Online Alcohol Sales Are Rising, But Will It Be A Long-Term Change?

Meanwhile, according to WineDirect, March 2020 showed winery Direct-to-Consumer (DtC) sales up 40% over March 2019. DtC activity was of course e-commerce driven, replacing about 70% of lost sales from tasting rooms having to close during the pandemic.

If the need to stay in place and to close businesses remains long enough, and the economy can be revived quickly enough, it is conceivable e-commerce will have gotten the kick it has needed to take the proverbial lion’s share of retail beverage alcohol sales.

Expressing an increased possibility that so-called social distancing may continue into the coming summer, Social Standards (SS) released the results of its latest beverage alcohol (Bev-Al) survey, which analyzes 350 million social media posts, and tracks 1,500 beverage alcohol products and 17,000 brands.

SS says, “If social distancing continues into the summer, on-premise alcohol consumption will practically be non-existent.”

Overall wines, whiskey, and classic cocktails being consumed during ‘virtual happy hours’ instead of at bars and restaurants may benefit from this growing consumption pattern. SS says, the products least likely to benefit from home consumption include: Cognac and Non-Alcoholic beverages.