Dan Murphy's new look expands across country

Dan Murphy's is moving towards a singular new look and format for its stores right around the country. But at the same time, in-store ranges have never been more particularly local.

Last week three refurbished stores opened across the country, with one more to open this week.

More than $1m was invested in each of the Dan Murphy’s Hyde Park - Western Australia (pictured below), Dan Murphy’s Hamilton and Ascot Vale stores- both in Queensland, to update them in line with the South Melbourne store which was the first store to feature the drinks retailer’s new flagship design and opened in March this year.

A fourth, Dan Murphy’s Pasadena in South Australia will be the first in the state to get the new look and is scheduled to open this week.

Drinks education, discovery, technology and sustainability are at the heart of the customer experience in these new-look stores.

“We know customers expect so much more from us than products on shelves, which is why we are increasingly innovating and using technology to create our stores of the future,” Dan Murphy’s Managing Director Alex Freudmann said.

Each store has a central area where customers can experience ‘magic moments’, including wine and spirit tastings, a merchant’s corner with recommendations from the store’s resident Wine Merchant and on-demand ‘micro-classes’ hosted by in-store product experts.

Customers can also choose to educate themselves by exploring highlighted areas in the stores, which will contain engaging information about a specific product or segment.

“The most important thing for us is that the customer is in charge of how and what they want to experience or educate themselves about,” Mr Freudmann explained.

The stores also have hyper-localised ranges, which have been developed by using customer insights and with a big focus on ‘local’.

Dan Murphy’s Hyde Park – biggest craft range in the country

Dan Murphy’s Hyde Park has a craft beer canyon with almost 500 different chilled beers, the retailer’s biggest craft beer range in the country.

“West Australians spend more on craft beer than any other state according to our sales data, and Dan Murphy’s Hyde Park is our best performing store in the entire country when it comes to craft beer. The approach to our stores of the future is to offer curated ranges based on what locals prefer, which is why we wanted to make sure this store has our widest range of craft beer in the country,” Mr Freudmann said.

Almost 40 per cent of the craft beers in the store are from Western Australia.

“We are committed to continuing to support local brands and it’s great to see such a huge offering of West Australian craft beers. It’s an exciting time for Australian brewers, winemakers and distillers - there is a lot of innovation in the space, and we are seeing customers choosing to support local products more than ever,” he added.

Technology: Electronic Shelf Labels

All stores have electronic shelf labels ESLs, which Mr Freudmann says will save hours of work every week for the team.

“An average store will beat hundreds of prices every week, and changing those price tickets can be quite time consuming for the team, but with ESL tags, it’s simple and efficient. We are also seeing that stores that have ESL use 90 per cent less paper, so the technology will help us reduce paper usage,” Mr Freudmann said.

The electronic shelf labels also have NFC Near Field Communication technology, so drinks lovers can simply tap the shelf label with their smartphones to get more product information or read customer reviews about a specific product.

“ESL will help us communicate with shoppers in a new way, reduce paper usage and make our store teams more efficient,” he added.

In total, the retailer is planning on having 10 stores with the new flagship design completed during this financial year.

Technology & the enhanced consumer experience

Augmented Reality and Near Field Communication are becoming increasingly popular as a way for wineries to connect directly with their consumers and to enhance the consumer connection with the wines.

19 Crimes was the first winery to use augmented reality to bring their labels to life in. 2019 and went on to exceeded its initial 12-month sales forecast in the first two months of launch.

Taylors Wines, McGuigan Wines have used it and Devil’s Corner ran its Lost Shipment promotion using NFC earlier this year.

Now De Bortoli Wines have released three new red varieties that they say pay homage to the Australian outback: Tempranillo By Night, Ssshiraz, and the 8 Legged Red (Shiraz Durif) which demonstrate the bold, deep flavours of Australia's warmer climate winemaking regions, Heathcote and Rutherglen.

De Bortoli partnered with Augmented Reality veterans, Rock Paper Reality and Web based AR Hosting platform 8th Wall to develop a best-in class consumer experience with Web Based AR.

Victor De Bortoli explains what it has been like working with AR, and how this innovative concept came to life.

“With the ever-changing world of technology, we have the ability to provide our consumers with a blend of virtual reality and the real world. We are really excited about launching AR to bring our brand to life by using cutting edge AR Technology. At De Bortoli we are constantly striving for new and unique ways to provide our consumers with engaging and interactive content that helps them connect more with our wines.”

Australia is known for its native animals, especially the predators and venomous critters that give the country its fearsome reputation. De Bortoli say that the wines are intended to celebrate the Australian outback and its wildlife and to educate consumers while they are buying their wines.

Be sure to check it out when you stumble across them in your friendly neighbourhood Dan Murphy's where these vegan friendly wines retail for $19.95.