Coronavirus: Huge spikes in people searching for beer deliveries during lockdown

With pubs and bars being closed for more than two months now, many people are missing their favourite tipple from their local.

But amid the coronavirus lockdown, Britons have found a way to make do, with a huge rise in people searching for alcohol delivery services on Google.

In a big boost for doorstep booze services, data from eventsupplies.co.uk shows that searches for the delivery of beer have shot up by more than 2,000% in parts of the UK.

In April, Edinburgh and Glasgow saw a whopping increase of 2,127% and 2,100% respectively compared to the same month last year.

The two cities also saw an increase of more than 40% between March and April.

The people in the northern cities of Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds have also taken to Google to find drink delivery services in their droves, with massive spikes in searches of 1,731%, 1,556% and 1,420% respectively in April 2020 compared to April 2019.

Londoners have made 1,232% more searches for alcohol delivery services than this time last year, while those in Manchester searched for doorstep booze 829% more.

The list in full:

• Edinburgh – 2,127%
• Glasgow – 2,100%
• Sheffield – 1,731%
• Newcastle – 1,556%
• Leeds – 1,420%
• London – 1,232%
• Liverpool – 1,200 %
• Bristol – 1,024%
• Manchester – 829%
• Birmingham – 781%
• Nottingham – 685%
• Cardiff – 500%

Interest in alcohol delivery will likely be sustained well into the summer, with pubs and bars not to be allowed to reopen until 4 July at the absolute earliest.

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A spokesperson for Event Supplies said: “We’ve been blown away by the figures in Scotland, with cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh showing more than 2,000% year on year increases for beer delivery.

“The hot weather is making more people thirsty and instead of heading out to the pub, they are bringing the pub home.

“The customer demand is also helping many businesses to find a way through the COVID-19 crisis.

“Many companies were staring into the abyss as lockdown continues, but we are all now adapting to new operational practices, and it seems that we’re on the cusp of a boom for our economy.”

Alcohol sales were up by 67% before the UK went into lockdown, with many drinking at home in isolation.

According to data in the British Medical Journal, the effects of increased dependency could “last a generation”.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Huge spikes in people searching for beer deliveries during lockdown