UK online wine market: the facts

New research has highlighted the unique nature of online wine buyers in the UK, as well as the best-selling source countries.

35-44 year-old men are most likely to buy wine online according to the Wilson Drinks Report

Commissioned by Inter Rhône and compiled by the Wilson Drinks Report, the pioneering piece of research shows a web-based wine market performing very differently from high-street retailing, which is dominated by the supermarkets.

Data within the document shows an online wine market in growth, in contrast to a “long term volume decline” for bricks and mortar UK wine sales, as well as a higher spend per bottle of £6.89 among online wine shoppers – at least £1.20 more than the average in offline retail.

Commenting on the latter finding, Tim Wilson, manager of the drinks research business, said that such a premium could be because the internet channel allows retailers to “tell the story about wine and get away from discussions about price”.

Another difference concerns the type of wine purchased: 43% of all online wine sales by value are red, while white is 34%, sparkling 17% and rosé 3%. However, in the off-trade, white wine sells 10-15% more than red, according to Wilson, while rosé holds a higher share.

Wilson then admitted that he was particularly surprised at the findings from his research into the average online wine shopper.

Noting that “35-44 year-old men are most likely to buy wine online”, he said he thought that the majority of internet wine shoppers would be older. He did note, however, that “the propensity to buy online increases among female wine buyers as they get older”.

Looking more generally at the UK online wine market, Wilson said that it has an estimated value of £720m and accounts for around 11% of the £6.3 billion UK off-trade.

He added that he believed that web-based wine sales “could become 15% of the off-trade over the next three years because of current growth rates,” stressing that “the online channel is growing, unlike the off-trade – or on-trade.”

Finally, he considered the best selling source countries for web-based wine sales, which, once more, show marked differences to the situation in the off-trade.

The leading countries on the web can be seen over the following pages:

The data for the Wilson Drinks Report was collected from 13 of the UK’s largest online wine retailers using statistics covering a 12 month period to the end of last year. 

5. Australia

Unlike the off-trade, where Australia is the best-selling nation, wines from Down Under take fifth place when it comes to the wine share online (by value).

The country has a 10% value share of web-based wine sales, but is showing declining sales.

“The weakest performer online is Australia, which is down 11% in volume and 6% in value,” commented Wilson, adding, “but it is still strong in the retailers.”

Online performance:

Australia: 10% value share (down 6%)

Offline, Australia has the largest value share in the UK.

4. New Zealand

New Zealand is the fourth largest source of sales online with an 11% market share.

Although the country is facing a 2% volume decline, it is growing by 3% in value.

Online performance:

New Zealand: 11% value share (up 3%)

Offline, New Zealand has the 8th largest value share.

3. Italy

In third place, Italy accounts for 12% of value sales on the web, but is growing at the second fastest rate of all nations in terms of value sales, up 6%.

When it comes to volume, Italy is showing a small drop of 1%.

Online performance:

Italy: 12% value share (up 6%).

Offline, Italy has the 2nd largest value share.

2. Spain

In second place, Spain has just over 12% market share online, with a 4% value growth, and 4% volume decline.

Considering Spain is only fractionally larger than Italy, but that the latter country is showing faster growth rates, one can expect Italy to take second spot online by the end of 2015.

Online performance:

Spain: 12% value share (up 4%).

Offline, Spain has the 6th largest value share. 

1. France

When it comes to the online medium, France “is by far the biggest” according to Tim Wilson.

With a 30% share of the market, it dominates sales by value, and it is showing growth in value and volume sales: up 7% and 12% respectively.

Explaining the strong performance of this nation, Wilson commented, “The online channel presents an opportunity to tell the story about French wine.”

Online performance:

France: 30% value share (up 12%).

Offline, France has the 3rd largest value share.