With craft beer competition now fiercer than ever and retail shelves overflowing with options, the retail marketplace has become a battleground and buyers are becoming increasingly strategic to survive a virtual tidal wave of new beer offerings.

Remember not so long ago, when something new from a small brewery was all that was needed to pique your interest? Not anymore.

Remember when just being a brand you’d never seen before was all that was needed for a beer to make it way to your home? That happens less and less…

With more than 6000 breweries currently cranking out beer (98 percent of them small and independent) the retail landscape has become more complex and buyers are drinking themselves to sleep at night.

According to Consumer Edge Research, the number of active beer SKU’s was down about 3 percent in fall 2017 compared to the year-earlier period.

SKU is short-hand for ‘stock keeping unit’ and every beer has its own SKU (its own unique number/code), so basically what the equity firm’s data was indicating was that overall retail beer sales was SLOWING.

But more concerning was that “active” craft SKUs (brands with monthly sales of more than $100) showed an almost 6-percent drop in the same period, which has beer retailors rethinking the long held concept that more beer variety draws more instore traffic.

And maybe it still does…But there’s also the very real possibility that customers are being overwhelmed by TOO MUCH CHOICE, that and too many new beer products that may have underwhelmed.

Add to that, the slow death of the once dependable flagship offering, hard core craft beer consumers have less allegiance to year-round core offerings that ever. And while seasonals continue to generate interest and sell-through, that same seasonal could fall flat the following year.

Again beer retailers are drinking themselves too sleep at night…

MarketWatch is reporting that “the craft beer boom has forced retailers to take a critical look at their selection and sales data in order to boost profitability,” and many whom we’ve talked to are stressed and frustrated…

It used to be easy…anything new would sell-through…but those days are over.

And over the next few weeks American Craft Beer will be addressing Craft Beer’s Changing Retail Landscape in a series of articles, which will tap into the industry’s best analysts for their thoughts on where the beer biz is heading in 2018.

Banner image credit: NBWA