Spirits producers are focusing on gifting options, and expect to rely on strong retail and online sales environment in this unprecedented 2020 Holiday Season. Accounting for about 30% of their business, on-premise sales have virtually disappeared for spirits brands. A surge in retail and digital commerce has helped to balance the decline at restaurants and bars.

People looking for practical gifts are choosing ready-to-drink cocktails and gift packs, with brands scrambling to ensure their presence on popular online platforms stays strong.

“What’s emerged over the last six months in particular is a selection of platforms such as Drizly, Reserve Bar, Instacart, and Cocktail Courier, who are providing consumers with a really positive experience,” Tony Latham Bacardi Limited CFO told Yahoo Finance in a live interview last week. While less than 1% of sales pre-COVID, Bacardi has seen triple-digit growth in its volume on these platforms.

Delivery to your door is somewhat of a shortcut in the US three-tier system of alcohol manufacturing, distribution, and sales. In the Drizly environment, consumers order directly online and have the product delivered to their homes.

Drizly recently acknowledged the shift, saying in a report that “many brands have already adapted their sales strategies for this shift to e-commerce.”

“Covid-19 may have prompted the RTD cocktail boom, but the category’s success will outlast the pandemic,” said Felipe Szpigel, the co-founder of Five Drinks Co. The Bar of the Future may include canned cocktails, but in the meantime, consumers will continue to stay home and experiment with brands by simply clicking and paying.

North America has a great diversity in preference when it comes to hard liquor. Tequila is hot at the moment, but “there’s an emergence of gin in North America,” said Latham. “Those trends over time play out over the rest of the world.”

Aiden Gentson
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