WineryProfitability.com

Halloween.  It’s not just for kids anymore.  Lately more and more adults are getting in on the fun.  Maybe it’s because Halloween offers adults a sense of escape and excitement.  But what does Halloween have to do with wineries and selling wine?  Just like other top-selling holidays, Halloween offers winery owners and tasting room managers the chance to increase customer spending.  In this post I’ll talk about how from my customer perspective, I think  incorporating Halloween into wine displays could increase wine sales.

According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween is the sixth-largest spending holiday after Winter Holidays, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day.  While many of the higher spending holidays cited above are days when customers purchase high-priced gifts for friends and family, over the last twenty years or so, Halloween has grown in popularity among adults as a day for parties and celebration.  Have you noticed in the last decade or so that Halloween decorations seem to be getting more sophisticated?  I walked into a local Michael’s Craft Store the other day and was amazed to find a full assortment of lawn and home decorations that could turn anyone’s house into the Bates Motel.  I’m not kidding.  There was a life-sized Frankenstein, a three-foot motorized spider, skeletons, and full-sized tomb stones.  Martha Stewart has even started her own Halloween product line that can be found in craft stores along with a special Halloween issue of her popular magazine.  Stewart is not the only one to jump on the Halloween hay wagon.  Other popular retail magazines including This Old House, Better Homes and Gardens, and Woman’s Day have all devoted issues to Halloween this year.  Many of them have key display locations in grocery store check-out lines.  Their covers grab readers’ attention by boasting to have over a hundred fun ideas for Halloween parties and celebrations.  These smart retailers are big drivers in Halloween’s increase in popularity and consumer spending.  I know as a consumer, I can’t wait for late August and early September to roll around because I know I will be able to come up with something new from ideas from these magazines. 

Again, so what does Halloween have to do with selling wine?  I will argue there are two connections:  First, I believe merely telling the story of Halloween throughout your winery and wine displays will bring excitement and a sense of escape to your customers–making them stay longer and therefore spend more (see my June 2009 article on this topic).  Second, showing your customers how they can use your wine during Halloween parties might also increase spending.  Martha Stewart does a great job of showing consumers how wine can be a part of their parties in some of her displays in her Halloween issue this year.  On one page she shows three spooky skeletons in what appears to be a cobweb-filled library.  One skeleton is reading a book, another is holding a bottle of wine, and the third is holding a wine glass.  While her idea is a great one, I don’t believe you have to spend much money on this display.  You also want to make sure you help your wine stand out not detract from it.  Stewart’s skeletons retail at $149.00 each–see what I mean about Halloween decorations getting more sophisticated!  You might try going for almost the same effect with a skull instead of a skeleton.  Instead of library books, you might find some of your other retail gift items could be incorporated.   I suggest experimenting by going low budget the first year and gathering customer feedback and sales data for the next year. 

On another page in this year’s special Halloween issue, Stewart again demonstrates ways consumers can have fun with wine.  She shows a picture of a silver tray with three bottles of wine and a couple of wine goblets.  Each bottle has a different frightful label:  “Witch’s Brew,” “Swamp Cider,” “Goblin Grog.”  Again, with this idea I would go low budget.  Instead of adhering custom labels right from the start and running into inventory problems later, you and your tasting room crew might get creative.  Consider enlisting some employees’  help in brainstorming ideas to increase the sale of the wine surrounding this display without spending a lot of money.  What about the idea that if your customers purcase two or more bottles of this wine, they will get these bottles with complimentary Halloween labels you and your staff adhere on the spot or include in their gift bag?  Again, I believe Halloween has a lot of retail potential.  As winery owners and tasting room managers, if you show your customers how they can incorporate your wines into their festivities, I bet you will get them purchasing your products.

For the National Retail Federation’s latest consumer research on Halloween spending, click here.

What do you think?  Do you think Halloween is an opportunity to increase consumer spending at your winery?  What have you tried in the past that did and did not work?  Please share your feedback with the rest of the group in the Comments section above.  Are you a member of the Winery Benchmark?  Click here to access the Winery Benchmark Participants: More Halloween Display Ideas page for more useful and inexpensive Halloween display suggestions.  Have a comment that you would like to send me directly?  You can reach me at info@wineryprofitability.com.