Retailer slashing prices, but no discounts

Naked Wines is cutting prices of its wine for customers by introducing an advanced booking discount of up to 70%.

The online retailer’s new airline-seat booking system eliminates what the company describes as “dead money” – the wasted proportion of a wine’s cost – and foresees a subsequent “explosion” in consumer choice.

Starting today, Naked Wines’ customers will be able to eliminate 40-70% of the cost of its wine.

Founder of the retailer Rowan Gormley said: “Between 40-70% of the price customers pay for wine (excluding taxes) is dead money. The cost of selling, financing, picking it up, putting it down again, packaging, storage, risk, wastage.

"From next week, our customers will be able to eliminate this 40-70% by booking their wines in advance, just like an airline seat."

Naked Wines has also said that the new pricing model will also mean an “explosion in consumer choice and a risk-free new route to market for producers”.

Calling it a “gamble that most winemakers cannot afford to take”, the system involves winemakers selling their wines before they incur any costs, Naked Wines states it is removing this barrier.

To date, the service is available for wines from the Barossa, Marlborough and the Loire.

To discover more about the service, visit www.nakedwines.com

Jane Parkinson, 29.03.2010