Major drinks retailer and pubs operator Endeavour Group is expecting demand for at home alcohol delivery to stay strong, with three years of rolling lockdowns and closed pubs due to the COVID-19 pandemic changing Australians’ attitude towards drinking at home.

Steve Donohue, Endeavour’s managing director, told this masthead that on-demand alcohol delivery and click and collect were fast becoming the preferred way for many shoppers to buy their grog. Alongside Dan Murphy’s and BWS, Endeavour also owns alcohol delivery business Jimmy Brings.

“Those are increasingly the most popular ways for customers to shop if they’re looking for convenience,” he said. “Our fastest-growing channels are pick up, where you just drive your car up and we’ll pop it in your boot, or on-demand delivery.”

The pandemic has also shifted shoppers’ preferences away from cheaper drops and towards top-shelf products, with Endeavour selling more of its premium products in recent times.

“Both in hotels and retail people are drinking better,” Mr Donohue said. “They’re generally speaking, drinking less, but certainly drinking better in terms of the quality of the product.”

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This, coupled with a reduction in discounts thanks to heightened customer demand over Christmas, helped Endeavour deliver strong profit growth at its half-year results on Monday, reporting a 15.6 per cent increase in net profit after tax to $311 million. Sales for the six months through to the end of December fell slightly, down 0.3 per cent to $6.3 billion.

This result was largely bolstered by the business’ drinks retailing division, with earnings growing 10 per cent for the segment despite a labour shortage through the back end of the half and persistent supply chain challenges.

Mr Donohue said that Endeavour had been in a better position than many of its retail peers as its products are not perishable and typically have long shelf lives, allowing the retailer to be more flexible with its inventory.