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Online and delivered alcohol during COVID-19

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This report provides an analysis of the website traffic of online alcohol retailers from 2018 to 2020 to observe changes in website traffic. This report also examines whether any controls are in place to prevent alcohol being sold to children online.

Key findings:

  • The nine websites included in this analysis had an estimated 148 million visits in 2020, an increase of 37 million views (34 per cent) compared to 2019.
  • Websites of the four biggest online retailers — Dan Murphy’s, BWS, Liquorland and First Choice Liquor — were collectively visited an estimated 134 million times in 2020.
  • These online alcohol websites, owned by Endeavour Group (formerly part of Woolworths Group) and Coles, have experienced website traffic increases between 21 per cent and 39 per cent during 2020.
  • In 2020, annual online alcohol website visits increased by more than three times as much as it has between 2018 and 2019.
  • Of the nine websites assessed, none used online age verification methods to check for proof of age, instead relying on date of birth entry or tick box processes, which are easy to falsify.
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