OPINION: Is your wine selection giving shoppers a chance to spend more?

Last month I was lucky enough to attend a wine tasting, which showcased Bargain Booze’s new range – it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

But this range refresh wasn’t just the introduction of a few award-winning wines, this was a complete re-think of how wine should be sold in Bargain Booze stores to maximise profit.

The new range aims to do two things – help Bargain Booze retailers stand out from the competition and encourage shoppers to spend more.

Senior wine buyer Sarah Richardson told us in our lead story that shoppers are buying £7 wines, but the company is not giving them an opportunity to trade up.

There’s a balance to be struck in your range of alcohol, between offering great prices and providing great experiences. Wine is an area that shoppers are happy to pay more for.

This point was made clear at the Local Shop Summit last week when One Stop retailer Sunder Sandher revealed his approach for working with Deliveroo to take online orders for beers, wines and spirits. 

To make it worth his while and absorb the 30% margin Deliveroo takes, he doubles the price. He is set to make £10,000 from the service this year.

And who makes up the majority of these customers? Students. Not a demographic you’d necessarily associate with being able to pay twice as much for a bottle of wine.

Driving value is tempting, but shoppers have more money than we often give them credit for. They will part with it if you can give them the right reasons to. But you have to give them the chance.

Look at your range critically and ask yourself if you are doing everything you can to give shoppers something worth paying more for.