The global wine ecommerce market is on a downward trajectory according to industry analysts IWSR, which also claims that mature online markets like Australia are facing further challenges.
With spirits, beer, cider and RTD brands investing heavily in ecommerce channels in recent years, IWSR said it is not surprising that wine’s market share has fallen and that it expects that downward trend to continue.
“The proportion of wine purchasers online has decreased year-over-year following the surge through the pandemic lockdowns,” Guy Wolfe, Head of Ecommerce Insights, IWSR said.
“Wine buyers have returned to the on-trade and physical retailers, while economic pressure has impacted non-essential spending.
“To protect market share, wine brand owners should ensure they have a good understanding of the types of consumers that are driving online wine growth.”
Looking at more established markets like Australia’s IWSR which have an older consumer base online purchasing is less frequent and more used to stock up and bargain hunt, whereas new markets with younger consumer bases the purchases are driven by social and special occasions, typically with fast delivery.
Richard Halstead, COO Consumer Insights, IWSR said: “Markets with established wine consumption, such as Europe, Australia and the UK, tend to have an older online wine consumer base with a larger proportion of Boomers and Gen X.
“In emerging wine markets such as China and Brazil, Millennials and LDA Gen Z are the main online purchasers of wine.”
With those different age groups making up the consumer base in different countries, there are also differences in the platforms and devices used to make purchases.
IWSR said: “Countries with a younger adult consumer base favour apps and handheld devices: in Brazil, 81 per cent of online wine purchases are made using a smartphone or tablet; in China, the figure is 78 per cent, and in the US, 62 per cent.
“These figures, however, drop in markets with older consumer bases such as Australia (45 per cent), the UK (42 per cent) and France (31 per cent). This also reflects the more established sale of wine online via specialist websites and supermarkets in these countries.”
There are also differences in online journeys and shopping habits according to IWSR, with online alcohol shoppers, not just wine buyers, carrying out significantly more research prior to purchase than those who buy in brick-and-mortar retailers or in on-trade venues.
Halstead added: “Understanding such marked variations in consumer behaviour and the need states of targeted consumers across markets is vital in order for brand owners to tailor their strategies and identify potential acquisition targets as growth in the channel plateaus.”