The never-ending saga of the Bud Light disaster got even worse, as the beer’s sales have consistently plummeted for almost half a year since the beginning of the Dylan Mulvaney debacle. Recently, Bud Light has been projected to lose shelf space as retailers don’t want to sit inventory that goes unsold.
According to reports from ABC News, retailers undergo a shelf space reset in the fall and given Bud Light’s abysmal track record over the past few months, it is likely stores will cut back on orders of the woke beer in favor of better-selling competitors.
Per an industry expert, major beer sellers, such as Walmart and 7-Eleven, reallocate shelf space on an ongoing basis to remove struggling products based on their recent sales performance. Therefore, it is likely Bud Light inventory will undergo a thorough reassessment.
Former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks illustrated the importance of having beer ready-to-go on the shelves for consumers, explaining that they will quickly pick something else if their desired product is not present. Under this scenario, with Bud Light out of sight and out of mind from consumers, the downward spiral in sales could be severely exacerbated.
“During a busy shopping period on a Friday or Saturday night, if you don’t have the beer available cold on the shelf, consumers pick something else,” Frericks said, explaining that shelf space is “the single largest determinant of sales in a store.” He added, “There will be a dramatic shift.”
Bump Williams Consulting has been at the forefront of analyzing Bud Light’s perpetually declining position in the beer industry and has been a go-to source for outlook on the beer. Through consistently analyzing sales data, the consulting firm accurately predicted Bud Light losing the title of number-one selling beer in America to Modelo Especial.
Dave Williams, vice president of analytics and insights at Bump Williams Consulting, gave insight into the long-term impact of Bud Light losing shelf space. “There’s explosive growth on one side and sharp decline on the other,” he said. “This does have that ripple effect where if Bud Light loses space on the shelf, that could make it a longer-term endeavor to claw back to where they were if they’re ever able to do that in the first place.”
The American Tribune reported earlier this year that Bud Light was reportedly getting pulled from shelves and replaced with its competitors. On an earnings call, Molson Coors Chief Executive Gavin Hattersley stated that Bud Light was being replaced by products such as those under his corporate umbrella.
“Meanwhile, the biggest beneficiary of Bud Light’s woes, Molson Coors Beverage,” an article from the Wall Street Journal stated. “The maker of both Coors Light and Miller Lite said net sales in the second quarter rose 11.8% from a year earlier, or 12.1% in constant currency terms, in line with analyst estimates.”
Molson Coors indicated it was prepared to spend an additional $100 million on marketing during the second half of the year to capitalize on the misfortunes of Bud Light. Across the board, Bud Light’s competitors have been seizing market share, seeing their respective sales increase.
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