BEER
Hits Home
BEER HITS HOME:
When buying beer, consumer choice is driven by occasion. In the midst of the ongoing pandemic, convenience stores have benefitted from an increase in at-home beer occasions resulting in additional beer stock-up trips. In fact, from 3/7/20-7/11/2020, the beer category has been the no. 1 growth driver in convenience stores, growing $1.4B. In this special category spotlight, Molson Coors presents exclusive data, trends and analysis of what’s driving today’s beer business.
*Source: Nielsen AOD Core database, must get approval from Nielsen on final before using.
Diving Into the Data
Beer is the 4th largest in-store category for convenience stores, generating
of all U.S. convenience stores sell beer and malt beverages.
CATEGORY ANALYSIS: BEER
C-stores that sell beer and malt beverages saw 3.3 percent growth in average sales per store in the category last year.
Hard Seltzers grew
while Imports and Super Premium also saw continued growth.
Five-Year Trend Chart
Total c-store industry sales for beer rose 1 percent in 2019, a slight increase from 0.8 percent growth the previous year.
The category's share of in-store sales dipped slightly to 9.2 percent, from 9.34 percent in 2018.
share by segment
Hard Seltzers
saw the biggest
share gain, and the
Premium & Economy
(Budget/Popular/Malt) segments represent
6 out of every 10
beers purchases.
There were over
SKUS sold in convenience stores in 2019.
The Consumer View
Alcoholic Beverages Purchased in the Past Month
Beer
24.9%
Wine 4.5%
Spirits
4.9%
*Source: Numerator Insights (InfoScout): Base 17K US shoppers 21+ who shop convenience store at least once a month.
A quarter of
c-store shoppers purchase beer in an average month.
Beer generated
over 1B trips in convenience stores in 2019, +9% versus 2018, indicating Beer is a
trip driver.
*Source: Numerator 2018; 2019
Convenience beer shoppers make an average of 47 c-store trips per year indicating they are valuable and loyal shoppers.
*Source: Numerator 2019
*Source: Numerator 2019
Convenience
store transactions are 38% larger when beer is included.
*Source: Numerator 2019
3 out of 4
convenience store
shoppers purchase beer exclusively from other channels with Grocery, Liquor, and Mass being the biggest sources of leakage. Retaining 1 point of leakage is worth $183MM for
the convenience
channel.
What's Trending
Every segment plays a role as 78% of shoppers buy across segments, with occasion (what the shopper is going to be doing and who they are going to be with) being the deciding factor for which segment will be purchased that trip. Whether the occasion is to relax alone after a long day, hang out with a few close friends, or stock up the beer fridge at home, beer occasions drive over 1 billion trips annually to convenience stores.
Source: Nielsen AOD, Total US Food, L52 ending 30-Mar, 2019.
Hard Seltzers grew +408% in convenience stores in 2019, contributing $360MM to the beer category. Three-quarters of the growth came from new distribution placements.
64% of volume is sourced incrementally to beer purchases. 14% of Hard Seltzer volume was gained through new buyers, twice the amount from prior year. While hard seltzers pose a threat to traditional flavored malt beverages and core beer options, 75% of hard seltzer drinkers, however, also buy beer, and many of the beer brand extensions reflect a potential opportunity for cross-buying.
*Source: Nielsen AOD Custom Total US Convenience 2019, 202 Nielsen Homescan All Outlets
Online alcohol sales are growing +114% vs. PY nationally as shoppers look for convenient alternatives to the traditional in-store shopping trip. COVID-19 has accelerated the behavior of buying beer and other goods online for curbside pickup or home delivery. Beer delivery and/or curbside pickup fulfillment is now legal in
35 states. Online Beer shoppers are valuable and loyal, showing 2x greater purchase frequency, 1.5x more spend/trip, and 3x transaction spend.
*Source: Nielsen Total US xAOC 2014-2019
*Source: Nielsen e-commerce YTD; Numerator 2019-2020
Premium Light
Import
Economy
Super Premium
Premium Regular
FMB
Craft
Hard Seltzer
Alternative
Cider
Coolers
TOTAL
$45,188
34,465
32,224
14,968
12,059
10,850
10,374
3,968
1,542
1,303
667
-4.2%
8.6%
11.1%
7.9%
5.0%
-3.3%
10.9%
$167,609
3.3%
$5,568,488,241
4,229,991,525
3,951,587,464
1,828,145,964
1,485,839,217
1,330,356,247
1,200,719,268
441,620,477
147,138,988
118,036,809
49,249,841
-5.3%
7.5%
$20,351,174,042
2.1%
Sales per Store
2019 % change
Industry Total (in Millions)
2019 % change
Category Spotlight
presented by Molson Coors
75.1%
in annual sales for the convenience industry.
~$21 Billion
27.4%
Premium Light
Dollar Sales
Unit Volume
Import
Economy
Super Premium
Premium Regular
FMB
Craft
Hard Seltzer
Alternative
21.7%
+408%
12K
of all SKU's contributed
2%
of the cumulative dollar volume, stressing the importance of getting core assortment right.
80%
Every Segment Plays a Role:
1
2
The Emergence of Hard Seltzer:
3
The Innovation Paradox:
4
“The New Convenience”:
Percent change in total sales
Margin percentage
Share of in-store sales
1.0%
0.8%
0.5%
4.3%
3.1%
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
19.02%
19.08%
19.01%
19.10%
18.71%
9.20%
9.34%
9.41%
9.56%
9.51%
20.8%
16.0%
19.4%
27.4%
9.0%
7.1%
7.3%
7.3%
6.5%
11.6%
5.9%
4.5%
2.2%
1.6%
0.7%
1.5%
Click on colored circles below to switch between charts.
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
9.8%
-6.6%
7.3%
2.2%
408.0%
4.9%
-4.5%
-0.8%
*Source: Convenience Store News 2020 Industry Report
*Source: Nielsen Total US Convenience 2018-2019
Category growth in challenging times
Source: Nielsen AOD Core database.
*Source: Nielsen Total US Convenience 2019-2018
*Source: Nielsen Total US Convenience 2019-2018
*Source: Convenience Store News 2020 Industry Report
Source: Convenience Store News 2020 Industry Report
Source: Convenience Store News 2020 Industry Report
Source: Nielsen Total US Convenience 2019
Click for more
50% of Beer industry growth the past 5 years has come from innovation, showing the importance of new brands and new items to the category. However, nearly two thirds of new items do not make it past year two, and three quarters of new items are delisted by year three. This shows the importance of authorizing the right innovation. New items should have a clear point of difference and provide incremental value to the category.
-5.6%
-5.6%
1.7%
-2.1%
Cider
0.6%
0.6%
Coolers
0.2%
0.5%
222.9%