Dive Brief:
- Walmart stores have been selling beer from Budweiser, Coors and other brands close to cost in an effort to boost alcohol sales.
- Bloomberg reports that a Los Angeles store was selling 36-packs of Coors Light cans at a mere 0.6% markup, while the beer markup overall at the store was 1%.
- Bill Simon, the president and CEO for Walmart U.S., said at a Goldman Sachs conference last week that the company has "been continuing to move prices lower" on adult beverages and has been "seeing returns in the form of market-share gains in that category.”
Dive Insight:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is moving aggressively right now to double its alcohol sales by 2016, doubling its number of alcohol buyers to 12, promoting discounts and designing new stores so that beverages can be stacked up front. Although a company spokeswoman told Bloomberg that investing in price for its adult beverages category is nothing new, these low markups show where the stores' priorities are at. Beer, after all, is a high-frequency consumable that can attract returning shoppers.