2022 Alcohol E-commerce Playbook: The Size of the Prize
Backed by months of research, dozens of interviews, and exclusive access to unique data sources, Rabobank’s 2022 Alcohol E-commerce Playbook is the most complete and rigorous analysis of the current US alcohol e-commerce landscape and the changes it has undergone over the past two years. Brands, retailers, and distributors can use these insights to benchmark their performance, set future key performance indicators (KPIs), rightsize their investment in digital, and ultimately build a solid, long-term e-commerce strategy.
In 2021, we estimate US online alcohol sales reached USD 6.1bn, or 4% of total off-premise alcohol. Although beverage alcohol remains underpenetrated relative to other edible grocery categories online, it has made up significant ground over the past two years. According to Rabobank, online alcohol sales have grown 131% since 2019, outpacing growth of overall online grocery sales during that period by a wide margin. Even more impressive, the two channels most relevant to large beverage alcohol companies, online grocery and marketplaces, are nearly four times larger than they were in 2019, growing 271% over the two-year period.
