How experiential liquor stores are changing the way you buy alcohol

Walk-in superstores across India are using technology and a “try-before-you-buy” concept to improve your shopping experience

Where do you usually buy your alcohol from? Perhaps the neighbourhood "wine shop". Or the duty-free outlets at airports during your travels. Figuring out what to buy can be difficult and more often than not, you'd probably stick to something tried and tested.

Also, as a woman, walking into a wine shop often means inviting judgmental looks from the shopkeeper and other patrons. “A lone woman who walks into a liquor store does not want to be ogled at or looked down upon. She wants to walk into an environment that looks good, smells good and sounds good. The whole idea of Mansionz is to change the perception of what liquor retail is,” says Craig W. Wedge, the director of retail operations at Mansionz, a luxury liquor superstore at Lower Parel, Mumbai, where you can not only buy wines and spirits but also sample some of the offerings before you decide on your purchase.

Going beyond liquor

For years, liquor retail in India had been restricted to the ubiquitous wine and beer shops until Tonique came along and opened a massive two-storey store in Hyderabad’s tony Jubilee Hills area, stocking some 1,500 Indian and international liquor brands as well as accessories such as wine glasses, decanters, bottle openers and more. Then came Tonique Bengaluru, touted to be Asia’s biggest liquor store, which opened in 2019. “All credit to Tonique; they were the pioneers of the walk-in liquor superstore. But things really sped up during the pandemic. The only way to get alcohol was through retailers because hotels and restaurants were shut so the whole traffic diverted towards them. They started to open these superstores because of good cash flow,” says Vishal Kadakia, founder of Wine Park, India’s first e-commerce website for wines, who opened his own experiential wine store in Mumbai in August 2021.

What Tonique started, Mansionz took forward—and made better. The brand was conceptualised by Living Liquidz, a chain of liquor stores across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, which also launched their own alcohol home-delivery app in 2020. “Since I started working in the wine and spirits industry from a very young age, I was always thrilled to share my passion for specific products or categories over tasting events with close and new friends. Meanwhile, I am also a food enthusiast who believes that a delicious dish paired with the right wine or spirit can create unique flavours, elevate the senses and offer an amazing experience. Hence the idea of The Tasting Room and Mansionz was born—to offer people a space where there can be a greater appreciation for beverages and a deeper understanding of them,” says Moksh S. Sani, managing director of Living Liquidz.

It’s all about the experience

When the first Mansionz store opened in December 2021 in a 3,500 square feet “bungalow” in Mumbai’s commercial hub of Lower Parel, it caused quite a stir. For the first time, you could sample wines and spirits before making your choice. Is chic setting was an added bonus—a vaulted ceiling, granite and terrazzo flooring, a swanky bar, foot-tapping music and even a signature perfume that pervades the space. A large touchscreen lets you browse through their selection, complete with tasting notes. Wedge explains how the “try-before-you-buy” concept works: “For instance, if you come in with the intention of buying a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label which is priced at ₹ 3,000, you commit the money first and then we offer you a whole plethora of spirits that could be equally priced, or more expensive ones. We tell you a story about each and guide you through what’s in the glass and then allow you to make the decision—whether you want to stick with your original choice or pay the extra money to buy something that you’ve just seen in the glass that has wowed you. The money you committed upfront comes off the purchase price of whatever you like so it is essentially a free tasting.” The store has a curated selection of 300 spirits and 500 wines on offer—you can get a wine flight with four wines from different regions or grape varieties or four rosés and so on. There are sommeliers on hand to guide you through the tasting and help you make a choice.

Onward and upward

In April 2022, the third-generation owners of VK Group, a liquor distribution company, opened The Liquor Store, a 10,000 square feet two-storey experiential space in Belapur, Navi Mumbai. Much like Mansionz, The Liquor Store offers a massive range of wines and spirits, tasting flights with food pairings, a cocktail bar and an entire section dedicated to super-premium spirits. But what sets them apart is the use of technology to enable an interactive user experience. “You can pick up any bottle tagged as “lift and learn,” place it on a countertop (which reads a QR code) and the screen flashes all the information about the drink—the story behind it, how it’s made, the tasting notes and suggestions for food pairing,” says Dinesh Kathuria, co-founder of The Liquor Store. He adds that the technology was specifically developed for them and in the next stage, customers can expect to see augmented reality-enabled interfaces with enhanced product information and videos of bartenders making cocktails with the chosen spirits. His brother (and co-founder) Jayesh Kathuria also says that they are working on voice-controlled interfaces, à la Siri or Jarvis, to enhance how customers interact with the labels.

In just the past two years, these experiential superstores have brought about a sea change in the way we buy alcohol, and Kadakia believes that it’s just the beginning. “I see more such stores opening across India. Of course, they need the luxury of space as well as two different licenses to operate—one for selling alcohol and another for offering tastings. Taste and buy’ is a new concept and only time will tell how successful it is, but India is a huge spirit-consuming country so people will definitely see merit in this model”, he says. Wedge adds that the wine flights have been a huge success at Mansionz. The brand also has big expansion plans. In February 2022, they opened a 7,500 square feet store in Bengaluru’s Rajaji Nagar; a third store will open in Pune in June 2022, followed by a second Mumbai store in Khar later this year. “The idea is to open four stores a year over a three-year period. Mumbai and Maharashtra are our turf so it’s natural to utilise our strength in our brand awareness and brand acumen. We understand that Bengaluru has incredible potential, and we obviously want to capitalise on that,” says Wedge. Similarly, the Kathuria brothers plan to expand The Liquor Store brand across Maharashtra and eventually, pan-India. So, the next time you want to stock up your wine fridge or pick up a fine Scotch to gift your boss (or yourself), head to one of these superstores and enjoy all the nuances of fine liquor in a luxurious environment.

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