Who is the online wine consumer?

The era of rapid growth in online wine may be over, with global wine ecommerce on a downward trajectory following a surge through the pandemic lockdowns: the value of global wine ecommerce declined by -6% in 2023.

This is partly due to the maturity and longevity of wine’s online presence – its share of online alcohol sales was close to 40% in 2018 and over 50% when excluding Chinese national spirit Baijiu. As spirits and beer/cider/RTDs brands have invested more heavily in the channel in recent years, wine’s share has unsurprisingly eroded, and is expected to continue to do so.

“The proportion of wine purchasers online has decreased year-over-year following the surge through the pandemic lockdowns,” says Guy Wolfe, Head of Ecommerce Insights, IWSR. “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.”

Millennial consumers – who are more frequent purchasers of wine in ecommerce and are less likely to be deterred from buying online – will be crucial to the future of the channel, particularly in emerging wine markets. However, demographics and consumption trends vary hugely between countries.

“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,” explains Richard Halstead, COO Consumer Insights, IWSR. “In emerging wine markets such as China and Brazil, Millennials and LDA Gen Z are the main online purchasers of wine.”

In Australia, Italy, France, the UK and Spain, for example, Boomers and Gen X make up more than 60% of online wine purchasers; but Millennials and legal drinking aged Gen Z account for the majority of buyers in China (80%) and Brazil (64%). The US sits in the middle, with 43% of online wine buyers Millennials.

These demographic factors are crucial in determining the level of participation in wine ecommerce, as well as consumer behaviour – including reasons for purchase, expectations around speed of delivery, and consumer journeys before making a purchase.

Reasons to purchase wine online

Markets with a relatively younger adult consumer base – including Brazil, China and the US – show a higher frequency of purchase than other markets, and are driven by treating and purchases for social and special occasions, typically with fast delivery.

However, in those countries with older consumer bases – such as the UK and Australia in particular – purchasing is less frequent, and is motivated mainly by stocking up and bargain hunting.

Devices and speed of delivery

This dichotomy between mature and emerging markets is also reflected in the platforms and devices used for purchasing.

Countries with a younger adult consumer base favour apps and handheld devices: in Brazil, 81% of online wine purchases are made using a smartphone or tablet; in China, the figure is 78%, and in the US, 62%.

These figures, however, drop in markets with older consumer bases such as Australia (45%), the UK (42%) and France (31%). This also reflects the more established sale of wine online via specialist websites and supermarkets in these countries.

The contrast in consumer behaviour extends to expectations around delivery times. A sense of urgency means that many online participants are happy to pay more for one-day delivery, particularly in countries with a younger consumer base.

However, older groups and markets with older consumer bases have less urgency – possibly because they are motivated by the need to stock up, rather than requiring wine for a specific occasion – and are less willing to pay extra.

Thus only 8% of online wine purchasers in France expect same-day delivery, and the figure is only slightly higher in the UK, Italy and Spain. But there is a sharp contrast with Brazil, where 59% expect same-day delivery, and with the US (46%).

Consumer journeys

When looking at all online alcohol buyers in general, not only online wine buyers, those who shop online spend significantly longer carrying out research prior to purchase than those who buy in brick-and-mortar retailers or in on-trade venues. Boomers in many markets carry out less research than the average online shopper. By contrast, Millennials tend to conduct more research, while the picture for Gen Z is somewhat varied according to country.

Online customer journeys also differ based on whether markets are app- or website-driven, or a mix of both. In China, an app-driven market, a typical Chinese shopper carries out extensive research on social platforms and brand sites, strongly valuing others’ opinions. Meanwhile, Brazilian and US consumers tend to research slightly less, but seek out more practical information such as price and availability.

By contrast, in Italy, an app and website-driven market, ecommerce buyers tend to do a lot of research, reflecting an ecommerce channel that has remained niche and a platform for more premium, hard-to-find products.

“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,” comments Halstead.