At wine o'clock (3pm) people get thirsty: online pre-orders tell a tale

Things are looking up for alcohol online delivery services as customers create a high volume of pre-orders.

Judy Brower of wine.co.za said her business has seen sharp interest in Gauteng and the Western Cape for alcohol orders. To her surprise, she said, people from the Eastern Cape and Limpopo have joined her clientele.

Her business has been in operation for more than nine years, but the past weeks have been dramatically good for revenue.

“The demand for our service has never been this massive. Since the lockdown people haven’t been able to buy physically, so they buy and wait. This April was our biggest month ever. In May it went to the roof, five times our best month ever,” Brower said.

She said about half the orders come from people who want to be priority clients.

Brower is hopeful the company can start delivering in June.

“It’s a big challenge and we’re putting systems in place to ensure we supply. The industry has been immensely affected,” she said.

The mixed cases of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz were proving popular.

“People make orders around 3pm the most. It’s like that’s when it hits them that they don’t have stock and get thirsty.”

About 46% of customers order wines selling for under R100, Brower said.

Linaker Phaahle from Thirst Busters said: “Things are unpredictable right now. We have not been able to sell, but we have seen a demand in use of our service. People call us regularly.

“During the two weeks leading up to the lockdown, our service shot through the roof. People bought a lot of wine, gin, beers and cigarettes. It overwhelmed our capacity. We’re not doing pre-orders because things are not clear,” Phaahle said.

However, things are not the same for the Say Siyabonga digital platform for businesses to showcase their products and services and sell vouchers.

Byran Vlok from Say Siyabonga said because of their diversity of products, they cannot indicate whether people visit their site specifically to pre-order alcohol.

“We haven’t exactly seen a spike for alcohol. We have not seen a dramatic change in consumer behaviour.”