Asda is to expand its online wine offering by adding 100 new vintages to its product portfolio, thedrinksbusiness.com reports.
About three-quarters of these come from France. Asda’s MW wine-buyer, Philippa Carr, placed emphasis on the old-world country in her selection partially because it has fallen back into favour with UK shoppers, according to the Wilson Drinks Report, which specialises in analysing the British drinks industry. This is particularly true in the case in online retailing, Carr says.
The body says that UK shoppers are prepared to pay more for a bottle of French wine than for a non-French equivalent, with the average market price for the former is £8.59, and for the latter £6.89 (MAT June 2014).
The move follows Asda’s introduction of 200 new wines in May of this year, though in that instance the size of the wine offering overall was lessened, as other wines were discontinued.
The Walmart-owned chain was named Supermarket of the Year by Decanter magazine in February.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
