Online booze orders flying in ahead of move to lockdown level 3

As President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that alcohol will be sold when the country moves to lockdown level 3 next week, South Africans have already started placing liquor orders online.

According to OneDayOnly.co.za spokesperson Matthew Leighton, alcohol sales - wine in particular - were “steadily” increasing even before the president's announcement on Sunday.

“It appears that increasingly more South Africans were placing orders in anticipation of the alcohol restrictions being lifted. In terms of April versus May, we saw a sales increase of 220%," Leighton said.

Leighton said liquor stores were expected to be packed on Monday next week.

“While skipping these queues is one of the obvious benefits of doing your post-lockdown alcohol shop online, customers will also be able to take receipt of their order via non-contact delivery.

He said they had, since regulations were lifted on e-commerce under level four,  noticed a “sizeable” increase in sales, new shoppers and the number of items per order.

“This growing uptake of online shopping across the country has allowed e-tailers to ramp up delivery capabilities over time, while ensuring all necessary health and safety measures are firmly in place – from hygiene protocol and warehouse social distancing, through to contactless delivery. So the reintroduction of alcohol sales and distribution will be a seamless transition for us to make,” Leighton said.

According to Leighton, OneDayOnly has, during lockdown, acted as a product outlet for small companies that had lost their physical stores, wine farms and small liquor stores.

He said they were waiting for the government to outline guidelines on alcohol deliveries from June 1.