["Addiction, EarlyView. ", "\nAbstract\n\nBackground and aim\nAlcohol‐free and low‐alcohol (no/lo) drinks (≤1.2% ABV) are increasingly popular in high‐income countries. Their potential to reduce alcohol‐related harm depends on who buys them, in what quantity and their incorporation into overall drinking patterns. We aimed to (1) compare purchases containing only no/lo drinks, only alcoholic drinks or both, over time between 2018 and 2023; (2) identify subgroups with distinct purchasing patterns in 2023; and (3) describe sociodemographic differences between these subgroups.\n\n\nDesign\nLatent profile analysis of cross‐sectional household purchasing data.\n\n\nSetting\nGreat Britain, 2018 and 2023.\n\n\nParticipants\nNationally representative samples of 30 401 (2018) and 28 254 (2023) households. 4975 households purchasing no/lo drinks in 2023 were included in the latent profile analysis.\n\n\nMeasurements\nData included off‐trade (i.e. shop) purchasing occasions categorised into no/lo‐only, alcohol‐only or no/lo alongside alcohol. Household characteristics were purchasing frequency, standard servings of no/lo drinks per adult, alcohol risk levels based on weekly units of alcohol purchased per adult (non‐drinker: 0 units; low‐risk: ≤14 units; increasing risk: >14‐ ≤ 35 units; high‐risk: >35 units; 1 unit = 8 g alcohol), age, social class, region and ethnicity.\n\n\nFindings\nFrom 2018 to 2023, the proportion of purchasing occasions that were alcohol‐only fell from 97% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 97%–97%] to 95% (95% CI = 95%–95%), while no/lo‐only purchases rose from 1.4% (95% CI = 1.3%–1.4%) to 2.7% (95% CI = 2.7%–2.8%) and no/lo alongside alcohol purchases rose from 1.2% (95% CI = 1.2%–1.2%) to 1.9% (95% CI = 1.9%–2.0%). In 2023, no/lo‐only purchases were smaller (median = 6.9 no/lo servings) than no/lo alongside alcohol purchases (median = 6.5 plus 24.5 alcohol units) and alcohol‐only purchases (median = 24.6 units). No/lo‐only purchases occurred earlier in the week, no/lo alongside alcohol purchases peaked on Fridays and Saturdays.\nLatent profile analysis identified three classes: no/lo triers (53%) averaged 2.1 no/lo servings per adult annually with 95% purchasing no or low‐risk levels of alcohol; occasional purchasers (34%) averaged 7.5 servings with 20% purchasing alcohol at increasing or high‐risk levels; dual purchasers (13%) averaged 37.8 servings with 39% purchasing alcohol at increasing or high‐risk levels. Dual purchasers and occasional purchasers were more likely to be older [60% (P < 0.001) and 54% (P = 0.010) aged ≤55 years, respectively] and white [both 97% (P = 0.014 and P = 0.0074, respectively)] compared with no/lo triers (49% aged ≤55 years, 94% white).\n\n\nConclusions\nIn Great Britain, most households that purchase no/lo drinks appear to do so infrequently and purchase alcohol at low‐risk levels; however, a smaller group of older, higher‐risk households purchase no/lo drinks more frequently.\n\n"]