Demand for Buffalo chicken wings is traditionally strong in the weeks leading to the Super Bowl in early February.

Yet, retailers are in position to further bolster interest—and revenues—in the hot wings sector with astute merchandising.

Marketers, for instance, can offer Buffalo wing-flavored rotisserie chicken, or bundle a bucket or large tray of Buffalo wings with a traditional rotisserie bird.

Prepackaged, pre-cut celery sticks and bleu cheese dipping sauce bundled with wings gives shoppers yet another reason to visit supermarkets for their Super Bowl food while avoiding the long take-out lines at restaurants.

A mix of Buffalo wing selections also adds allure. Boneless wings, for instance, already are preferred by up to 20 percent of customers at some chain restaurants.

Complete meals, meanwhile, such as a bundle of wings, rotisserie chicken and side dishes, will be attractive to convenience- and value-oriented consumers. Pricing such a combo at $44 is a clever way to commemorate Super Bowl XLIV.

Wings with side selections also will appeal to multiple shopper segments.

An attractive offering is a bucket or box of wings in the center of a large vegetable tray along with a variety of dipping sauces. Vegetables are already the most popular foods served on Super Bowl Sunday, according to The NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm.

Such wing initiatives will add to chicken’s already powerful allure.

The NPD Group notes that rotisserie chicken and fried chicken are the most popular prepared foods available in supermarkets for immediate evening meal consumption.

More than 13 billion chicken wings—or 26 billion wing segments—are marketed annually, and more than 1.25 billion wing segments are projected to be sold during Super Bowl weekend.

Retailers that implement creative promotions can bolster their Super Bowl wing business. Please describe and share your successful wing promotions with the National Chicken Council.

Contact William Roenigk at wroenigk@chickenusa.org. The best ideas will be posted on the eatchicken.com Web site.

William Roenigk is senior vice president and chief economist for the Washington, D.C.-based National Chicken Council.