ALEXANDRIA, Va. –The Drink Up campaign encourages Americans to drink more water, more often. With convenience stores selling approximately 50% of the country’s single-serve bottled water, NACS has made available marketing collateral and point-of-sale materials through a digital hub to help drive sales of bottled water in stores. NACS is an official partner of Drink Up and has several cooler and floor stickers available for retailers to download for use in stores.

There is scientific evidence backing the use of functional messaging to increase sales. In one study, a retailer’s sales of bottled water increased 11% on top of already growing beverage sales according to a 2018 case study.

Especially during summer months, convenience stores are a destination for packaged beverages, a category that generates more gross profit dollars inside the store than any another other merchandise category. As demand continues for healthier options, many retailers are devoting more cooler space to lower-calorie and lower-sugar beverages options, especially waters.

According to a NACS survey of retail members, during the first six months of 2018, a majority of retailers say they’ve added flavored/enhanced waters (54%) and regular bottled water (52%). Water also figures prominently in sales growth, with 46% of retailers expecting more still bottled water sales to increase and 42% expecting sparkling bottled water sales to increase. Lower-calorie teas and coffees also were cited by 42% of retailers.

“The Drink Up campaign offers NACS members access to a number of high-quality marketing materials that have proven time and time again to grow sales of bottled water. As summer heats up, Americans’ thirst for bottled water continues to increase, help guide their shopping when they visit your coolers,” says Carolyn Schnare, director of strategic initiatives for NACS.