U.S. Alcohol Sales Rise Amid the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic began to affect many Americans around mid-March 2020, and many people stayed at home for fear of contracting the virus. Consequently, states across the U.S. implemented stay-at-home orders and other restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic has brought a lot of additional stress to people's lives, while also reducing many normal coping mechanisms, such as social support and access to the gym. Alcohol sales have surged due to an increase in alcohol consumption related to stress and boredom.
In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to September 2020, U.S. liquor retail store sales correlated with usual trends, according to a study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Compared with the previous year, sales in food service and drinking establishments declined significantly over the same period. These results suggest an increase in household alcohol consumption in the United States. Alcohol retail sales rose sharply in the early days of the pandemic, with a 54% increase in the first few weeks of the lockdown compared to last year. A September 2020 JAMA Network Open study found that alcohol consumption increased by 14% compared to 2019. Between March 2020 and September 2020, liquor store sales were $41.9 billion, up 20% year over year.
While beer and wine sales in the U.S. have shown an increase compared to last year, there's a noticeable trend towards spirits during the stay-at-home period. For the nine-week period ending May 2, 2020, U.S. spirits sales went up 34.1% from last year, while wine sales rose 30.1% over the same period, according to CouponBirds' research. Beer sales rose 12.6%, and gin outsold spirits overall, with retail sales up 42.5% over the nine-week period compared to last year.
Retail store sales and overall consumer spending declined across all beverage categories in the U.S. as online sales boomed. With bars and restaurants closed, consumers largely opted to buy goods online. During the seven-week COVID-19 impact period ending April 18, 2020, dollar sales of physical alcohol rose by 21% compared to the same period the previous year while online sales of alcohol increased by 234%, more than doubling compared to a year earlier.
A report found that online alcohol sales have grown 131% since 2019, easily outpacing the overall growth of food and beverages. Online alcohol sales in the U.S. reached $6.1 billion in 2021, according to exclusive industry data released by Rabobank, the world's leading food and agribusiness bank. Rabobank projects online alcohol sales to grow another 3.4% by 2022. Other estimates for online alcohol sales are a bit more conservative, but still report massive growth through 2025, more than doubling today's market value. According to IWSR, a market analysis firm for the spirits industry, 54% of online alcohol buyers in the U.S. said they made their first purchase during the pandemic.
As COVID-19 reshapes drinking culture around the world, millions of households have begun an era of premium spirits in their living rooms. Sales of premium spirits priced over $100 a bottle are expected to grow by more than two-fifths by 2024, about four times faster than standard brands, according to beverage analytics group IWSR. Global sales of tequila, vodka, and liqueur continued to rise in 2020 as consumers at home began sipping high-end spirits and mixing their cocktails.
In 2020, consumption of canned cocktails in the U.S. increased 52.7% from the previous year and accounted for 6.9% of total alcohol ready-to-drink category sales, according to IWSR. Sales of premixed cocktails rose 42.3% year over year to $1.6 billion, according to the American Distilled Spirits Council.
References
1. ANDREW THURSTON, “Alcohol Consumption Has Spiked during the Pandemic. Could the Consequences Outlast the Coronavirus?”.
2. Silvia Martins, “Study Shows Uptick in U.S. Alcohol Beverage Sales During COVID-19 Pandemic”.
3. Rabobank, “Alcohol E-Commerce Sales Surpass $6 Billion in 2021”.
4. Amelia Lucas, “Canned cocktails are gaining momentum in the push for lower state tax rates but beer brewers push back”.
