Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

Amazon goes old-tech with sommelier phoneline

Published: 11 February, 2016

Online retail giant Amazon is trialing what it is describing as a sommelier service for its customers in Japan.

Jancis Robinson launches online wine course with half-price offer

Published: 09 February, 2016

Jancis Robinson has partnered with online learning agency Electric Academy to develop a wine course which promises to give even beginners an understanding of wine in a single evening.

LWF 2016 signs up for Bottlebooks UK launch

Published: 02 February, 2016

The London Wine Fair is to partner with wine-data platform Bottlebooks for its upcoming 2016 show, the two companies have announced.

Laithwaite's predicts big sales boost for Thirsty February

Published: 01 February, 2016

Laithwaite's Wines is predicting a sales uplift of 35% this week after research shows that 3.7 million people will have completed the Dry January abstinence challenge.

Christmas sales growth at Virgin Wines below expectation

Published: 20 January, 2016

Virgin Wines posted sales growth of 12% over the six-week Christmas trading period, the online retailer has revealed.

GrapePip receives The Vintners' Benevolent Award for 2016

Published: 14 January, 2016

Caspar and Victoria Bowes of GrapePip have won The Vintners' Benevolent Award for 2016 for their oustanding commitment to raising both money and awareness for The Benevolent.

Insights: Ayo Akintola's keys for success on social media following #WhatTheFox campaign

Published: 14 January, 2016

Ayo Akintola, the managing director of Oddbins, shared some of his recent learnings following the successful social media campaign the quirky retailer launched over the Christmas trading period.

Insights: Aldi UK launching online wine offer

Published: 13 January, 2016

After a sneak preview of some of the wines in Aldi UK's forthcoming online range, Angela Mount tells all and looks at the discounter's web strategy

Successful Christmas launch for Bar 44 online retail service

Published: 07 January, 2016

Bar 44, the Welsh tapas bar and restaurant group, has successfully launched an online store to complement its existing customer offer.

Strong festive sales at Majestic vindicate Gormley strategy

Published: 07 January, 2016

Sales at Majestic Wine plc were up 12.2%, according to trading figures from the group released today.

Modern Australian Gin gets second release from Four Pillars

Published: 17 December, 2015

The award-winning Australian craft Four Pillars distillery has issued a second release of its Modern Australian Gin.

New wine service launches with ban on baffling wine language

Published: 14 December, 2015

Taste4, a new online wine service, has banned the ten least understood wine words from its marketing, following an extensive consumer survey.

Analysis: Independent merchants trends for 2016

Published: 10 December, 2015

With the growing popularity of hybrid wine shops, the independent retailers are finding strength in offering their customers something that the 'big boys' are not able to. So what does 2016 hold for the sector? James Lawrence investigates

Christmas wine sales will peak on Monday, Laithwaite's predicts

Published: 10 December, 2015

Wine sales for Christmas - and for the year - will peak on Monday, December 14, according to sales data from online retailer Laithwaite's Wine.

Sauvignon Blanc tops red-heavy Christmas sales at Laithwaite's

Published: 08 December, 2015

Sauvignon Blanc will be the most popular wine in the UK this Christmas, according to customer analysis from leading online retailer Laithwaite's.

Analysis: Harper's survey reveals what trends may lay ahead in 2016

Published: 07 December, 2015

Looking back, 2015 was not a bad year for the trade, but it was a challenging one. But what does the future hold? We conducted a survey to find out the general feeling throughout the trade as we approach a new year.

Roberson culls Grand Marques from online list

Published: 20 November, 2015

Roberson Wine is to delist the major Champagnes brands from its website.

Virgin Wines full-year results reveal business "ahead of schedule"

Published: 04 November, 2015

Virgin Wines boss Jay Wright says the company is "ahead of schedule" on a three-year plan put in place after its management buyout from Direct Wines in 2013.