Light lager continues to increase share on Drizly, clawing back share losses to hard seltzer over the past two years, according to the e-commerce alcohol delivery platform in its latest BevAlc Insights report.
In 2020, light lager’s share of beer category sales on Drizly declined from 19% to 15%. In 2021, that share increased to 17%, and now holds at 18%.
“It is impossible to ignore the impact that hard seltzer’s rise to prominence over the past few years has had on the light lager category,” Liz Paquette, Drizly’s head of consumer insights, said in the report.
Paquette pointed to major light lager brands such as Bud Light (Anheuser-Busch InBev), Corona (Constellation Brands) and Coors (Molson Coors), which released hard seltzer offerings in 2020 and 2021.
“This has caused some fans of the brands to shift from light lager to hard seltzer purchases,” Paquette said.
However, light lagers may now be benefiting from growing wellness trends among beer consumers, “offering lower alcohol and lower calorie options,” Drizly told Brewbound.
The top selling light lager SKUs on Drizly so far in 2022 include:
- Bud Light (A-B)
- Coors Light (Molson Coors)
- Miller Lite (Molson Coors)
- Michelob Ultra (A-B)
- Corona Premier (Constellation)
- Corona Light (Constellation)
- Busch Light (A-B)
- Natural Light (A-B)
- Bud Light Lime (A-B)
- Michelob Ultra Pure Gold (A-B)
The list is “relatively consistent” compared to 2021, according to Drizly. Corona Premier was the only SKU to move up the list year-over-year. It should be noted that Modelo Especial (Constellation) is categorized as an American-style lager on Drizly, rather than a light lager. It is the top-selling SKU in its segment on Drizly.
Bud Light NEXT – launched in February and featured in one of A-B’s Super Bowl LVI ad-buys – was the fastest growing SKU year-to-date on Drizly. The 4% ABV light lager, with zero carbs and 80 calories, had a slow start in off-premise channels compared to some of A-B’s other new offerings.
Bud Light Next has posted nearly $27 million in dollar sales year-to-date through May 15, in IRI-tracked channels (multi-outlet and convenience), according to the Chicago-based market research firm. Comparatively, Bud Light Hard Soda, which also launched in February, recorded more than $36 million in sales in the same period in IRI-tracked channels.
Stroh’s American Lager was the second fastest-growing light lager SKU, followed by Copper Mountain Brewing Company’s Cooks Light, Busch Ice and Seismic Tremor California light lager.
The most common package size for the segment is 12-packs, which make up 37% of light lager sales, followed by 24-packs (22%) and 30-packs (17%). The majority of light lagers sold are in cans (71%), followed by glass bottles (25%) and aluminum bottles (4%).
More than half of light lager consumers on the platform are men (56%), consistent with overall beer buying trends on Drizly, where 55% of beer category purchases (excluding hard seltzer) are made by men). Baby boomers and Gen X consumers over index on light lager purchases compared to Drizly’s overall consumer base, with boomers accounting for 13% of light lager sales (compared to 8% of Drizly sales), and Gen Z accounting for 33% (compared to 26% overall share).
Millennials have the largest share of light lager sales (49%), but under index compared to Drizly’s total sales, in which millennials have a 59% share. Similarly, Generation Z holds a 5% share of light lager sales, versus a 7% share of total Drizly sales.