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Asda groups wine by grape variety as it boosts range
Asda has switched to marketing the wine aisle by grape variety, rather than country and region, which it says will help consumers navigate the aisle more easily and experiment with new varieties.
The retailer, which claims to be the first UK supermarket to group its wine specifically by grape rather than region, is rolling out the change across its entire estate. It draws on research conducted by the supermarket that demonstrates that 74% of UK wine shoppers see grape variety as the biggest factor in their purchase decision, and follows a pilot launched in several of its UK stores that sought to understand how the change could benefit UK consumers.
Following the trial, the retailer saw an boost in customer ratings, with a rise of almost 20% for how inspiring and engaging shopping for wine had been.
Asda Wines senior manager Ross Watson said the store was committed to delivering a “brilliant shopping experience” and to help its customers discover exciting new Wines.
“We know wne can often seem like an intimidating category to shop for many people and so we believe that the change we have made will make it really easy for customers to find more of the wines they love,” he said.
“We have also grouped wines of a similar style in with some of the most common grape types to help shoppers to explore new wines safe in the knowledge they will be of the style they know and regularly enjoy.”
The supermarket also found that UK consumers were expanding their repertoire, with two thirds (60%) of UK consumers trying at least one new grape during the last year, and over a quarter trying 3 new grape varieties.
One in five consumers now believe they could identify certain wines by taste alone.
New wines
The retailer has also introduced 95 new wines to its range, including 11 from the Extra Special range for its customers to try.
Asda found Merlot to the be most tried varietal, followed by Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio.
Morrisons was one of the first major supermarkets to trial merchandising its wine aisle by style rather than country in 2012, based on its “Taste Test”, which it claimed helped shoppers identify their wine preferences. However, three years later it reverted back, spending £10m to merchandise its BWS aisles by country, introduced a colour-coded system using ‘style descriptors’ to make it easier for customers to navigate the fixture. In 2019, Majestic rolled out a merchandising strategy using a taste trial.
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