With digitization ruling the roost in the post-pandemic era, YouGov, one of the world’s leading full-service market research companies, surveyed to understand the consumer sentiment and interest towards the availability of alcohol beverages through home delivery channel in Maharashtra. The extensive survey received around 2,000 responses from consumers across five states in the country. With a strong inclination towards purchasing alcohol beverages online, one in five respondents in Maharashtra indicate a major trend shift towards home delivery of alcohol, setting benchmarks for other states.
The survey findings brought to life the fact that 90% of consumers in Maharashtra have had a positive experience while purchasing alcoholic beverages online. In fact, in terms of an alcohol buying experience, the online mode outperforms other channels in Maharashtra. The survey further highlights that 61% of consumers in Maharashtra recognize the primary advantage of shopping online for alcohol due to the availability of more payment options. This sentiment is relatively higher than other states opening inroads for high-decibel opportunities in product innovation and premiumization.Â
From a state-to-state comparison perspective, Maharashtra has the highest percentage of consumers (62%) who order alcoholic beverages through existing home delivery channels. The numbers clearly show that consumers in Maharashtra want the government to continue to allow the home delivery channel for selling alcoholic beverages in their state, especially after the pandemic has highlighted the importance of social distancing. This data also highlights the state’s potential to further drive growth of the home delivery model in the AlcoBev sector while also paving the way for more states to follow this channel based on its success. Capitalizing on trends induced by the pandemic, Jharkhand became the first state in India to adopt the home delivery and/or e-commerce model of alcohol last year, followed by Odisha and West Bengal with the method showing promise.
The survey findings indicate that the Indian consumer and the alcohol beverage industry is waiting for policymakers to offer the ecosystem and the much-needed efficiency by adopting international best practices through a revolutionary shift towards e-commerce. Globally as well, the pandemic has catapulted the value of the home delivery and e-commerce channel for alcohol.
Survey Demographics:
2000 responses were received from five key states Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana. 70% of respondents were men, while 30% were women. YouGov’s online panel of 200,000 Indian panellists and all participants have validated citizens who had to be registered with YouGov to participate in this survey.
