Make Every Space Count in the Backbar

This article is brought to you by Cheyenne International. 

For convenience retailers managing crowded backbars, deciding which products deserve shelf space can be challenging. New products constantly enter the segment, especially in the rapidly growing OTP category, but must fight for limited shelf space. 

And with a tobacco consumer that increasingly knows what they want, is loyal to their product and expects to easily find it in the store, it’s important for retailers to make sure the right products are in stock, said David Brinkley, vice president of sales at Cheyenne International. 

At Fine Tobacco and Harbor Smoke in Port Charlotte, Florida, owner Mohammed Ali started getting a lot of requests for a product he didn’t carry at his two stores. “We get a lot of snowbirds from up north, and they were asking for Cheyenne,” Ali explained. But Ali had limited room in his backbar, and he was hesitant to dedicate shelf space to another OTP brand. 

He started small and focused on Cheyenne's Core Four products: Full Flavor, Classic, Menthol and Wild Cherry.

“These four SKUS are consistently best sellers and represent distinct consumer segments and shopper needs—they’re four products made for four different consumers and have almost no cannibalization,” said Brinkley. 

Full Flavor appeals to consumers seeking a richer tobacco taste; Classic offers a smoother profile; Menthol serves a “highly loyal segment” that rarely switches products, and Wild Cherry provides “flavor-seeking consumers with a single SKU that can satisfy a broad range of demand without requiring multiple flavor variations,” Brinkley explained. 

According to Ali, the results were almost immediate. Customers weren’t just buying a pack or two—they were buying multiple cartons at a time, often returning specifically for their preferred flavor.

“Customers are loyal to their specific Cheyenne flavor,” Ali said. “Now I keep every style of Cheyenne Cigars in stock.”

The approach allowed the store to stock the products customers ask for most without sacrificing space or tying up money in slower-moving SKUs.

“Streamlining your backbar assortment allows you to take the space once dedicated to slower selling items and give it to products that actually move,” said Brinkley. “This leads to fewer customers walking out empty-handed. By listening to his customers and following a high velocity instead of high variety strategy, Ali built an OTP cigar set that delivers strong, repeat sales, high carton velocity, minimal risk of missed sales due to flavor gaps and a backbar driven by customer demand, not guesswork.”

This is the second article in a two-part series from Cheyenne International. Read part one, which explains how high-velocity SKUs can unlock better performance in the OTP category.

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