SNOOPER: FESTIVE SEASON 2022

The spring races to new year period is traditionally the highest liquor sales period of the year. December 2021 saw some of the highest liquor turnover on record. Given that the eastern seaboard of Australia emerged from lockdowns prior to the festive season, whilst not exactly returning to entertaining with gusto, how similar might the October - December 2022 season look to 2021?

Here we look at off-premise store activations in 2021 using our ‘How to win during key selling periods’ report series, to provide a potential heads up on what’s ‘in store’ for the 2022 festive season.

There’s evidence brands are increasingly leveraging the best occasions to play in for their categories. Within the October – January period, Snooper defines a set of mini-seasons or key selling periods, and different brands take the stage in each according to their role in the consumer occasion.

While the spring races season from October to early November is typically about celebrating and socialising, the leadup to Christmas through November is about gift planning. The festive season during December is mostly about gifting, entertaining and socialising, similarly to the new year and summer periods.

Accordingly, in 2021 we observed beer’s share of displays decrease during the festive season, but regain into new year. This may also have been due to no extra investment in beer made in 2021 to drive uplift. Beer’s share of display was highest during spring races at 13 per cent, and declined from there.

Sparkling’s share of display was strongest into the new year, allied to its role in celebrations.

As for spirits, the share of display was highest during the festive season, through gifting and limited edition displays. Of particular note in 2021 were Johnnie Walker, Bailey’s and Aperol displays.

For gifting in 2022, as in 2021, we anticipate that the physical store will become even more important, as consumers are warned by entities such as Australia Post to buy and ship online gifts early. Consumers don’t have to worry about liquor availability for mainstream brands in physical stores.

Although the average number of displays remained constant in national chains in the past two seasons, 2021 saw a continuation of the decrease in theming that we observed and reported in 2020.

Allied to this was an increase in retailer multi-category displays, often with multibranded gifting zones. This resulted in a decrease in branded displays overall. Sparkling wine in 2021 particularly saw more multi-category displays than in 2020.

As with the prior years, whilst location remained the number one lever for impactful displays for our shoppers, with size of display second, theming is recorded as third. And theming is ranked as significantly more important during the festive season than at other times of year, as shoppers look for inspiration, with or without a price discount.

Within branded displays, there were some interesting trends per category.

Wine was the most off-located category in 2021 across the four ‘mini seasons’, with displays for smaller brands particularly noted during spring racing. Given that 2021 saw increased alcohol consumption with much of the country stuck at home unable to travel, this may well look different in 2022 since travel has opened right up and consumer spend moves into other categories and sectors. In line with the spend shift, rising costs of living in 2022 may also see shoppers trading down to less premium brands.

The RTD sector saw a battle between vodka and whiskey, with Jack Daniel’s displays strong in three of the four periods.

Meanwhile, seltzer display presence continued to grow. In 2021, seltzers were bigger than gin premix in BWS and Dan Murphy’s stores, and looked set to overtake rum premix. We can expect to see this continue in 2022.

Along with the reduction in theming, shopper preferences for functionality over festivity also appeared to be increasing, with the most preferred – and prevalent – promotional mechanic for gifting being gift with purchase(GWP), followed by festive packaging (which is down versus 2020) and then limited editions. GWPs were particularly preferred if the‘ gift’ was related to the product and was practical. Personalisation remains top of mind but is not a key driver.

All in all, 2021 was a practical, pragmatic spring/summer season in liquor stores and for shoppers. Let’s see if the 2022 spring/summer period can inject a little more fun and experience for shoppers - a little more of the ‘joy of Christmas’ - as they seek to celebrate the new normal.

Snooper’s ‘Share of Visibility’ report gives you insights around share of off-location space during key selling period. It captures share of off-location space (gondola end and display) on a monthly basis in national accounts.

More info available at https://snooper-app.com/ share-of-visibility-liquor/

Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics, February 2022