A very interesting piece I found via Wine and Spirits Daily, written by Megan Haverkorn.
The stat I found most interesting is that almost 1/4 of wine consumers feel overwhelmed by all the wine options out there. While I agree that there are A LOT of options, shouldn’t the wine professionals be doing a better job of making wine & wine purchasing more approachable, fun and easy????
I don’t have much to add to the interesting report, so without further ado…
ARE YOU TRADITIONAL OR SAVVY?
Despite growing wine consumption in the U.S., consumers are reportedly still overwhelmed by wine and/or unwilling to branch out, according to Constellation’s “Home & Habits” study, the second phase of the company’s “Project Genome” study. With the use of Nielsen scan data and online interviews, “Home & Habits” found new insights into the six consumer segments: Enthusiasts, Image Seekers, Savvy Shoppers, Traditionalists, Satisfied Sippers and Overwhelmed. Constellation encourages the wine industry to pay more attention to the “overwhelmed” and “traditionalist” categories especially to ultimately increase their consumption and prompt them to try new brands and varietals.
OVERWHELMED. 23% of consumers fall in this category. Basically, they enjoy drinking wine but are overwhelmed by the huge selection on store shelves. They’d like to receive more help and information when shopping in the wine section at retail stores.
IMAGE SEEKERS. Consumers that view wine as a status symbol make up about 20% of all wine purchasers. They are generally still in the learning stages, and prefer merlot above all other varietals. The internet is their main source of learning about wine. As you can imagine, men and millennials make up the bulk of this category.
TRADITIONALISTS. About 16% of consumers enjoy wines from established wineries, are not as open to trying new brands, and believe wine is most appropriately used during a formal occasion.
SAVVY SHOPPERS. 15% of consumers are “savvy shoppers,” which means they enjoy discovering new wines and varietals on their own. They’re keen on specials, coupons and discounts. They are also more likely to buy a glass of the house wine when dining out to save a few bucks.
SATISFIED SIPPERS. These consumers (14%) do not know a lot about wine and are just fine drinking what they are familiar with. They tend to buy the same domestic brand and drink wine almost everyday. This consumer segment is also more likely to buy a large 1.5L bottle to save themselves a trip to the store. Wine pairings? Forget about it.
ENTHUSIASTS. 12% of consumers consider themselves knowledgeable about wine and enjoy entertaining at home. They tend to be in the middle to upper class and like browsing wine aisles and reading wine publications.
[...] The Wine Tasting Guy wrote a fantastic post today on “The 6 wine consumer segments”Here’s ONLY a quick extractThe stat I found most interesting is that almost 1/4 of wine consumers feel overwhelmed by all the wine options out there. While I agree that there are A LOT of options, shouldn’t the wine professionals be doing a better job of making … [...]
Hi – I’m not exactly sure what this has to do with wine (that’s what I was searching on MSN when I saw a link here), but I’m glad I got a chance to read your blog. Thanks!!
Im surprised there arent more image seekers
jewish wines…
each year, the winery hosts a joyous blues festival, a legendary Fourth of July party, and the massive Bluegrass n’ BBQ festival that often features national acts like David Grisman, Laurie Lewis or the Austin Lounge Lizards. There are other intriguing…
While these identified and tagged segments help marketers and business people understand consumers, I don’t believe they help the consumers understand what being a wine consumer is all about. What it truly comes down to is quality versus value and becoming a smart and educated wine consumer. Check out our signature consumer breakdown at wineconsumer.com and let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Sean.
Not surprised that the large percentage of wine consumers feel overwhelming by the huge selection of wine. When these wine consumers venture for a new bottle of wine, either they choose the wine by the desgin of the bottle or/and origin of the wine or/and little information on the bottle of the wine.
[...] When Sula wines was launched in the country, they did not look at it as a task of converting people to wine. They wanted to add wine to people’s repertoire of drinks. Wine is a lifestyle drink and it should remain like that. Now, to produce wine one needs to grow grapes and preferably have a plant near the vineyards. This calls for huge investments in real estate. Wine making and appreciation involves a lot of technical know-how. The consumer is far-away from this technical know-how and doesn’t know the exact place of wine in his tipple hierarchy. People perceive wine drinking to be an expert’s job. They don’t want to make a fool of themselves by ordering for something that they’ve never tasted and that they don’t know much about. They get confused when they hear that there is a way to drink wine and it’s not supposed to be instantly gulped down. That people are overwhelmed by wine is true even about mature markets like the U.S. [...]
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