And you thought back-to-school shopping was all about the kids.
Think again. Apparently some trips to purchase #2 pencils and three-ring binders aren’t complete without a stop in the liquor aisle as well. Mobile shopping app Ibotta studied receipts from back-to-school season last year and found that sales of adult beverages skyrocketed during that time period.
Whiskey sales increased by a "staggering" 67 percent, according to Ibotta's analysis of 5.9 million receipts from around the country. Tequila and white wine purchases were up by nearly 50 percent and 33 percent respectively, too, says Denver-based Ibotta, which offers users cash rebates on purchases from retail establishments and apps ranging from Walmart and Kroger to Banana Republic and Hotels.com.
The nearly six million receipts analyzed were a combination of both in-store and online/mobile purchases. And whether it’s to deal with end-of-summer stress or for other reasons, when it comes to the hard stuff, we’re assuming that the purchasing was by adults (in fact, Ibotta says the average ages of whiskey and tequila buyers in the analysis were 41 and 37 respectively. All alcohol purchases are done legally and subject to standard checks and balances, according to a spokesperson).
Just as the 23 percent jump in sales of Lunchables that Ibotta's analyis also found was presumably accounted for by actual kids going back to school.
Of course,if you’re an adult who really digs Lunchables, well, no judgment here. But you’re on your own figuring out the right wine pairing.
