A Loyalist, an Independent Female, and an Explorer walk into a bar. Your bar. Who do you pay the most attention to?
When you look across your bar, if you’re like many bar owners, you’ve probably noticed patterns in your patronage. There are customer “types” or categories that tend to be filled in each and every shift, and we often take this for granted as an everyday occurrence.
But did you ever stop to think about how each customer type can affect your buying decisions and profitability?
We’re always finding new insights based on data from our iPourIt software, and recently, we discovered some interesting patterns about the average iPourIt customer base. iPourIt data reveals a growing demographic of patrons which we believe can help guide bars’ beverage selections, and lead to greater success when choosing self-serve products.
THE LOYALIST
This is your traditional beer drinker: Lite lager lover, loyal to the combination of low price and high volume. Basically, he prefers his Budweiser and Coors to any craft selection.
THE INDEPENDENT FEMALE
This is your evolved strong and independent woman: A self-professed wine lover who avoids the “can I buy you a drink?” awkward situations at most bars. She prefers to unwind with a wine or a cider, rather than more adventurous craft beer selections. She’ll find her usual and stop at two.
THE EXPLORER
Heteronormativity begone! In between the basic bros and basic bitches are the Explorers, who are not here to fill gender roles, or fill their glass with the same old, same old. Local beers, rare beers, or extreme beers—like your imperial stouts, double IPAs and barley wines—are particularly attractive, and they’re ready to try a variety of options before finding their favorite.
These are the patrons you want to focus on.
Why? Let us tell you more about the Explorer: They’re young, mature, and tech-savvy. They share their experiences in their social circles, in-person and online.
Explorers are here for the discovery, not the deal—and they’re willing to pay for it. We call this area—this growing demographic of adventurous patrons—the pricing spectrum. Between the loyalists and the independent female patron is the largest part of the pricing spectrum, the Explorer which can help your beer buyer or beverage manager dictate how the craft draft selection is curated.
Pricing your products properly—knowing that there are patrons who will gravitate toward samples of higher-priced items before filling their pint glass with their go-to style—is of utmost importance when you are setting up your self-serve draft system.
What types of customers have you noticed at your self-serve bar? Have you been curating your beer selection for craft lovers? Let us know in the comments or via email, and follow us along on our blog as tasting enthusiasts continue to seek out self-serve taps across the country!
