Dan Murphy’s leads Australia’s alcohol retail pack

18-Nov-2015 - Last updated on 18-Nov-2015 at 05:37 GMT

More Australians shop for liquor at Dan Murphy’s than any other retail chain is a market that is worth A$296m (US$211m) a week, new research has found.

Some 4.8m Aussies buy alcohol each week, spending an average of A$61 per person, according to Roy Morgan Research. Of these, almost a quarter visit a Dan Murphy’s outlet.

BWS is only just behind the liquor megastore chain in terms of customer volume, though its customers spend considerably less on average (A$48) than Dan Murphy’s shoppers (A$67).

Liquorland, 1st Choice and wine clubs such as Cellarmasters and the Wine Society complete the top five liquor retailers with respect to market-share size.

But where a retailer sits in term of market share does not always correspond with the volume of customers shopping with them in any given seven days.

Wine clubs are the most striking example of this. While they account for the fifth-greatest portion of total dollars spent—thanks to their customers’ A$194 weekly spend—they don’t even make the top 10 for customer numbers.

Used by 74,000 Australians each week, these online retailers tend to specialise in bulk sales, such as cases of wine, rather than spontaneous one-off purchases.

The opposite pattern is true of Aldi Liquor, which attracts the fifth-highest number of shoppers (251,000) but only 2.2% of total dollars spent due to their customers’ low average spend (A$26)—largely the result of the low prices of its products.

These latest alcohol findings will come as very good news to Woolworths, which owns both Dan Murphy’s and BWS, says Roy Morgan’s Andrew Price.

“With its enormous, well-stocked stores, low-price policy and strong online presence, Dan Murphy’s also happens to be the current Liquor Store of the Month in the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards,” he said.

Woolworths also has a finger in the wine club pie with Cellarmasters, one of the country’s top online wine stores.

“BWS serves a different purpose, being geared more towards convenience with its stores located adjacent to Woolworths supermarkets,” Price added.

“With its three very different liquor retail offerings, Woolworths seems well positioned to thrive in this competitive market even as the proportion of Australians drinking and buying alcohol continues to decline.”