The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), the province’s liquor commission, has seen its online sales “explode” by about 200 per cent after seeing a jump in clients at its stores when confinement measures were implemented at the end of March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Online sales usually represent two per cent of the SAQ’s sales and the vast majority of orders are delivered to its branches.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has prompted about 70 per cent of customers to opt for home delivery, according to CEO Catherine Dagenais. She announced the news while speaking at a virtual conference organized by the Montreal Chamber of Commerce.
The delivery times are longer than the usual schedule of three to five days, she added. The wait for customers now ranges from five to seven days.
The Quebec government deemed the SAQ an essential service during the pandemic. As a result, the Crown corporation has been able to continue offering service and expects to pay a dividend higher than the $1.2 billion expected by the government at the end of the fiscal year, which finished on March 31.
While its branches are closed on Sundays and customer traffic is much more controlled than usual, Dagenais did not want to advance on the dividend target of $1.25 billion set by Quebec for the current fiscal year.
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