Online wine firms encouraged to flout rules

‘There are no rules online - that's the beauty of it,' say wine business owners who are finding new ways of working the digital marketplace.

Addressing the LIWF online conference Tesco's Dan Jago emphasised how important it is to have exclusive labels, Yourfavouritewine's Angela Mount spoke about engaging women with big name brands and affiliate marketing, while Naked Wine's Rowan Gormley threw out the rule book by announcing a bold move to deliver direct from producers.

Tesco customers buy 1.8 bottles of wine in store, spending an average of £9 - but when it comes to online they buy 26 bottles in one go, spending £135. For Tesco, having exclusive wines online is vital as they make up 37% of online sales.

"The consumer has lots of choice, but it's about getting them to choose you. We (online retailers) may have elastic walls and shelves but I'm not sure we've fully embraced the rationale about what makes it better or different to buy online."

Yourfavouritewine.com

This website differs from others in that it sets out to engage with women consumers and to sell branded wine - dismissing preconceptions Mount told delegates its two biggest sellers are Cloudy Bay and Veuve Cliquot.

"The beauty about online is, it's immediate, very dynamic and the beauty about having a baby company like ours is that there are no rules, so we can explore new ideas," she said.

Yourfavouritewines.com's average basket sells at around £103 (average online is £80 and the site is is succeeding in attracting women: 65% of the customer base is female - the market standard is 40%.

Mount is a firm believer in affiliate marketing: an offer with Penfolds and Toptable.com saw sales boosted 7%, while a Quidco.com promotion using a voucher code caused a 300% increase in overall sales over a five-day period, and some free PR via Marie Claire online.

"The pace of change is growing incredibly quickly, if people aren't careful they're going to miss the boat. Consider where the market will be in 2020 and put your plans in place now," she said.

Rowan Gormley of Naked Wines told delegates of his plans to allow winemakers to sell their wines in the UK at virtually zero cost, revealed excusively by Harpers.co.uk earlier today.

Other speakers included Chateau Bauduc's Gavin Quinney, Euromonitor's Antonia Branston and Sophie Jump of International Wine Clubs Association. For more coverage read our next edition.