Irish whiskey brands are to continue to bolster their online e-commerce stores as the sales channel grows in importance through the Covid-19 pandemic. The Irish Whiskey Association listed e-commerce as a growth opportunity for whiskey companies in its "Irish Whiskey 2010-2020" report published in December. It includes a forecast that e-commerce will account for 14% of all retail sales, not just whiskey, in 2021. Co Antrim's Bushmills Distillery has an online shop. William Lavelle, head of the Irish Whiskey Association, said the rise in e-commerce sales in Asia, and the African continent's digitisation, meant Irish whiskey could reach consumers in markets where sales were historically negligible.