Americans Still Want To-Go Cocktail Options

According to studies, overall alcohol consumption went up by as much as 14% during the pandemic even as bars and restaurants struggled to stay afloat amid Covid-19 lockdowns. In some states, laws were suspended or rewritten to allow establishments to serve drinks to customers via delivery services—something often still illegal due to Prohibition era legislation. But as vaccination rates rise and bars and restaurants welcome back their patrons, what will happen to those new rules and the delivery services that have cropped up to meet a pandemic-based demand? According to a new Adweek-Morning Consult survey, 52% of Americans want to keep those new to-go cocktail and alcohol delivery rules—loosened in many states to support businesses during the pandemic—in place. And despite the relatively small portion of consumers that have actually tried alcohol delivery (14% have ordered to-go alcohol from restaurants before and 10% have used an app like Drizly or Minibar), a higher percentage said they'd be interested in it moving forward, even as in-person options become more available. That's likely because these broader industry trends had started prior to the pandemic, and were simply accelerated by the circumstances of lockdowns and on-premise closures. Similar to many other industries, ecommerce in the alcohol space was already ramping up, making it unlikely to disappear now that bars have reopened their doors. Changes in alcohol-buying habits John Leer, chief economist at Morning Consult, also pointed out the changing demands on peoples' time and daily lives as we move back into the busyness of "normal" life. There's a case to be made, he said, that "alcohol delivery channels will benefit not because people are worried about interacting with people directly, but because now people maybe have less time to go to a liquor store, and they've got a little bit of extra money and they're going to sort of experiment." Despite some industry experts that describe alcohol as a "recession-proof" product, Leer said that Morning Consult's ongoing data collection around alcohol buying has shown that high-income consumers (those who make more than $100,000 annually) were much more likely to buy during the pandemic. That's also the category of consumers driving growth in the alcohol delivery space, according to the new Adweek-Morning consult survey out today. Of the respondents with an income of $50,000-$100,000, 16% purchased to-go cocktails or alcohol during the pandemic. For those with an income above $100,000, that number was closer to one in four (24%). When asked about whether they'll continue to order to-go cocktails and alcohol as restrictions lift, the percentages stayed roughly the same. Still, most consumers said they plan to shift their grocery and alcohol buying back to in-person purchases as restrictions lift. Nearly 7 in 10 kept buying groceries in person throughout the pandemic despite the rise in delivery options, and 74% said they're planning to buy groceries in person as pandemic-related restrictions loosen. Close to half of Americans said they bought alcohol in person throughout the pandemic (47%), and slightly more (52%) said they'll buy in person as restrictions lift. "There remains a high degree of uncertainty," Leer said. "People are trying to figure out how to optimize the time that they have over the course of the summer." But as more people head to in-person events more often, "that's going to suck away some of the demand for for these delivery services," he added. Why Uber’s Drizly Deal Deserves a Toast

Alcohol Industry News

Bars and Restaurants Are Reopening, but Americans Still Want Their To-Go Cocktail Options

Overall, alcohol delivery and online sales remain uncommon—but high-income consumers are most likely to use it

Kathryn Lundstrom

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Kathryn Lundstrom