Slurp Asia unaffected by UK woes

Hong Kong online wine retailer Slurp Asia is trading profitably despite the troubles faced by its UK namesake, which went into administration last month.

According to Tom Chamberlain, managing director of Slurp Asia, which is based in Wanchai, the business is “thriving” and has enjoyed revenue growth of 105% over the past 12 months, with the potential to grow further.

In an interview with the drinks business earlier this month, Chamberlain stressed that Slurp.asia is an independent entity, and hence, as correctly reported by db at the time, was unaffected by the difficulties faced by slurp.co.uk, which was placed into administration before being bought by Banbury based wine business SH Jones in June.

Slurp Asia was separated from the UK-based online wine business two years ago, although the majority shareholder of the Hong Kong operation is Jeremy Howard, who was also CEO of Slurp.co.uk before it was bought by SH Jones.

Slurp.co.uk was struggling to trade profitably in the UK due to high overheads and low online retailing margins, according to the commercial manager for SH Jones, Greg Shaw.

However, Chamberlain told db that Slurp Asia has managed to succeed in Hong Kong due to a focused approach and a low level of web-based competition compared to the crowded UK online wine market.

Slurp Asia MD Tom Chamberlain

“Slurp.co.uk created one of the most technologically advanced wine ecommerce platforms ever seen, but it was competing with some major players with big cash to invest online and it wasn’t running a lean enough operation,” he said, adding, “In Hong Kong there’s less competition in the online space and we’ve really focused on keeping our costs down.”

He continued, “Slurp.co.uk tried to create a point of difference by having a huge range – they were listing up to 7000 wines at one point, which requires a lot of resources just to maintain. In HK we have a much more focused range and our marketing is very product specific and tailored to our customers.”

Initially however, Chamberlain did admit that Slurp Asia was slow to grow. “Hong Kong is such a compact living space that everything is conveniently located so there isn’t the same requirement for goods to be delivered [as there is in the UK]. This meant there was, initially, a slow uptake, but now people are realising online means a lower price, it’s safe, convenient and low risk, and there is a wider range.”

In terms of Slurp’s competition in Hong Kong, Chamberlain pointed out that there are a number of wine merchants with an online presence, but few dedicated web-based wine retailers, although he believes “it’s just a matter of time before more realise that the web is more than just a sideline for their business.”

To further grow Slurp Asia, Chamberlain said the online retailer was planning to grow its business-to-business sales by supplying wines to restaurants in Hong Kong, as well as selling more parcels of mature wines.

Already, he recorded the success of a sale of directly-sourced Barbaresco and Barolo from the 40s, 50s and 60s from leading producers such as Pio Cesare and Conterno, achieving an average order value of HK$2,400 (£200).

He also said that Slurp Asia now has over 2000 “active” customers buying from a range of around 1000 wines.