In the June issue of National Liquor News, John Carmody, Managing Director of Liquor Legends, said the banner is focused on delivering on its core mission during a milestone year.
National Liquor News: How has Liquor Legends been faring in 2022 so far?
John Carmody: We’ve been lucky that it’s been a really great year for us so far, coming off the back of the uncertainty of the past few years. In the past quarter, our sales have been up by greater than 10 per cent on the year prior, each month. Sales are outgrowing business growth and we’re really proud to be delivering such good results to our members, some of which are above industry standard.
NLN: What is the role of e-commerce and online for the business right now?
JC: It’s a big part of where we have focused our energy, but we haven’t forgotten about the traditional side of the business. We see e-commerce as complementary – it’s about having an option that’s there for our retailers and our customers, whenever they need it. We don’t expect it will be 100 per cent of our customers’ shops, but if we don’t have that offering there, we’re missing out on a whole customer base that would go to our competitors instead. It’s also a great way to attract new customers who may not have shopped in-store.
NLN: 2022 marks 30 years of Liquor Legends – how will you be marking the occasion?
JC: We’re putting together something that will see our biggest investment behind a promotion ever. We want to really give back to the customer and embody what our business is, around that ‘reward yourself ’ message, and reward them for supporting us for 30 years. As an independent business, customers are the lifeblood of what we do. I’d also like to thank our members and suppliers for evolving with us and seeing the absolute benefit of our model. We do it differently, but that real data focused mindset allows us to make the right decisions with the amazing support of these members and suppliers.
NLN: What is the general focus for Liquor Legends for the rest of 2022?
JC: We always start with our mission statement, which is to be the best imaginable partner for our suppliers, members, retailers and our team. We will live and breathe that this year, with a few key objectives underneath.
Number one is to grow the members’ GP dollars. We’ll look at how, when and what we promote to get that mix right and better use our data to deliver great sales and transaction growth.
Number two is also related to data, and how to utilise that to make our members’ lives easier. Simplicity is what we’re really striving to provide for members with all our services, so they can spend their time focusing on the things that really matter to them at a store level.
Finally, digital marketing is a focus for us, as we expand what we’re doing in this space and also fine tune existing operations. We need to evolve as our customers evolve and reflect on who we are as a brand.
NLN: What can suppliers do differently to support banner groups? (or vice versa)
JC: It’s important to be innovative, try new things and get rid of old ways of thinking. A big focus for us with suppliers has been the digital support of brands – we’re keen on pushing this through our channels too, which we haven’t done in the past but we’re working closely with suppliers to do more now. We’ve identified what we can improve from our end too – marrying up our data to our suppliers, to help retailers order better and help suppliers have the right stock levels for each store.
Find this interview and the rest of the annual banner group feature in the June issue of National Liquor News.