Halewood turns to online retailing

"Difficult trading" has prompted Halewood International to launch an online retailer business. Through the UK-based distributor’s wholesale arm Classic Drinks, Drinks2Home has been launched, an online venture offering consumers a wines, spirits and beersdirect-to-door service in the UK.

The company’s wine buyer David Vaughan said: "Like the rest of the wholesalers, we’re trying to find profitable ways of doing business. Over the last couple of years wholesalers have experienced difficult trading conditions. With the smoking ban and the recession, pubs are under a lot of stress and so we need to find other ways of using our staff."

The retailer idea was only generated by Halewood a year ago, but having launched on 1 June this year, Vaughan, a former employee at Morrisons, adds it is now in the process of "search engine optimisation and registering with Google, from which we were told we would see the benefits in six to nine months."

The Drinks2Home website says it will "never make selections based only on price" and will specialise in selling wines from £4 to £10 a bottle. Vaughan added: "Even though the wine competition from the likes of Tesco and Laithwaites is enormous, our angle is that we also offer a range of products of specialist interest. As well as wine we have speciality beers and can offer obscure spirits including difficult-to-find malts and Cognacs."

Drinks2Home says many of its wines are imported exclusively, adding that Chile and Argentina are particular areas of strength. The company requires a minimum order of one bottle, to which a flat delivery fee will be applied. To see more details on the new venture visit www.Drinks2Home.co.uk

See our special online wine retailing report in the September issue of the drinks business.

Jane Parkinson, 07.08.09