Despite having 22 years in the business, owner Harbir Chadha decided to enlist the help of Blueprint regional merchandiser Alison Mitchell to help revitalise her large off licence section, including a newly-installed dairy deck.

Harbir said: "Sales have dramatically increased overnight. It's put life back into brands that I was considering discontinuing as they weren't selling at all. The Blueprint planogram gives all brands a chance and as a result all areas have picked up on sales.

"Customers now come in a lot more frequently and are spending a lot more time in front of the fixture, trying different things and are not scared of spending more money and trading up to buy multi-packs instead of four-packs.

"The fixtures look great and I can monitor stock levels so much more easily now. It's also easy to maintain and the advice that the Blueprint offers makes so much sense. The customers can browse the shelves and either see new brands that they would like to try or go straight to their favourite tipple - it works both ways."

The Blueprint has helped revive some brands which were particularly slow sellers for Harbir, especially in the beer category. Since getting the Blueprint in, Harbir is now selling up to three cases of Becks a week, whereas prior to the re-merchandise she would struggle to shift a case a month.

It is a similar story with the premium beers, such as Korona and Sol. Harbir finds that as well as selling more, customers are trading up in volume with multi-packs and carry-out packs increasing in sales.

Chilled alcohol is also helping to boost sales and Harbir anticipates that as the summer months approach this will continue to rise, and with the large dairy deck, she will be more than able to cope with the increased interest in ready-chilled alcohol.

Harbir added: "The look of the store is excellent now. I take a lot of pride in the presentation of my store and throughout the 22 years at this shop have always merchandised each fixture to best present my offering. However, after having Alison in I now know how it's done properly and with the results to back it up.

"The Blueprint has changed my store and the way I sell alcohol forever. It's usually the big stores that get all the help, so it's nice to know there is someone out there looking after the independent sector. The team have been so helpful and Alison's knowledge of the industry was second to none. I have already recommended the Blueprint to many of my fellow retailers."

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