Tough tactics for Averys

Averys has launched an aggressive marketing campaign in an effort to encourage spending during the course of its summer sale.

The British merchant is using e-mail alerts with wording such as “our advice – make sure you order your case before they get their hands on it!”, “they will sell out so I urge you to please order early” and “it will sell out in minutes”.

Last week the west country-based merchant offered a different deal each day on wines including St Emilion 2000, Spanish Gran Reservas and Cloudy Bay.

For example, on Tuesday last week the merchant was offering the iconic Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc at £99.99 for a case of 6 x 75cl bottles, on which customers would, according to Averys, make a saving of £31.51.

One of the company’s buyers, Mimi Avery, said: “We decided to run with this after the phenomenal success of our 12 Days of Christmas promotion last year so we decided about three months ago to do the same thing during the summer sale.

“We’re fortunate to be small enough to be able to source small parcels of wine that supermarkets can’t take on, but large enough to be able to target the offers to the right audience, that’s the beauty of a medium-sized company.”

Avery added that the company is currently sourcing “excellent value” from South Africa largely thanks to the exchange rate and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir thanks to the large 2008 harvest.

Jane Parkinson, 17.08.2009