With declining alcohol consumption in 2025, the liquor retail sector is as competitive as ever, as major retailers transform themselves to suit new market conditions.
With growth rates settling and the category in decline, the focus on customer experience is real. This has been particularly challenging given the well publicised brand and leadership transitions at the two largest retailer groups, Endeavour Group and Coles Liquor.
Using verified daily transaction data, Fonto surveys off-premise alcohol buyers shortly after purchase to better understand their customer experience and how they made purchase decisions. Among the big 3 retail brands, Dan Murphy’s continues to lead the pack since July 2025 with the most customers who were “very satisfied” at 70%. There was a larger gap to BWS at 61%, followed closely behind by Liquorland at 57%.
Liquorland, as part of the Coles Liquor business has been prominently undergoing a brand consolidation, moving from the current 3 brand retail model (First Choice, Vintage Cellars) to one, which may have impacted overall satisfaction and experience in transition. We'll continue to monitor as the brand transition completes and customer experience stabilises over time.
Fonto collects consumer spending data via its consumer apps Surveyz and Humaniti, and uses this data to trigger surveys about verified purchases. This improves the accuracy of research data for brands, analysts and investors to make decisions about finding, keeping and growing their customer bases.
To learn more about Fonto's measurement of alcohol retail buying behaviour, reach out to the team.
