AAB Taxonomy Online

Did You Know …

Alternative Alcohol Beverage (AAB) is an emerging category that blurs traditional Alcohol Beverage category lines- making it more difficult for shoppers to find in traditional Beer/Wine/Spirits category hierarchies and search terms online.

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What are Alternative Alcohol Beverages?

AAB is a term for products are flavored alcohol beverages that come from varying alcohol bases and do not fit clearly into traditional categories of Beer, Wine, or Spirits. Retailers may use other terminology for this 4th category such as Flavored Alcohol Beverages or Flavored Adult Beverages.

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Why is AAB important online?

The AAB category is now 12% of all Alcohol Beverage sales. AAB online baskets are 57% larger than in-store AAB baskets.

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How to win with AAB online?

Ensure AAB products are arranged how the shopper makes their purchase selection, as well as direct the AAB keywords searched to the appropriate products.

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Site Taxonomy

Arrange online Alcohol Beverage product hierarchy to meet shopper needs and expectations

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AAB Consumer Decision Tree

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How to leverage AAB Consumer Decision Process Online

1. Organize site taxonomy of AAB by grouping flavored subcategories (such as Hard Seltzers and RTDs) to reduce Shopper friction
2. Style is the next most important attribute within RTD Cocktails. Group RTDs by style attributes such as Margarita, Kombucha, Tea, etc. to ease shopping for these products online

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Did you know... Shoppers who purchase Hard Seltzer also purchase RTD Cocktails at a rate that is 3x greater than expected based on market shares²

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Examples:

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Site Search Terms and Product Descriptions

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Ensure popular search terms direct shoppers to appropriate AAB products: Assortment & Ease of Finding Products are 2 of the most important retailer selection drivers for AAB. Optimizing site search keywords will help AAB shoppers find the product they are looking for online.

Create Product Description Best Practices for Suppliers: Encourage suppliers to include relevant search terms for their products in their Product Description Pages (PDPs). This will enable products to be located the way the shopper is searching for them.

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AAB Top Retailer Selection Drivers¹

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Top AAB Related Keyword Search Terms²

1. Cocktails
2. Margarita
3. Hard seltzer
4. Long island iced tea
5. Hard cider

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Did you know... Keywords containing “ready to drink” were up 4X compared to 2021²

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Alcohol Beverage Site Taxonomy Recommendation

• Beer: Domestic, Imported, Craft, Hard Ciders*
• Flavored Alcoholic Beverages: Hard Seltzers, Ready-to-Drink Cocktails, Flavored Malt Beverages, Hard Ciders, Wine Spritzers *Add & refine sub-category taxonomy as your assortment evolves with consumer preferences. (example: Hard Tea, Hard Lemonade, Hard Kombucha, etc.)
• Spirits: Whiskey, Vodka, Tequila, Gin, Rum, Brandy/Cognac, Cordials Ready-to-Drink
• Wine: Red, White, Rose, Sparkling, Dessert, Sweet, Wine Spritzers*

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Site Search Thesaurus Entries for Key AAB Terms

• AAB Keyword Examples: Hard Seltzer = Spiked Seltzer, Cocktails = Canned Cocktails, Ready to Drink = Ready Drink = RTD, Wine Spritz = Spritz
• Mine your Null Search Term Report to continuously optimize the Beverage Alcohol consumer experience and assortment
• Example A: Hard Kombucha searches generate no results, therefore retailers should consider carrying Hard Kombucha(s)
• Example B: “Spiked Seltzer” search results generate no results, therefore create a site search thesaurus entry for “Spiked Seltzer = Hard Seltzer”

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*Subcategory cross-listed for ease of finding