California supermarket wet demo & bottle-neck QR
Safeway, California
What we saw at an in-store sake tasting, and a neck-collar QR page that turns a three-second glance into a cocktail recipe and a lead.
An in-store tasting demo at a California Safeway, October 2026
A fruit sake from a Japanese brewery, sold in the US by its importer
Neck collar + QR landing page first; a relabel only if the test supports it
What we saw
Most shoppers glanced at the display and kept walking. Settled fruit in the neck looked spoiled, five bright colors read as a cheap drink, and the 7% ABV was only on the back label, while neighboring fruit drinks showed it on the front.
What we proposed
- Cover the neck with a collar and turn “shake well” into a ritual, not a warning.
- Put “Sake with real fruit · 7% ABV” big on the front.
- Add a QR on the collar that opens a five-second page: what it is, a 2-ingredient spritz, and a sign-up for the recipe by text.
- A/B test the current and collared bottles across 4–6 demos, counting stops, tastings, purchases and sign-ups.
Why test before relabeling
A collar and a QR page can go on the shelf right away. Changing the label itself needs new TTB label approval (COLA), so it’s worth knowing what works first.
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