A megaliquor shopping experience

What do you say about a liquor store that is perhaps the swankiest in the country and stocks over 1500 brands? It offers a completely air-conditioned ambience; wafting with specialised perfume flowing across the store. Buying your favourite brand here is an experience that is hard to replicate anywhere in Asia, says GLN Das, President Operations – Tonique Beverages India LLP.

Living up to its reputation as Asia’s biggest liquor store sprawling across two floors, Tonique is located in the centre of the city. It is majestically housed at MG Road, near Cubbon Parkside in Bengaluru. The highpoint is that it is located in what is grandly known as the ‘Jewels de Paragon’ building! Apparently, they stock over 1,500 brands of alcohol from across the globe matched with service that is hard to imagine.

“We operate under two brand names: Tonique & Q by Tonique. Under Tonique there is one store in Hyderabad & three stores in Bengaluru. Our Pune store will be up and running in the next fortnight. Under Q by Tonique there are seven stores in Hyderabad,” discloses GLN Das who is popularly known as GLN.

They began operations in December 2016 with the first outlet opening up in Hyderabad. They started their Bengaluru operations in June 2019 and the customers on seeing their Bengaluru store were amazed that a liquor store can be of such size. It has a completely air-conditioned ambience, punctuated with specialised perfume flowing across the store. The outlet has a dedicated parking complete with security guards, bouncers, and it also has lady guards. “Unless you physically visit the store, you won’t be able to gauge its grandeur,”gushes an excited GLN.

“To get some idea of the grandeur of scale of this outlet, you will do well to remember that the store boasts of more than 1500 wine labels and around 500 spirits and beer labels,” he adds.

Brands & Demand

The plethora of brands available with the corporation depot include globally renowned players like Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Blue Label, Chivas and Royal Salute among others. You may also be tempted to pick up rare gems like Ricard Hennessy, Louis XIII, Dom Rose and Krug.They were probably the first retail liquor player in South India to list Sakes & Soju on the shelves and Champagnes from 200 ml to 9000 ml in size at one point of time.

According to him, based on the sales pattern the brands in demand at the much talked about huge Tonique store in Bengaluru can be categorised under whisky, gin and vodka in the spirits section. Of course, wines too are in demand at the store and beer comprises their largest sales volume segment. “Of late, hard seltzers and gin- based RTDs also have picked up demand at our store,” he informed

While discussing the need to maintain price parity with neighbouring states and its impact on sales, he points out that the tax structure in Karnataka for spirits and beers is one of the highest in the country. “The excise duty for imported spirits is fixed per case irrespective of the base price, which makes the lower-end imported products like Red Label and Ballantine’s expensive and higher-end imported products like Blue Label or Royal Salute cheaper than that in the neighbouring states,” he elaborates.

GLN goes on to add that there is no doubt a huge impact on sales due to the skewed pricing while at the same time asserting that ”Many of our regular and bulk customers are from neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which suffer scarcity in availability of some of the alcobev brands.”

It goes without saying that customer service is the essence of a top-notch liquor retail brand like Tonique. Their staff comes with a hotel management background and their wine floor is controlled by personnel who at least possess a Wset 2 qualification. They also organise regular training sessions for the floor staff.

To provide ease of service to lady customers, their world renowned outlet in Bengaluru has Lady Guest Relation Executives (GREs) to give them personal attention. Another thoughtful and sensitive gesture they offer at the outlet is providing wheelchair and customised assistance to senior citizens who may need it.

Customer Profile

As for the customer profile of the above-mentioned Tonique store in Bengaluru, it includes consumers from almost all walks of life and largely encompasses people who really love their drinks. “The store also gets connoisseurs who walk in to explore the exotic and massive range on offer,” GLN informs.

As for the ratio of women shoppers at the store, GLN says the ratio is 60 percent men and 40 percent women. “On weekends, one can see the rare sight of the entire family walking in together – like the couple with parents and children. For women, when the need arises, the store operates separate billing counters and is attended to by the lady GRE,” points out GLN.

With regard to change in consumer behaviour in the post-Covid era, GLN says that their customers generally have upgraded to the next segment and also drinking at home has increased. As for payment modes, Tonique accepts all credit cards, including international cards & Amex cards too. UPI payments are also widely accepted. The only two negatives one could say is that there is no home delivery system since the state doesn’t allow it and second, the steep tax structure has a major adverse impact.

But these two disincentives don’t serve as deterrents as shopping at Tonique is a global experience, with a personal touch.