Analysis of alcoholic beverages’ sales in WineLab for 2022

BELUGA GROUP has analyzed the changes in consumers’ buying activity for 2022 in its in-house WineLab retail chain.

The number of outlets for the period exceeded 1,350, thus, its scale increased by 35% over the year. Generally, new outlets were opened in Moscow, the Moscow region and Saint Petersburg. Sales volume increased by 52.3%, like-for-like sales by 8.3%, traffic by 37.1%, and the average ticket by 11.1%. All alcohol assortment of the group has demonstrated growth.

Premium spirits showed the best dynamics: sales of gin increased by +155.9%, brandy by +105%, rum by +78.6%. Wine, an important category for the group, developed steadily: champagne and sparkling wines +74.8%, still wines +63.4%. Sales of beer and beer drinks increased by +46.7%, while craft and flavored beer increased by +154.8%, driven by a significant expansion of the range. The categories Vodka +34.4%, Whiskey +43.9% and Cognac +38% showed double-digit dynamics from an already high base. Tinctures demonstrated minimal growth: +17.1%, this is due to WineLab active expansion in metropolitan regions, where consumers prefer wine and Brown Spirits.

The most significant dynamics of sales took place in March and December. In March, sales increased by +70.7%, and in December by +43.9%. At the same time, in December, the categories Gin +91%, Rum +66.8% and sparkling wines +57.4% showed the largest increase.

The key drivers in terms of sales volume in 2022 were vodka brands such as Beluga, Arkhangelskaya and Belenkaya. As for the non-vodka category, Barceló Dominican rum, Torres brandy and Noy cognac were in maximum demand. The top sellers in the wine assortment were still wines Torres, Piccini and J.P. Chenet, as well as sparkling wines Scanavino, Montelvini Prosecco and Pata Negra. The absolute leader in terms of sales growth was Green Baboon gin +218%.

The e-commerce represented in Russian alcohol market by click & collect system is growing: with sales in this format up 115% YoY, and the number of orders increased on 171% to more than 1.2 million. The share in the total sales of the chain in 2022 increased to 6.64% compared to 4.7% in 2021, and in the metropolitan regions to 11.1% compared to 9.5%.

The number of loyalty program members in 2022 increased by 1.9 million clients, its total membership exceeded 5.9 million people.