Coles Liquor Group has uncovered the next phase of its transformation, announcing a pilot program that will see select Vintage Cellars and First Choice Liquor Market stores adopt the Liquorland brand.
Over the past four years, the Liquorland transformation has converted over 600 stores to its Black & White format, with customers enjoying more spacious store layouts, clearer in-store signage and more locally relevant ranges.
Building on the success of the early phases of the transformation, all nine stores in South Australia, along with a small number of stores in Victoria and Queensland, will adopt the Liquorland brand. Selected Vintage Cellars stores will be rebranded as Liquorland Cellars, while participating First Choice Liquor Market stores will become Liquorland Warehouse.
The pilot has been designed to create a more compelling customer offer by taking the best elements of Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars, and uniting them under its largest and most recognised brand.
Courtney told National Liquor News: “It starts with the customer. We know that First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars stores get a very strong rating from customers in terms of NPS, but they also suffer from low brand awareness.
“By extending Liquorland as our strongest and most well-known brands to those locations, we think it’ll help drive footfall into those locations, in what we know is already a strong shopping experience for customers.
“We’ve asked customers how they would feel about this change, and they have been positive. With the insight that we’ve got from customers, we feel really confident that this is the right strategic direction for the business,” he continued.
Due to commence in November, the pilot program has not only been informed by extensive customer research, it also capitalises on the momentum building around the Liquorland banner after the continued success of the Black & White conversions.
Courtney commented: “As we’ve been doing those conversions, Liquorland has been the strongest performing of our three banners, and customers really love the more spacious layouts, simpler signage, great value pricing and locally relevant ranges.”
With the Black & White conversion now 75 per cent of the way through the Liquorland network, Courtney says a focus on continued format innovation led the group to announce the pilot program yesterday.
“Due to how we’ve improved the performance of the Liquorland brand, we think it’s better placed than ever to be in a position where we can extend that brand, which is already our largest and strongest across the network.”
The pilot program will involve a total of nine South Australian stores, made up of six First Choice Liquor Market and three Vintage Cellars stores, in addition to two of Queensland’s First Choice Liquor Market Stores and three Vintage Cellars stores in Victoria.
One of the key considerations of the pilot program was ensuring a smooth transition for customers, with an emphasis on engaging store teams in the rollout.
“They are ultimately the face of our customer interaction,” says Courtney. “The changes that we’ll make to stores will be evident in terms of branding at the store, and we’ll have our store teams there supporting and being able to speak to the change if customers ask about it.”
The transition will also be managed through digital and loyalty channels, allowing the stores to communicate directly with customers.
Once the pilot is underway, a combination of customer and team member feedback and trade results will allow Coles Liquor Group to analyse the success of the transition and inform its next steps.
“A combination of those [results] and feedback will determine the rollout for the calendar year of 2025, and if we move forward with it, what you would see is what we’re piloting in South Australia extended to the rest of the country, which would be the removal of the First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars banners, to be replaced with Liquorland Warehouse and Liquorland Cellars.
“We’re really excited about it, the pilots are a really important next step and it’s great to be at a point where we can talk to the team about this and move forward with the next steps” Coutrney concluded.