The summer season has arrived and after a year of hesitation, the world is slowly stepping into the sun! As establishments welcome back customers and people fill their calendars with events and excursions, we decided to dive into how alcohol trends might quench people’s thirst through the hot months ahead.
Last year, as restaurants and bars closed their doors, delivery services opened up a new method for purchasing alcoholic beverages. But will consumers still opt-in for delivery when they can now enjoy drinks at their favorite establishment? Comparing pre-pandemic online activity with today’s current activity, alcohol delivery engagement is up 24%, signaling the practice is here to stay. Consumers still enjoy the convenience of ordering wine and liquor, which together dominate 87% of online interest, straight to their doorstep using top delivery apps, such as Swill and Drizly.
Share of Alcohol Delivery Engagement (%):
Share of Alcohol Delivery Engagement(%):
Taking a closer look at how consumers are “wetting their whistle”, we found that there are two main priorities for beverage purchasers: portability and flavor. Between March and May, Mezcal – a smokey distilled spirit made from agave, the same plant used to produce tequila – saw a high increase in searches, clicks, and shares month-over-month. In addition, beverages that are easy and efficient, such as boxed wine and ready-to-drink beverages, are seeing an up sweep, indicating that consumers are on the move this summer and need their drinks to be the same.
Average Month-Over-Month Change in Engagement (%):
Out of all of these trends, the “Ready-to-Drink” category has been gaining the most traction with an 89% average increase in engagement month-over-month. The ready-to-drink audience is most likely to indulge in hard seltzers and lemonades, followed by canned wine, pre-mixed cocktails, and hard kombuchas, than the general ShareThis audience. Brands are starting to take notice, especially after Travis Scott’s release of Cacti Seltzer, and we anticipate more yummy portable drinks are in the works.
Index of This Audience for Ready-to-Drink Beverages and Brands Creating Recent Buzz:
Over the last several months, Cocktails-To-Go, or “Go-Tails” for short, are a new ready-to-drink innovation from the pandemic that has seen an average week-over-week increase in engagement of 37% by the ready-to-drink audience. Last year, bars and restaurants saw success in offering portable cocktails and lawmakers are starting to consider making this a permanent measure. In fact, 14 states and the District of Columbia have already approved legislation to allow the continuation of cocktails-to-go and a variety other states are considering following suit.
With CDC’s recent announcement that vaccinated individuals “can resume activities that they did prior to the pandemic”, individuals are finally planning the trips and vacations they have postponed for the past year. For luxury alcohol purchases, their summer plans and passions are on the adventurous side and so are their taste buds.
This audience is approximately 5 times more likely to be interested in vineyard and wine tours and is approximately 3 times more likely to seek out extravagant hotels and gourmet dining than your average ShareThis audience.
Luxury Alcohol Audience Passion Points:
As for their beverage preferences, based on keywords searched, luxury alcohol drinkers are looking for high-end liquor options and are splurging on top-shelf brands. It appears they are ready to pamper themselves with the best of the best after a year full of sourdough starters and homemade cocktails.
Top Searched Keywords:
Adding up all of these insights from our data, here are our key takeaways for the alcohol category as we head into spring and summer:
Contact us if you’d like to use our data to follow along with the alcohol category as it continues to evolve.
