Black Rifle Coffee Company: They’re Hot and Cold, Yes and No?
Exploring the relationship between Packaged Coffee and Ready-To-Drink coffee and a potential merging aisle
Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) and their Walmart Merchant wanted to examine the relationship between Packaged Coffee and Ready-To-Drink (RTD) coffee customers and see if there were any growth opportunities across the departments.
They started their exploration with Shopper Behavior to get a better picture of who these coffee customers are, what else they purchased, and to learn more about their habits and behaviors. Utilizing the Profile section of the Performance in Detail report, BRCC pinpointed the major differences between the Packaged Coffee and RTD shoppers from age to income. They were then able to create the profile of the category shopper to better inform their next steps.
Age:
- 18-49, 109-126 index
Gender:
- Male/Female even split
Income:
- <$50K, 112 index
Customer price sensitivity:
- Mid-market, 103 index
Retailer loyalty:
- Premium loyalty, 124 index
The Cross Shop report also revealed RTD coffee customers shopped in the Packaged Coffee aisle 74% of the time, aligning with feedback sourced from Customer Perception:
- Shopper ideals reinforced the importance of focusing on the front-end cold case
- 78% of Walmart shoppers surveyed are purchasing Packaged Coffee over the L3W, while RTD sits at 32%
- The second-most popular position shoppers stated as their ideal location for RTD was in the Packaged Coffee aisle
- Shoppers are wanting more grab-and-go for RTD, as pick-up today options are limited
These insights sparked the idea of placing BRCC’s RTD products in the Packaged Coffee aisle. This test launched in a small group of Walmart stores, and the team tracked progress through various reports including Source of Value, Cross Shop, Switching, and Basket—with all showing the test to be a promising move.
Read the full case study here to learn all the details about their test-and-learn approach.
References:
Proprietary First-Party Data, Walmart Luminate 2024.
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