Aldi sells 2m bottles online in its first year

Aldi’s UK online wine shop has sold nearly 2million bottles of wine in its first year, it has revealed exclusively to db.

The discounter, which described the e-commerce site as as “an investment in Aldi’s future as a respected wine retailer”, has previously told db that online wine sales proved so popular the team had to double the sales forecast for the year.

It has now confirmed it has sold nearly 2m bottle since launching just over a year ago, driven by sales of sparkling wine, notably Prosecco and Champagne, as well as its own-brand Exquisite range wines, led by its best-selling Argentinian Malbec and Toro Loco Superior.

The discounter also reported a large boost to the number of Southern and London-based customers buying from its wine site, up from 1 in 5 in October, to 1 in 3 now, helped by strong Christmas sales.

It follows a concerted effort by the retailer to boost its customer-base in the South – where it has far fewer stores – ahead of more stores opening in the South.

A key plank of this strategy came through its sponsorship of TV’s ‘The Wine Show’, as well as dedicated pop-up wine shop, which ran for three-days in Shoreditch as a part of the retailers’ official sponsorship of London Wine Week in May. The futuristic wine store, which included master classes with MW was visited by more than 2,000 consumers, which the company said helped “position Aldi as a credible player in the wine industry”.

The site offers around 120 wines, sold as cases of six, which is refreshed with new wines for special and seasonal occasions, such as the Wine Festival it ran in August. Around 10% are only available as online exclusives.

Having a “carefully curated offering” that ensured products earned their place to be there, the team said. “There is no space for duplicate offers. This helps us ensure that any innovations we make satisfy a real demand from our customers,” a spokesman said.

Earlier this month, the discounter reported strong BWS sales, leading to an overall sales bump of 15% across its branches during the Christmas period, fuelled by sales of Prosecco.