“We are going to mark the occasion with our biggest promotion ever,” says Managing Director John Carmody.
Four hundred suppliers and members gathered at the Sheraton Mirage on the Gold Coast late last month to celebrate Liquor Legends’ 30th anniversary and learn of the group's substantial retail-level birthday promotions.
Liquor Legends will be activating its biggest promotion to date. Customers can win a share of $30,000, five chances to win a 30 YO spirit or wine, thirty of the most exclusive thirty packs of beer, plus a massive six-hour online sale. And that's just the start. Legends tells us there are plenty more promotions to be announced.
The Liquor Legends 2022 National Conference has been acknowledged by suppliers and members as the best yet.
“Over the two-day conference, we took the members on a journey of data, insights, marketing and e-commerce and saw the largest supplier trade stand engagement with plenty of deals taken up by members on the first day,” said Mr Carmody
The conference delivered valuable intel and speakers from within Liquor Legends, as well as key-notes Jaime Nosworth, CEO of The Pistol and Dan Slade, Senior Category Manager from CUB.
Both days culminated with a celebration, the Legendary Awards Dinner, and a 90’s themed pool party.
Mr Carmody said the kit was exceptional, the drinks were flowing, Hard Fizz DJs were spinning decks, and Balter kept delegate energy high with Tins of Glory.
“The National Conference was ‘legendary’ and an amazing two days of member and supplier engagement. We truly are lucky to have the greatest members in the industry,” he said.
Liquor Legends started in 1992 when John Carmody created a data-driven retail model (before data was even a thing). Today, there are 358 Liquor Legends sites around the country under banners, including Liquor Legends, Urban Cellars and Clubslink.
Mr Carmody's right-hand man, Marketing Manager Bradley McClelland greatly admires his employer.
“John is a leader and an inspirer. He was so forward-thinking in 1992, very few others were thinking about data like he was back then,” said Mr McClelland.
“I am honoured to work alongside John and continue to fly the Liquor Legends flag. The transparency of our operating model has led to best-in-class supplier relationships and allowed us to make informed decisions. It is what we have built our success on.”
A central data-driven model services all Liquor Legends banner members, whereby the Support office manages their tills. It makes members’ lives easier, as they focus on what matters while Support handles all their pricing and promotions loading. This data feeds through to Liquor Legends' e-commerce platform and provides data visibility to our supplier partners.
"It also means that when we speak to suppliers, we can have informed discussions and talk through solutions when a product or a promotion is not working. It enables us to have transparent interactions made visible through the tools we have developed,” says Mr Carmody.
All POS is produced and dispatched from head office to ensure consistency of presence and messaging. Mr Carmody says this also frees retailers to focus on store presence and customer service.
“It is our ambition to be the best imaginable partner for our members and teams,” he says.
In 2021, Liquor Legends was ranked Best in Class by the Advantage Mirror Report, and the business emerged from lockdown with a solid omnichannel presence and strategy to support its members.
Sales for Liquor Legends Group increased by 9 per cent for FY22 compared to the year prior, and eCommerce grew by 220 per cent last year.
Today, the business is seeing online loyalty and return visits from customers, which indicates that the Liquor Legends Group online experience is becoming part of consumers' online shopping repertoire.
“Online visibility supports in-store and growth on the ground in bringing new retailers on board,” says Mr Carmody.
As for 2023, Liquor Legends is working on the exciting stages of refreshing its complete website to its next iteration. The group’s fundamental goal is a greater overall user experience and driving new products to excite its customers.
“User experience is everything to us, and we want to deliver our customers a ‘Legendary’ experience online. Our website has been great so far, but we know there is a lot of headroom for growth, and we are close to realising the absolute opportunity,” said Mr Carmody.