E-commerce driving China’s wine sales

Almost half of wine drinkers in China buy online, making it’s the world’s largest and fastest growing e-commerce market, suggests a new Wine Intelligence report.

China now boasts around 21 million online wine buyers mainly made up of the urban middle class who look for imported wine and in particular, wines which they perceive to offer value for money.

The Wine Intelligence Online Retail & Communication in the Chinese Market 2016 report found that large, multi-category online platforms have benefited most from this strong growth, including the likes of JD.com which is the most popular online retailer with Chinese consumers and the third most popular retailer overall, with 35% of wine drinkers using it to buy imported wine.

The price is the star attraction – with 65% of online buyers citing this as a main reason – but choosing wine because of the quality jumped from 18% in 2014 to 26% in 2016, suggesting a market which is moving away from purely shopping for bargains.

Elsewhere, respondents reported that they felt their friends’ Weibo and WeChat accounts were the most reliable sources of information online, while official websites for wine brands and producers had the most impact on their buying decisions.

Wine Intelligence senior research manager for China, Chuan Zhou commented: “In an e-commerce market as large and fast-growing as China’s, brands and retailers will have no shortage of opportunities – especially in rural areas where online and e-commerce penetration remain relatively low.

“Even in higher-tier cities with high e-commerce adoption rates, there is significant room for online shoppers to shop more often and spend more on each order, as retailers overcome shoppers’ concerns, offer new levels of value and customer experiences, and leverage social media to influence consumers’ decisions.”