1. Nearly a quarter (22%) of total beer sales happen over the 12 weeks of Christmas
2. Rum is tipped as this year’s big festive drink
3. Last year in convenience RTDs grew 20% in value – adding an extra £8m to the alcohol category
4. Christmas is the time to trade up
5. At Christmas and New Year in convenience beer claims a £212m market share and cider £53m
6. Picking the perfect pack size
7. Don’t forget the Christmas classics!
1. Nearly a quarter (22%) of total beer sales happen over the 12 weeks of Christmas
You don’t need to be Santa to suss out that Xmas is boom-time for booze.
It’s not for nothing that 22% of total beer sales take place over the 12 weeks of Christmas. And with the time approaching for Jingle Bell’s (and Jack Daniel’s, and Smirnoff) shoppers are starting to get in the spirits.
Everyone knows it’s been a tough year moneywise – and the mults are likely to be piling on the drinks deals this December. But when it comes to ease and convenience, independents can reach parts the superstores can’t.
“People can sometimes go to the multiples and get alcohol cheaper,” says Ian Lewis from Spar Minster Lovell
“But that’s where convenience comes into play. Customers don’t want the hassle of queuing up for hours in a big store the week before Christmas. They can just come to us, be in and out, and hopefully go away with a fairly competitive deal.”
Ian says that it’s the week before Christmas – and then on to NYE – when the festive trade really starts hotting up. Yet the minute Halloween’s over, stores can start picking up additional sales.
“The sooner you start promoting, the sooner you’re going to start taking advantage of the festive sales period and the more likely it is that shoppers will want to return to their local store for a repeat purchase,” says Sharon Kearney, impulse controller at Bacardi-Martini Ltd.
“Whether we’re talking October, November or December, each month is a key selling period for convenience stores.”
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2. Rum is tipped as this year’s big festive drink
This year Aperol Spritz won the summer season. Yet like Pimm’s its appeal gets more selective as winter arrives. So which tipple’s going to be tickling customers’ tinsel at this year’s office party?
Sue Nithyanandan from Costcutter Epsom says that it’s hard to pinpoint – but based on what she’s seeing in-store she tips rum as a possible 2024 trend.
“We’re pushing some new rums in-store and I think that might do well this year as I think more women are now drinking it,” she says.
“We’ve also seen more emphasis on the whiskies. It doesn’t seem like gin is flying out as much as it used to – except for the flavoured gins.”
Experienced hands might have heard rum being bigged-up before. Yet Kearney is keen to call the trend.
“Rum is in growth and predicted to grow even further thanks to the love consumers have for spiced rum and flavoured rums,” she says.
“Bacardí Spiced is in double-digit growth year-on-year and we are planning to accelerate that growth even further when we launch 35cl and 20cl bottles in the new year.”
One summer trend that will translate into winter is punters’ new-found love of stout. Earlier this year videos of people ‘splitting the G’ went viral on social media – which could translate to seasonal beer sales.
“Stout’s resurgence continues and over the 12 weeks to Christmas 2023, it saw a 26.8% uplift in value and 10.3% uplift in volume,” says Caitlin Brown, off-trade category development executive at BrewDog PLC.
“This is in part thanks to the launch of BrewDog Black Heart, which made its mark on the category in 2023 and is now worth 14% of Guinness Draught [Circana latest 12 wks data up to 12.05.24 Total Market].”
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3. Last year in convenience RTDs grew 20% in value – adding an extra £8m to the alcohol category
Every day of 2024 must have felt like Christmas for RTD drinks brands. Revived quality, alongside relatively high ABVs, has seen sales surge in c-stores.
“The trends within the RTD Category over the L52wks have seen pre-mixed spirits grow +13.6% in value and RTD cocktails also increase +9.1% in value, making both subcategories worth £177m in value sales alone, [IRI FAB Data to 12wk 07.01.24 and 52wks to 11.08.24]” says Clark McIlroy, managing director at Red Star Brands.
“RTDs are the fastest-growing category in Beer, Wines and Spirits. Coming into the Christmas period we would expect these categories to continue this growth momentum, especially with both categories offering brands that give a premium enjoyable Christmas drink feel.
“The convenience sector is at the forefront of the RTD renaissance and we’re seeing new innovative brands like Four Loko stealing share from the more established brands.”
Kearney agrees that RTD has built up some serious momentum that could result in a bumper Xmas.
“There’s no slowing the growth of the RTD category,” she says.
“The double-digit growth of our fantastic RTDs, which include the classic Bombay Sapphire & tonic and our Bacardí Mojito range is helping to drive the popularity of cocktails in cans with consumers.
“The convenient format for enjoying a quality cocktail anywhere and anytime, has a natural home in convenience stores.”
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4. Christmas is the time to trade up
Despite shoppers feeling Scrooge-like for most of 2024, Christmas is the time when they traditionally put aside the PMPs and aim for something higher.
“People do trade-up,” says Sue.
“We sell much more high-value alcohol at Christmas. So in wine the prosecco absolutely flies off the shelves and we also sell some £50 bottles of Moet. I think customers are looking to splash out a bit at Christmas.”
Of course, to trade-up to premium, shoppers have to know you’re selling posh brands in the first place.
“I have long been an advocate of the opportunity for retailers to grow their sales simply through improving the visibility on shelf of higher margin products,” says Kearney.
“Premium spirits should have double facings – to avoid the confusion caused by a cluttered shelf – and as they are typically behind the counter, the pricing should be big and bold.”
There’s also the gifting element. As Sue points out “no one want to gift a PMP of vodka!”
Sue’s done well with gift packs, including branded glasses, which make simple presents. She also advises always stocking gift bags for people scoring last-minute buys on the way to friends and relatives.
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5. At Christmas and New Year in convenience, beer claims a £212m market share and cider £53m
Don’t forget that some of your customers will only be here for the beer over Christmas. And that means giving it just the right level of space in-store.
“Christmas and New Year is one of the biggest trading periods for the beer and cider category, worth a huge £265m in the convenience and wholesale channel,” says Alexander Wilson, category and commercial strategy director at Heineken [Circana Total Impulse 12 wk end 25/12/23].
“This can be broken down with beer claiming a £212m share, cider £53m, and low- and no-alcohol £163k, giving retailers and wholesalers a good idea of how much space to dedicate to each segment in the lead up to the festivities.”
But not all beer is created equal. Brown says that craft beer did especially well last Xmas – and expects this success to continue.
“Looking specifically at Craft Beer, Christmas 2023 saw the category continue to grow its share of total beer sales at +1.2% – outperforming total beer in both value (+12.4%) and volume growth (+1.5%) [Circana Total Impulse 12 wk end 25/12/23],” he says.
It’s worth remembering that not all customers care about craft. Many want the big name, big-value lagers that they’ve always bought.
“With beer for us at Christmas it’s all about getting in the big brands that we know will sell,” says Ian.
“So that’s your Foster’s and your Stellas. It goes even better if it’s on a deal.”
“It’s important not to forget that mainstream brands, like Foster’s, Heineken and Strongbow, are still incredibly important in impulse during this period,” adds Wilson.
This is because while some people may be willing to trade up if given the opportunity, a lot of customers, especially in times of economic hardships, may well be looking to budget accordingly, and will turn to core brands for value.”
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6. Picking the perfect pack size
After a year of shrinkflation shoppers will be looking keenly at pack size this Xmas season.
“With socialising and entertaining more frequent over the festive period, larger 8+ can count packs are the key formats for craft beer, with 12.1% of sales going through this format at Christmas vs an average of 9.4% over the remainder of the year,” says Brown.
“As a result, 8-12 count packs sell +41% in value and +30.1% in volume over this period [Circana Total Impulse 12 wk end 25/12/23].”
In spirits Kearney is betting that c-store customers are going to go smaller to boost value.
“Fractional sizes are expected to outperform the 70cl bottle across all the spirit categories and that includes rum where our Bacardí Carta Blanca rum in 35cl and 20cl are top sellers,” she says.
“These smaller bottle sizes are a real strength of the convenience store and offer more consumers the opportunity to enjoy premium spirits. We will be growing the number of our brands available in fractional sizes in the new year with not only the launch of Bacardí Spiced in 35cl and 20cl but also Bombay Sapphire in 50cl.”
Plus, shoppers after an Xmas day margarita can now pick up new miniature bottles of Patrón tequila.
“These 5cl glass bottles with a cork stopper are super cute and really giftable,” says Kearney.
“My partner will definitely find one in their stocking.”
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7. Don’t forget the Christmas classics!
Snowballs. Bailey’s on ice. A cheeky Tia Maria.
Some drinks only get sipped at Christmas – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But it does mean you’ll need to stock up on booze that might only really fly in December.
“There’s alcohol that we only properly sell at Christmas, like Bailey’s, Advocaat and Tia Maria,” says Sue.
“We also always sell a lot of mulled wine. But it’s all part of getting involved in the season. If people want to buy it then you have to have it.”
For local stores, it’s service like that which makes the season sparkle for customers. So grab your Bailey’s, don the Santa hat and say cheers to a lucrative Christmas and new year.
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