Online Retailers Resume Growth After Post-Pandemic Normalization
May 10, 2024Over the past several years, the online retail landscape has been on a wild ride. The Covid-19 pandemic caused an explosion of online activity, which has receded somewhat in the past two years. Now that the situation has normalized, however, online beverage retailers are ready to resume their long-term trajectory.
Retailers like Seelbach’s and Wine.com continue to see strong sales and new consumer traffic. Online retailers report that their sales remain above pre-pandemic levels. “The online marketplace is growing, especially for new brands,” says Seelbach’s founder Blake Riber. “Seelbach’s goal is to tell the stories of craft producers to our audience, and offer a place to purchase their products when traditional distribution isn’t available. We’ve seen significant growth and an influx of new products and bottles that can compete with [larger heritage distillers]. These products and our growing audience continue to fuel our growth.”
Upscale allocated labels and private selections are among Seelbach’s specialties. Some of the company’s popular collections include labels by Bardstown Bourbon Co., Pursuit Spirits, B.R. Distilling Co.’s Blue Note whiskey, and Barrel Craft Spirits. It also stocks unique single barrel offerings and proprietary bottlings like Seelbach’s Private Reserve California Cab Finished Bourbon ($130).
One of the pioneers in the online space, Wine.com stocks more than 15,000 wines, led by imported labels, and also offers about 2,000 spirits. The spirits piece was added in 2020 and makes up about 5% of Wine.com’s business, led by whiskies and Tequila.
“Compared to the overall wine industry, we have a younger (shopper) demographic and higher average selling price,” says founder Mike Osborn, noting that Millennials make up about 28% of the company’s customers and that their average bottle price is $35 a 750-ml. Though he adds that Gen X consumers are Wine.com’s largest customer group. “The majority of Wine.com visits are now on mobile devices,” Wine.com CEO Rich Bergsund adds.
E-commerce player ReserveBar has roughly 3,500 retail partners, which allows it to have an extensive online catalog with upwards of 100,000 SKUs. Much like at Seelbach’s, the product assortment on Reservebar.com skews toward luxury and super-premium labels. Some of the company’s recent exclusive offers include a George Dickel 15-year-old single barrel Tennessee whiskey ($61 a 750-ml.), Old Potrero single barrel rye ($106), and Westward Single Barrel Stout Cask Finished single malt ($91).
“We enjoyed a meteoric rise during Covid-19, and coming out of Covid there was some retraction,” says ReserveBar CEO Derek Correia. “If you take out the crazy blip of the pandemic, both for the adoption of alcohol e-commerce and the fact that people’s only options were at-home occasions, you would still see that this business is on a path of growth. It’s still healthy and there’s a lot of opportunity. Overall e-commerce—including online shopping for food and consumer goods—is at about 20%, so we have a way to go.”
Drizly, which had been a leader in the beverage alcohol delivery segment, was recently shuttered by owner Uber, which folded its alcohol delivery business into its Uber Eats unit. According to the company, alcohol is one of the fastest-growing categories on Uber Eats worldwide, and the alcohol delivery business more than doubled for Uber Eats in 2023. Uber Eats offers delivery from local restaurants, but also has partnerships with more than 100,000 retail brands.
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