9 Proven Strategies to Promote Your Liquor Store and Boost Traffic and Sales

Liquor stores are facing more competition than ever. 

You’re not just up against corporate chains and grocery stores—alcohol sales are also being challenged by changing consumer habits. Younger generations are leaning toward cannabis-infused drinks, while widespread use of weight-loss medications like Ozempic is curbing alcohol cravings.

To stand out in this market, you need to play to your strengths. Unlike big chains, you know your customers personally, deliver great customer service, and adapt quickly to trends. 

There are proven ways to foster community, encourage customer loyalty, and make your store a destination in your local community. 

In this article, we’ll walk through 9 proven liquor store promotion ideas that increase sales while creating a shopping experience your customers will genuinely enjoy.

1. Enable Your Customers to Create Profiles

Customer service is the cornerstone of every great liquor store and the foundation for successful marketing campaigns, promotions, and providing the leading shopping experience in your community.

To provide the best possible customer service, you need to understand your customers. 

Knowing your customer is one of the greatest strengths you can have as a liquor store owner, especially when compared to grocery stores or corporate chains.

What did they purchase last time they were at your store? What’s their preferred price point?

These are all easy questions to answer if you use technology that lets your customers create a profile with your business - both in-store and online.

If you’re still using pen & paper to collect customer information, or if you rely on your cashiers to create customer profiles, you’re missing out on valuable data on the vast majority of your customer base.

Instead, opt for a modern credit card terminal or tablet device that your customers can use to enter their name, phone number, and email, creating an account with your store when they sign up.

Once you have their account information, you can attribute all future purchases to their store profile.

This data builds over time, and it becomes the foundation for smarter customer service.

When you know your customer preferences, you can tailor promotions to what people actually want, send targeted offers based on past purchases, and recommend new bottles that match their taste. You can also run events and bundles built around your regulars’ favorites, making every campaign feel personal.

In short, allowing your customers to create profiles with your liquor store lays a healthy foundation for all future marketing and promotional activities.

If you want to learn more about the technology that makes it simple for your customers to create profiles and lets you collect and analyze data with ease, check out Santé POS.

2. Implement a Loyalty Program

The power of customization and customer data is huge, but the first question you’ll ask is: how do you incentivize shoppers to actually create an account with your store?

The best way to do this is to offer a loyalty program that gives your customers a reason to sign up and purchase more from your liquor store. 

You may be familiar with loyalty systems from your preferred credit card provider, airline, or hotel. If you are, you probably know firsthand how these programs motivate you to stick with a particular brand because there’s personal upside.

A loyalty program with your liquor store represents the same concept. You offer points that have a dollar value or discounts based on the amount a customer spends at your store.

Let’s look at a loyalty program that gives customers 1 point for every $1 spent and rewards them with $5 when they reach 500 points.

Spend: $500
Points Earned: 500
Loyalty Points Value: $5
Percentage Back: 1%

This setup guarantees that loyalty program members spend $500, and you’re only on the hook for 1% cashback.

Since your loyal customers are buying from your liquor store more often, you also gain more insight into their preferences and budget.

This should fuel your approach to delivering a leading shopping experience that sets you apart from your competitors.

3. Create an Online Storefront

Brick-and-mortar foot traffic still drives most sales, but shoppers are flocking to delivery apps for the convenience of fast delivery right to their door.

eCommerce now represents more than 4.3% of total beverage alcohol sales in the US, and 58% of consumers reported using a third-party app to order alcohol. This trend is only expected to grow in the years to come.

The delivery apps are a nice value-add to your business, but they keep you from owning the relationship with shoppers who are buying from your liquor store on those platforms. 

To remain competitive, you need to meet these shoppers where they are: online, with a website of your own.

Launching your own website ensures that your customers see your inventory when they’re looking for products on the search engine.

Not only does liquor eCommerce open a new revenue stream for your business, it will also drive foot traffic to your store as an increasing number of consumers rely on online research to inform their in-store purchases.

Sharing your catalog and pricing on your website is a great way to make sure you never miss a sale, whether your customers are buying online or window shopping before coming to your physical store.

4. Host Tastings and In-Store Events

Tastings are a gateway to new flavors and cultures from around the world for your customers. They are a proven way to promote your liquor store business. 

When compared to grocery or supermarket promotions, in-store events at your liquor store are much more exciting. They are social experiences that showcase the craft and storytelling of wine and spirits.

A good in-store tasting expands horizons – people try new wines, spirits, ready-to-drink cocktails, or perhaps some of the trending hemp-infused drinks they’d never pick up on a shelf. 

However, if you want to get the most out of your in-store events, it’s not enough to only post about your tastings on social media. You need to make it easy for your customers to access your tastings calendar, and you’ll want to remind them often.

So, how do you go about promoting your tastings?

1. Post an events calendar on your eCommerce site that shows all scheduled tastings by day of the week and date. These calendar events should be clickable so that interested shoppers can read more about the event
2. Display tasting details on your credit card terminal that include information on the event: date, time, and type of products being poured
3. Send reminder emails and SMS campaigns to customers who have RSVP’d for the event

In today’s economy, you’re competing for attention. If you’re not reminding shoppers about events at your store, they’ll inevitably forget.

By sharing event details early and often, you’ll maximize attendance. And as a local hub for wine and spirits culture, your store becomes the go-to place for new experiences.

5. Run Targeted Marketing Campaigns

We’re living in an attention economy. Brands, retailers, and more are constantly jockeying for everyone’s time. 

While it’s intimidating trying to compete for your customers’ attention in this crowded market, your liquor store is in a unique position. 

Your liquor store is a central part of the community. Your customers have a connection with your liquor store; it’s where they get wine for date night, beer to relax after a hard day's work, or their favorite bottle for a friend’s birthday party.

If you’ve followed the steps above, you’re gathering information about your customer that will help you reach them in a meaningful way.

Ideally, you have your customer’s phone number or email address, and you can send them messages based on their purchase history with your liquor store. 

Some of the marketing campaigns that can grow your business include: 

• Back-in-stock alerts: Let’s say that you have customers who love a specific bottle of mezcal that’s been out of stock for a while. Letting them know that the product is on the shelf via an email / SMS campaign is a great way to get them back to the store
• New product recommendations: Just got a shipment of a new craft beer or imported wine? Notify customers who buy similar items. (“Try this new citrus IPA – we think you’ll love it.”)
• Promotion announcements: When you put products on sale, your customers should know about it. That beer drinker who loves IPAs should be notified via email or SMS when IPAs are on discount 
• Themed weekly promos: Create a recurring hook like “Wine Wednesday” with 10% off all wines to lift mid-week traffic and train customers to visit on a predictable day

These targeted campaigns work because they speak directly to the customer’s known interests. You’re simply reminding customers why they love your store and giving them reasons to buy more on every visit.

6. Bundle Products

Pre-made bundles are a simple way to make shopping easier, increase order size, and get your customers excited about trying new products. People like it when the decision is already made for them, especially if the bundle fits the occasion they’re shopping for.

As a liquor store owner, you have plenty of opportunities to create bundles that match your customers’ tastes, local events, and seasonal trends. Bundles can feel like a gift, a convenience, or a way to explore new flavors.

Here are some examples of bundles you can offer:

• Cocktail kits: A margarita set with tequila, lime mix, and salt, or a summer spritz kit with prosecco, aperol, and orange slices.
• Holiday packs: Sparkling wine with chocolates for Valentine’s Day or a wine and cheese set for the holidays.
• Themed bundles: “Game day” packs with craft beers and snacks, or “Cinco de Mayo” bundles with tequila and mixers.
• Local favorites: Pair craft beers from nearby breweries with a local snack or small-batch spirits to highlight your community.
• Trend-driven bundles: Combine popular non-alcoholic beverages or CBD drinks with a spirit for customers who like to experiment.
• “Try something new” bundles: Mix one favorite with one new bottle you want to introduce. For example, a “Tequila Night Upgrade” pack with a known mid-tier tequila and a smaller premium brand beside it.

The options are limitless, especially if you tailor promotions to your priority customers, local events, and seasonality. Your customers can learn about the hottest products on the market and often leave with a new bottle that expands their horizons. 

Every bundle is a small campaign in its own right. It gives people a reason to pick up more than they planned, and it keeps your shelves feeling fresh even when the same customers walk in every week.

7. Digital Marketing & Social Media

We already explained the booming increase in online liquor sales, and that trend changes customer behavior across the board. More shoppers browse online first, even when they plan to buy in person. 

That is why your store needs to show up in search engines and look active in the places where people search and scroll.

Start with the two channels that do the most work for you.

Your website is a channel with proven ROI because it brings in customers who already want something. They are searching for a specific bottle, a category, or a nearby store. 

Investing in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps structure your site so that your inventory, pricing, and location are clearly displayed, making your website appear in search results for queries like “liquor stores near me.”

You can even choose a POS partner with premade website templates tailored for liquor stores and SEO. 

A liquor store's social media presence, on the other hand, requires your time but is one of the fastest ways to stay relevant and keep your store feeling alive between visits. You can post about:

• New arrivals and staff picks: Show what just landed on the shelves and share the story behind these new products. People love feeling like they are getting a heads-up before everyone else.

• Quick drink ideas: Post cocktail recipes or serve suggestions using bottles you stock. When people save the recipe, they are also saving a reason to come to your store.

• Short and real videos: A 15 to 30-second shelf walk, a quick tasting reaction, or a basic mixology demo. These do well because they feel local and honest.

• Promos and events: If you are running tastings, bundles, or weekly deals, post them early and remind people again. Most customers need more than one nudge.

• Small giveaways: A gift card or a raffle giveaway is a great way to stand out. The goal is attention and sharing, not a huge prize.

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Once you know what content your customers respond to, paid ads can help you scale it. 

With a strong digital presence across SEO and social, you stay visible, you stay relevant, and you give people a steady stream of reasons to choose your store over anyone else.

8. Local Partnerships

Offline, local partnerships amplify your reach. 

Reach out to neighborhood restaurants, caterers, or event planners to discuss cross-promotion. 

For instance, you could offer a discount to a restaurant that uses your spirits, in exchange for a sign or menu mention of your store. 

You can also sponsor or participate in community events (festivals, charity dinners, sports games) to showcase products or hand out branded merchandise. 

By embedding your store in the community’s social fabric, you gain loyal customers and free word-of-mouth exposure.

9. Embrace New Products and Trends

Stocking new beverages might be risky, but it's also one of the easiest ways to spark interest, drive curiosity, and create more reasons for people to visit your store. 

When customers know you always have something fresh on the shelf, they stop seeing you as “the place to restock” and start seeing you as “the place to discover what’s next.”

New products also give you marketing fuel. They enable you to create “try new product” bundles where you mix your best sellers with a new drink in that category, or to host tastings that promise a good time because people know there is always something new.

For example, if tequila is one of your strongest sellers, you can build a “Tequila Night Try-Something-New” bundle that includes your top mid-tier tequila plus a new ready-to-drink tequila cocktail or a small-batch mezcal your regulars have not tried yet. The best seller makes the bundle feel safe to buy, and the new bottle gives people a reason to say yes.

Here are a few trending categories that can increase:

• Cannabis/CBD beverages: In legal markets, stock popular THC or CBD-infused drinks. These categories are rapidly growing – some retailers report THC seltzers outselling spirits. The market for drinks infused with THC from hemp is projected to top $1 billion in sales this year and climb past $4 billion in 2028.
• Non-alcoholic and “functional” drinks: Demand for craft mocktails, non-alc beer, and health-conscious beverages is surging. In fact, sales of functional drinks (many containing CBD, nootropics, or adaptogens) jumped 54% from 2020 to 2024.
• High-demand spirits: Gen Z and millennials are driving interest in tequila, mezcal, and ready-to-drink cocktails. Make sure to stock a variety of these. 

Every time you bring something new in, ask yourself two things. Who is this for, and how do I turn it into a reason to visit? If you keep answering those questions, your store stays ahead of habits and competitors, even as the market keeps shifting.

Now Is the Time to Promote Your Liquor Store

Boosting sales starts with a better understanding of your customers and why they prefer to purchase from your liquor store.

Once you know more about your customer, your opportunities are endless. From loyalty programs to eCommerce, tastings, and marketing campaigns, you have an abundance of tools to promote your liquor store.

Santé POS comes with a set of functionalities that help you with all of your liquor store promotion ideas. It is built to support the exact strategies we covered in this guide, so you can collect customer data, launch campaigns faster, and keep shoppers coming back without adding extra manual work for your team.

1. Prebuilt website templates: Launch your store online in a few simple steps, so customers can browse your inventory and pricing before they visit or order.
2. SEO tailored for liquor stores: Your website is structured to show up for local searches and relevant product queries, so people in your city find your store when they search for drinks.
3. Fully customizable rewards programs: Set up loyalty points and discounts that give customers a clear reason to stick with your shop whenever they need beer, wine, or spirits.
4. Flexible promotions: From case discounts to mix-and-match sales, you can run proven promos in-store and online without complicated setup.
5. Product bundles: Create bundles quickly and sell them across all your sales channels, so customers can grab an easy, occasion-ready set.
6. Customer accounts: Give shoppers a reason to come back by letting them track purchase history and save address and payment details for faster repeat buying.
7. Email and SMS subscriptions: Build a direct line to your customers so you can send special offers, reminders, and promotions that bring them back in at the right time.

With these strategies in place, you’ll capture more sales from existing shoppers and attract new ones. By blending your intimate community feel with data-driven marketing and modern tools, you can outpace competitors. 

There’s no better time than now to test these concepts.

Happy selling!

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