As non-essential businesses were shut down because of the coronavirus lockdowns, one segment of the economy has experienced a boom: alcohol sales.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, sales have surged by a third where other markets’ sales have sharply fallen since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) started recording sales data in 1996.
In volume terms, alcohol sales jumped up by 31.4 percent, said the ONS.
Off-licenses and supermarkets also tallied increased sales as the nation went into lockdown whereas clothing sales fell by 34 percent.
Online sales also rose and even gained their highest percentage share ever of total retail sales, rising up to 22 percent.
The UK Government added off-licenses to their list of retailers deemed essential and as a result, they saw their sales rise by 31.4 percent, a massive jump. However, as a percentage of total alcohol sales, off-licenses only make up 1 percent of those as most people still preferred to buy liquor from the supermarket.
What these figures show is that Brits are dealing with the difficulties of going into lockdown by taking to drink.
Consumer analyst Kantar reported that alcohol sales shot up by 22 percent in March with the total sales of wine, beer, and spirits totaling £1.1 billion in the four weeks leading up to March 22. This is almost £200 million more compared to the same period last year.
While booze companies and the shops that sell them may be celebrating, things are not so rosy in other industries that aren’t related to food and drink.
A few policymakers believe that the UK may be facing the worst economic shock it has experienced in centuries.
Jan Vlieghe, a member of the Bank of England’s interest-rate setting committee, said in a BBC interview that the “early indicators” show the UK is already “experiencing an economic contraction that is faster and deeper than anything we have seen in the past century, or possibly several centuries.”
He did say that it’s possible the UK could go back to pre-coronavirus levels after the crisis is over.
To date, clothing retailers Oasis, Warehouse, Debenhams, Cath Kidston, and Laura Ashley have gone through financial difficulties and it looks like more will follow as the crisis goes on. There are those who say retail will never be the same again but for businesses who have tried a more empathetic strategy, that could be good news.
Lisa Hooker, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers consumer market leader, said: “We don’t expect the pattern of post-lockdown spending to be exactly the same as before, with our latest survey indicating that consumers intend to reward more responsible retailers.
“Particularly those who looked after their staff, and shop more on their local high streets and with smaller or independent retailers, giving some more hope to many of the hardest-hit operators.”
Replaced!