Most of what gets published about buying alcohol online is survey data: what people say they would do. The 2026 Alcohol Ecommerce Report looks at what people actually bought, across a full year of real orders placed November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026.
It covers four channels: brand websites using AccelPay, ReserveBar.com, brand stores ReserveBar runs, and Minibar. Every order was sold and shipped or delivered by a licensed retailer. All figures are aggregated, and no brand is named.
What the report found
The holiday season is five weeks long. The year's five biggest weeks all fall between Nov 17 and Dec 21. The peak week brought in 2.6x the revenue of a normal October week.
Gifting drives the peak. One in three ReserveBar.com orders is a gift. In the week of Dec 15, gifts were 57% of orders.
Premium bottles carry the revenue. Bottles priced $100 or more are 18% of bottles sold on ReserveBar.com but 48% of its revenue.
Same-day and shipped orders are different purchases. Same-day orders hold more, cheaper bottles. Shipped orders hold fewer, pricier bottles, and almost half are gifts.
Repeat buyers punch above their weight. Only 14% of brand-site customers ordered more than once, but they brought in 38% of revenue.
The report closes with a five-step playbook for brands planning their online sales for the year ahead.
Work with ReserveBar & AccelPay
ReserveBar and AccelPay help spirits, wine and beer brands sell online in three ways:
List on ReserveBar.com and the Minibar Delivery app. Eligible brands can get a listing, plus advertising to the shoppers already buying on both.
Sell on your own website. Our white-label ecommerce puts checkout directly on your site, with your branding.
Reach shoppers nationwide. Orders from every channel are filled by thousands of licensed retailers across 40+ states, with shipping and same-day delivery.
To learn more about any of these, reach out to [email protected] or [email protected].
