Whether you run a liquor store, winery, brewery, distillery, or your own beverage brand, you likely focus most of your energy on directly selling beverage products to consumers or other companies. While this traditional sales channel is at the heart of your business, you may experience slow periods — like “Dry January” — that impact your bottom line.

To lessen the impact of demand fluctuations, build a sustainable financial strategy by diversifying your revenue streams. The more income sources your business uses, the more stability you’ll bring to your finances. Let’s explore several revenue streams your beverage business can take advantage of to provide extra value to customers and earn more.

Launch a Subscription Service

A subscription service shifts your focus from one-time transactions to lasting customer relationships, which increase your earning potential and build consistent, predictable monthly cash flow.

To create a subscription service, start small with a handful of offerings that resonate with your core audience. If you haven’t already, develop customer segments and tailor your subscriptions. For example, Tagaris Winery markets to the following segments:

Health-conscious consumers, who seek organic and sustainable wines and are willing to pay a premium for eco-friendly production.

- Potential subscription for this segment:  “Sustainable Wine Discovery Subscription.”

Wine enthusiasts and connoisseurs who value craftsmanship, heritage, and international award-winning quality.

- Potential subscription for this segment: “International Award-Winning Wines: A Monthly Experience.”

Millennials and members of Gen Z, who are drawn to authentic stories, ethical production, and experiential marketing.

- Potential subscription for this segment: “Made with Care: Ethically Produced Wine Subscription.”

Affluent customers, who gravitate toward luxury wines from family-owned estates with strong reputations.

- Potential subscription for this service: “Luxury Wine Selection Box.”

Subscription services allow you to introduce your audience to a broader range of products, inspiring them to discover their new favorite wine, liquor, or beer.

Host Ticketed Events

By hosting premium, paid experiences that showcase your expertise, you can attract new customers and foster community within your current customer base.

Potential events include:

- Tastings: Elevate the typical free sample tasting into a curated, ticketed experience. For example, let’s say you recently stocked several high-end tequila brands. You may use your liquor store POS system to identify customers who have recently purchased similar products and invite them to a night filled with premium tequila tastings, delicious tacos from a local Mexican restaurant, and exclusive event-only discount offers.

- Educational classes: Equip your customers with new liquor knowledge through classes that share your expertise. For example, you might host a “Holiday Cocktails 101” class that teaches them how to make five festive cocktails to impress their families and friends this holiday season, featuring top products from your shelves.

- Brand features: Beverage brand consumers are increasingly looking for transparent brands that share how they make their products. Invite brand ambassadors to visit your store to discuss their offerings live with customers and distribute free samples. This type of event forges connections between customers and the distributors and brands you work with. As a result, both your business and your partners can attract new customers, making it a win-win situation.

These events also provide an opportunity to highlight high-end products that can significantly increase your profit margins. Identify the products you’re looking to sell, and craft experiences around those items that make them irresistible to consumers.

Offer White-Glove Services

Expand your market with white-glove services that offer convenience. Instead of focusing on your products themselves, emphasize the extraordinary experiences you can create for your customers through services like:

- Corporate and private gifting: Especially during the holiday season, offering corporate and private gifting can significantly boost your earning potential. Provide packages with gift wrapping and personalized notes. Depending on your capabilities, you may offer shipping or local delivery.

- Cellar curation and consultation: Help wine connoisseurs build the collections of their dreams. Wine shops and wineries can offer paid services in which they consult customers on how to stock their home cellars, help them source rare bottles, and appraise their collections.

- Local delivery: Integrate your POS system with third-party delivery providers to bring your products to customers’ doorsteps. You may also manage your own delivery service, allowing you to gain more control over the process and build stronger bonds with your customers.

Brands can play an active role in white-glove services by identifying retailers with these programs in place and pitching partnership opportunities. For example, a wine distributor may connect with a local wine store to see if the store would be willing to highlight their products when creating corporate and private gift baskets.

Leverage E-Commerce

Investing in e-commerce opens up your beverage business to a broader audience and offers a more convenient way for people to purchase your products. As Bottle POS explains, setting up a successful beverage business e-commerce site requires:

- A compatible POS system that can manage your in-store and online inventory

- A user-friendly and mobile-friendly website that is optimized for local SEO

- Age verification tools and shipment rules to keep your online sales compliant with local liquor laws

- An e-commerce platform that supports high-risk payment processing

An e-commerce site can also help you support your other revenue streams. Here, you can sell your subscriptions and event tickets online to provide a smoother shopping experience.

Sell Non-Beverage Items

In addition to your typical products, your beverage business can sell complementary, high-margin products that expand your offerings and increase your average transaction value. Transform your beverage business into a one-stop gift shop with items like:

- Glassware

- Bar tools

- Cocktail recipe books

- Charcuterie items

- Chocolates

Once you start selling these items, leverage sales data from your winery, brewery, distillery, or liquor store inventory system to determine which products customers typically buy together and arrange your displays accordingly. For example, you may find that around the holidays, many customers purchase glassware and cocktail recipe books together, prompting you to display these items together for a gift inspiration display.

To open up their product lines, beverage brands may partner with glassware or bar tool companies to create co-branded items. For instance, a gin brand and glassware company may collaborate on a limited-edition dirty martini glass that features engravings of both brands’ logos.

As you implement strategies to diversify your beverage business’s revenue streams, listen to your customers every step of the way.

Collect and analyze their feedback to ensure your new offerings align with their preferences, and source new ideas from loyal customers who can help you brainstorm additional ways to improve the customer experience and, thus, your bottom line.