Like everywhere else in life, keeping your bar organized is a very important part of running a successful nightclub. No good can come from having a cluttered and unorganized bar that both appears and functions like it’s in a state of disarray. Overall, it will quickly translate into a loss of sales if left untreated for a substantial period of time. Fortunately, keeping your bar organized isn’t really that difficult if you apply yourself; but finding motivation can be another thing all together. Here are four reasons why bar organization matters and how it can actually increase your drink sales if you do it properly.
General Appearance
Point blank, a messy work environment promotes messy work. There is nothing that drives down sales more than an unappealing environment because your customers will simply go somewhere else. Though disorganized bottles that look strewn about may not drive away customers alone, your bartenders will be more inclined to leave empty bottle and full trash bags lying around if the rest of the bar looks terrible. High expectations breeds high quality work, and that’s exactly what it takes to get ahead in the nightlife industry. Also, you need to be mindful of which bar supplies you need to buy in bulk. Saving money is one thing, but having a cluttered area is not worth it.
Work Speed
In addition to working cleaner, your employees will work much faster if things are properly organized behind the bar. Ideally, a bartender shouldn’t have to do much more than pivot in order to make a standard cocktail with a few exceptions if the customer requests something out of the ordinary. Not only will organizing your bar area to be efficient make the drink come out faster, the drinks will usually have a noticeable quality improvement and the bar will look fantastic as a side effect.
Inventory Control
Financially speaking, the ability to properly control your inventory is the most obvious reason to keep your bar as organized as possible. If you just put things wherever without a conscious plan of attack, you can easily misplace things. Additionally, you may overlook them when it comes time to place an order! For instance, you need to put a certain brand of vodka back in the exact same place after every pour. Otherwise, you may order it without needing to or forget to order it because you weren’t even sure that the bottle had been discarded. Keeping all of your bottles organized by assigning them a specific location makes inventory a breeze and ensures that every bartender can find the bottle they are looking for without any hassles.
Product Placement
One of the most neglected marketing strategies in the bar and nightclub industry is product placement. Keeping thing organized is vital to achieving this goal to the fullest. Studies show that customers are more likely to buy the type of liquor that their eyes are drawn to first. This is regardless if it is a discount brand or a premium spirit. The best thing you can do is place your premium spirits in the most visible areas behind your bar. Conversely, you should keep the cheaper brands down along the bar rail and out of sight. Many bar owners even use special lighting to highlight their premium brands to ramp up the effect even more. That way, people are more inclined to buy the premium liquors while you are still able to serve the cheaper versions upon request.
There are many reasons why bar organization matters, but money is the most important. By easily being able to see your inventory, ordering is much easier. By following these easy steps, you’ll be on your way to having organizational success!
