An independent retailer in Bolton has won a competition recognising his efforts for promoting and selling AB InBev’s PerfectDraft mini kegs.

Vas Vekaria, of Kegs’n’Blades, was one of five winners among an entry list of more than 20 for the competition held in December. He received a cash prize for driving the highest growth of PerfectDraft customers in his area, as well as being recognised for encouraging sign ups to the scheme’s recent in-store rewards programme.

The 6L mini kegs allow customers to have pub-style beers at home from core brands such as Stella Artois, Budweiser and Corona. Customers simply insert them into specialised machines at home, which can also be purchased from convenience stores.

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Commenting on winning the competition, Vekaria told Better Retailing: “We sold 2,000 kegs during this Christmas period and staff managed to encourage four out of every five customers to sign up for the loyalty scheme. Customers who buy kegs through the loyalty scheme get beer tokens, which can be used as discounts of future purchases.

“We were promoting it through social media and the staff had been fantastic at telling customers about what was on offer. There was even a separate WiFi network being used to ensure customers could sign up without any disruption. To reward staff for their hard work, we’ll be using the cash prize to give them a bonus and take them to see comedian Peter Kay.

“It will also be two-years since we switched from the Premier fascia to Kegs’n’Blades. We’ll be running promotions on kegs to celebrate this. Good relationships work both ways and PerfectDraft have been a really good partner.” 

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