“Conferences are a great opportunity to share information and interact with others. Let’s take every advantage of all the information supplied over the next two days. This is an opportunity to bring like-minded people together so make sure you share, interact and definitely have a good time,” said Spagnolo.
As General Manager, O’Brien then set the scene for the coming two day sessions and gave a “state of the nation” group position, with a clear focus on digital marketing opportunities and data based category management, as well as buying decisions.
“As an organisation, what can we do to remain competitive and grow towards the year 2020? We have established ourselves as the premium independent group; we are not a supermarket style group – we don’t believe that one size fits all.
“Suppliers are investing heavily in this space to support us with category insights. Now we have the information, it’s about how to use that information as a group to make better buying decisions”.
But the big announcement of the morning was the launching of a new banner group for Western Australia, called ‘Bucks Off’. Designed for the convenience channel and drive through operations, the new banner clearly differentiates the offer of the Liquor Barons branded outlet.
“The Bucks Off banner members will have the same high level of data and compliance requirements as all the Liquor Barons bannered stores, and will be full members of the co-operative”, said O’Brien. “The banner services the requirements of an outlet that is more convenience based without confusing the customer message.”
Spearheaded by the Golden Hotels group of six hotels, owned by the Fensome Family, the Bucks Off banner will hit the ground running when it launches on August the 1st.
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