Coles Liquor, owner of First Choice and Liquorland bottleshops, has reported growth in revenue and a huge jump in online sales.

The liquor division of Coles Supermarkets saw sales revenue grow 2.9 per cent to $781 million in the third quarter of its financial year on the same period last year.

This was despite the impact of significant flooding events across Australia and rising COVID cases in the early part of the quarter.

Liquor eCommerce sales grew 50.1 per cent for the quarter to $33 million, with a sales penetration of 4.3 per cent, it said.

Sales were resilient across all states, Coles revealed, driven by eCommerce and Liquorland, which continued to be the strongest performing banner. This was a result of improvements in the eCommerce experience, it said, including the introduction of a live chat customer service function.

RTDs and spirits continue to be the key drivers of category growth, Coles reported.

The quarterly results come following those of Endeavour Drinks Group last week, which showed that sales growth had declined 3 per cent to $2.3 billion in the quarter.

Online growth was also a key driver for Endeavour, with annualised online sales of $1 billion now achieved.

Endeavour, the bigger of the two bottleshop chain owners which have a stranglehold on the alcohol retail market in Australia, also highlighted the growth of its Pinnacle Drinks supplier arm, which returned year-to-date revenues of $1.3 billion.

Coles Liquor too has found success with private-label brands.