For the sake of safety: 45% women dodge restaurants & pubs, prefer drinking at home

Concern about safety has emerged as one of the key reasons why women consumers don’t go to legit social places for alcohol consumption. According to a Kantar-NFX study, 45% of women alcohol consumers drink at home.

The study on ‘Responsible drinking and consumer behaviour’, which was conducted across seven states on a sample size of 3,000, said women prefer drinking at home due to unsafe liquor vending in shops and bars. Even while there is a growing base of female consumers, buying from off-premise stores is inconvenient due to poor ambience and unsafe environment. Men usually accompany women buyers on most occasions, the study said. Nearly two-thirds of the sample comprised youth in the age bracket of 21-35 years. Of the 37% women who consume alcohol out of home, 50% prefer to do so at restaurants, pubs, hotels or clubs serving alcohol, and 31% at get-togethers.

NFX Digital VP Amitesh Mullick said, “From the study, we understand women want to consume liquor, but they don’t have enough say because of accessibility issues and safety being a concern. The density of modern retail outlets, where one can browse through different brands, too is very low. If these issues are sorted, the consumer base for liquor brands would expand.”

One of the reasons women avoid buying from a liquor vendor is anxiety of being caught and harassed by authorities. “In wine shops, there is a feeling of being judged as the crowd is not literate enough,” a female drinker from Delhi, who participated in the study, said. Another woman participant said she prefers purchasing alcohol from liquor outlets in malls.

Restaurants have been advocating the need for a safe ecosystem that encourages responsible drinking. Rahul Bajaj, director, and conceptualiser at Out Of The Blue, said as the legal drinking age is different in every state of India, it creates restrictions.

Priyanka Sharma, co-founder of Uno Mas Tapas Bar Kitchen, said, “Generally, women place safety and thereby caution in most things they do, whether it’s at a public place or while travelling alone or interacting with strangers. While Mumbai is better in terms of access, freedom and safety, I’ve known most women to order in (when they could) than going to the wine shops.”

Lite Bite Foods VP (operations) Kushagra Nagarth said the layout and over-the-counter setups are prohibitive for women. If the retail environment for the right shopping experience is created, Nagarth said women will be far loyal customers than men.