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Sunday Sales

Sunday Sales Fact Sheet
Standard Drinks Equivalence
Alcohol and Health
Underage Drinking
Distilled Spirits Advertising
Distilled Spirits Excise Taxes
Product Tasting Fact Sheet

Allowing sale of distilled spirits on Sunday gives customers added convenience and leads to increased revenues for the State Treasury. While the amounts vary by state, allowing the Sunday sales of spirits generates new tax revenues for the state.

I. Customer Convenience and Impulse Buying

It can be argued that because a single bottle of spirits might last a distilled spirits drinker several months weekly purchasing opportunities do not matter. However, just as multiple distribution channels are now more important than ever in the consumer packaged goods industry, so too are multiple purchasing opportunities. Consider the following:

  • For the important 35-54 year old demographic cohort, Sunday is the second most important grocery shopping day of the week. Some 16% of 35-54 year olds do their grocery shopping on Sundays. Since over 43% of total distilled spirits consumers fall into this age category, it means that the distilled spirits industry is denied access to at least 7% of our customer base.
  • An A.C. Nielsen study concluded that shoppers are more likely to buy on impulse on weekends than on Monday-Friday. By limiting spirits sales to Saturdays only, the amount of impulse susceptible exposure time distilled spirits customers have is cut in half.
  • Shoppers tend to spend more on Sunday's than any other day of the week. While the typical grocery basket contains only $23.27 of goods Monday-Saturday, the Sunday basket has $28.23 - 21% more than other days of the week.

Thus Sunday has become an important shopping day in the American economy because of the convenience customers enjoy when shopping on the weekend.

II. Benefits to States

Not only would customers benefit from Sunday spirits sales, but the state will benefit as well. Currently, the combination of high excise taxes and limited shopping opportunities depress state liquor sales. Many potential customers either do not buy at all, or simply make their purchases in neighboring states that do allow Sunday sales.

  • By opening on Sunday's sales volume will increase. This increased volume would translate into additional profits for the state's liquor business.


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