my husband to offer to do the grocery shopping!

Anytime you can “relax” the shopper, it’s a good thing for the merchant. They sell beer at car auctions. They offer champagne at luxury boutiques. Why not loosen up the crowd a bit while shopping for food? Fill up that basket with all kinds of goodies (that I may not have purchased if I wasn’t enjoying libations).

Really? Alcohol in supermarkets? Bookstores, maybe? Education on wine pairing and cooking make sense. But who checks the I.D.s? Where are the kiddies? I understand the principle of loosening up the shopper and providing an experience, but alcohol lowers inhibitions as well as impairs driving, so there may be more impulse items in the shopping cart (or get dates for some), but why do I, not a prude by any means, feel uncomfortable with these prospects?

I don’t have experience in the grocery store world, but it certainly works in a museum store. Although visitors are not typically walking through the museum with wine and beer we do have special events (member openings, member private shopping nights, etc.) where alcohol is served. Technically we don’t allow beverages in either the galleries where the art is or the store, but we relax the rule in the store. We definitely see a stronger tendency to both linger and spend.