The off-trade alcohol market is buoyant. Growing at a faster rate than the overall grocery market (4.2% vs 3.4%) and with a sustained summer heatwave following on from an impressive World Cup, the outlook for this year's crucial Christmas trading period is overwhelmingly positive. 

Spirits is the fastest-growing sector in BWS and has lured a considerable number of incremental shoppers to the category - not to mention stolen some £33.6m in spend from still wine to drinks such as gin and imported whiskeys. 

Shoppers can't get enough of cans, especially smaller ones. An additional 1.2 million beer drinkers purchased 330ml cans of ale this year, boosted by the rise of craft beer. Cans have also experienced particularly strong growth in cider, with consumers increasingly opting for sweeter, flavoured ciders in the format. 

Flavoured alcoholic beverages have grown by £23m (15.7%) to £169.7m, pulling in an additional one million shoppers, thanks to high growth in canned premixes such as Gordon's Pink and Baileys Iced Latte.

Richard Lee, Kantar Worldpanel