Majestic launches consumer Tasting Club

UK wine specialist Majestic Wines has launched a ‘Tasting Club’ that will offer a new series of personalized tasting events to customers through its retail stores.

The new ‘Tasting Club’ will see four levels of wine tasting events run by the in-store teams that will vary in price from a £5 charity donation to a £20 charge that can be redeemed against a wine purchase.

Each store will run at least two events each month, with dates set according to demand, Majestic confirmed – although events can also be scheduled around a group of friends.  “As stores are open 7 days a week, we can be flexible,” a spokesman said.

In addition to the revamped Introduction to Wine course, which covers classic wine styles and replaces Majestic’s previous 90-minute Wine Course, three new events are being rolled out – a Masterclass, which will look at more distinctive wines, spirits & beers in detail, a Fine Wine Experience, and a One-on-One personalised tasting with the Store Manager at the tasting counter, designed to find their ‘perfect bottle’.

“The customer will taste some classic, unique and innovative styles, then with the help of our in-store ‘wine gurus’ and a systematic profiling device, we’ll match them to their perfect bottle.  At the end, the customer will receive a bottle (their match) free to take home with them,” the spokesman said.

Customers pay for each event as a one-off when they sign up and the retailer is hoping to raise more than £75,000 for its staff-nominated charity out of the proceeds of the Introduction to Wine events. Customers will receive a voucher that can be redeemed for wine after the Masterclass and Fine Wine Experience.

The new scheme forms a new plank in the retailer’s transformation plan, which Majestic Retail’s managing director John Colley said put the customer at the forefront of its strategy.

“We are putting the customer back at the heart of what we do, revolutionising the customer experience and bringing the excitement back to wine tasting,” he said.

“Only Majestic can run this type of national events programme because of our passionate and trained people in stores. The Tasting Club is designed to give our customers the opportunity to go on exactly the same journey as our staff and make them fall in love with wine.”

Stores will continue to run their existing Seasonal Tastings and Spotlight Tasting Weeks and a selection of wines will still be available on the tasting counter, but Majestic expects around 50,000 customers to take part in the new series of events over the next 12 months.

The move is a latest in a series of measure to make the retailer more customer-friendly. Last month it launched a new “Majestic Price Match” scheme for “loyal” customers during the summer and autumn, and it is also upping its commitment to exclusive parcels with a new section dedicated to small parcels in each store.