Sales of spirits in the convenience channel have soared during the coronavirus outbreak, according to The Retail Data Partnership (TRDP).
Data from the EPoS supplier indicates the Rate-of-Sale (RoS) in the past few weeks is running 53% higher than at the start of 2020.
“We are used to a fall in RoS early in the year for products that fly off the shelf over Christmas, with a gradual recovery occurring in February and March. We saw the same pattern in the first 11 weeks of 2020, but since the 9th of March we’ve witnessed a substantial surge in RoS,” said a TRDP spokesperson.
“Our next-day sales figures give no indication of any slow-down. This is good news for Spirits suppliers, which have obviously seen their sales hit hard in the on-trade.”
Another unexpected outcome in buying habits in recent weeks has been a dramatic increase in the range of Spirits being sold – up by 34%.
TRDP suggested this could be because retailers have not been able to source their normal range of products, so have bought whatever is available from wholesalers, or that they have responded to requests from their customers to source products they usually drink in pubs.
