How NearSt helped a local wine and spirits shop reach a new community of shoppers
Winner of the 2019 IWC Northern Ireland Wine Merchant of the Year, KWM Wines & Spirits has a thriving online business and a “strong bricks and mortar presence” in Northern Ireland’s Kilkeel. Brought to life in 1994, owner Andrew Imrie has built up KWM Wines & Spirits with a strong focus on quality, customer satisfaction and impeccable staff knowledge, giving him a very “well-established reputation in the area”.
The Challenge
“During holiday months, we see a doubling in the population, which helps drive traffic in the summer months. We want to target those people while they’re here that don’t know us as well as the locals.” - Andrew, KWM Wines & Spirits
Wedged within the southern tip of Northern Ireland, Kilkeel sees a huge influx of tourists within the summer months. Over the years, Andrew has experimented with several different kinds of marketing to reach this new and ever-changing community, from “leaflet drops, to Facebook targeted adverts and word of mouth.”
Despite a flourishing online shop, Andrew has also noticed the different customer markets online and bricks and mortar attract. In order to reach a wider audience, Andrew knew that he wanted to have his entire catalogue on display to attract all kinds of shoppers.
As there are many products “only available in the shop”, Andrew sought an easy, time-saving way to get all of his stock live in front of people to search for.
The Solution
“People go online for absolutely everything so if someone is searching for a product and we come up as an option, it might stop someone in the locality from ordering online when they realise that they can get it half a mile away in our store” - Andrew, KWM Wines & Spirits
After a recommendation from his point-of-sale Opus, NearSt were able to connect with Andrew’s stock file and display his entire in-stock inventory in Google within a matter of days. Using NearSt’s technology, Andrew has been able to have products that are not live on his website up and running on Google’s See What In Store with no extra effort to himself or his staff. Alongside this, NearSt have also been able to help Andrew reach local customers “that maybe don’t shop with [KWM Wines & Spirits]”, with Local Inventory Ads.
The Results
“The interesting thing for me is seeing what people are searching for [...] you’d never imagine that people are actually looking for what we sell online and the fact that our name will actually come up when people search for those items in the locality is a huge plus for us.” - Andrew, KWM Wines & Spirits
Alongside his See What’s in Store, Andrew has now had Local Inventory Ads activated for 2 months and benefits from engaging with the incredible data insights NearSt is able to provide, from “product views and product clicks” to viewing Google search terms: “there’s products there I never imagined people would search for.”
“We thought it was quite a clever idea and a new idea that hadn’t been done before and it definitely appealed to what we are doing.” - Andrew, KWM Wine & Spirits
With over 31,181 product views since joining NearSt in June 2021, Andrew has seen some customers who “would not typically” come in to shop with him “directly driven in because of NearSt”. As KWM Wine & Spirits explores NearSt’s potential more and more, Andrew is excited to use NearSt’s insights to “look for patterns that wouldn’t be typical for bricks and mortar traffic” and is delighted to help NearSt in their mission to help drive more footfall into local communities.
If you’d like to see how NearSt could help you connect your products to customers for no extra work, drop us a note on hello@near.st or give us a ring on 0333 050 9658.
