Retailers should focus on increasing their beers, wines and spirits displays, following a 24% increase in sales in the past 12 weeks.

This is according to Concha y Toro (CYT), who this morning (2 June) announced that sales of beer, lager, and cider have grown by 35% across retailers, mainly attributed to the closure of bars and restaurants.

Other stats show that wines and spirits have increased by 22% each, pre-mix options by 20%, with champagne and sparkling drinks the only sub-category to have decreased, with sales down by 5%.

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More broadly speaking, in convenience stores, there has been a 44.5% growth in grocery sales the past four weeks, with online showing the most growth at 80.6%. Meanwhile in supermarkets, this figure stands at only 11.6%.

Alex Price, category and insights controller at CYT, said there has been a 43% sales growth in wine in impulse stores, compared to only 17% in the supermarkets, and this is being driven by changing shopper habits, such as more people wanting to buy local and avoiding going to larger stores.

“When it comes to the number of households buying wine, this has increased by 6.6% and people are buying it more often. We’re also seeing more younger wine consumers buying wine to take home as bars and restaurants are shut, bringing in a new demographic to stores.

“When it comes to deciding what to purchase, these new younger consumers aren’t comparing wine against wine, but against other alcohol categories. They are looking at what will provide the best experience, and this is one reason why rosé wine has performed well,” she said.

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Price added that retailers should focus on five things to retain customers: Availability, value for money, choice and inspiration, local lines, and big brands.  

“Ranges need to hit every budget. We think that multibuys could have a big role to play after the pandemic. Likewise, buying local has become very important to shoppers and this has helped the success of convenience stores,” she said.

The supplier also recommended that retailers promote their wine range more online.

“Shoppers might find it hard to find a wine online for various reasons, such as being unable to spell it, so it makes it hard for them to pick a brand. To help, retailers should increase the number of images they post online and suggest which foods it goes best with. If you help shoppers understand the bottles there is an opportunity to get them to trade up,” she said.