Aldi to launch online offering

By Angela Mount, Erin Smith

Published: 13 January, 2016

Mike James, wine buying director of Aldi, outlined his range strategy ahead of launching the discounter retailer's online wine offering, which is expected to launch in the first two months of the year.

The online offering will have 115 wines, including 20 wines that will be exclusively for the online customers.

Although the online offering will offer a widely priced range of wine from the value end up to £20 per bottle Bordeaux parcels, the focus will be on old world and premium wines.

Aldi as a whole has been working hard to change customers perceptions about the discounter retailer and James has been spearheading that effort through its wine offering.

"It is all about infiltrating the psyche of the consumer with the message that our wine is about quality, but also incredible value," said James.

Wine for Aldi is a great opportunity to draw in new customers.

"I think the wine category has a halo effect, which the company is very keen we continue to work hard on as it then permeates the rest of the store."

The wines James has been selecting for the range have been quite successful and have been picking up a number of awards, particularly within the last year and James could not be happier that the range is getting the recognition it deserves.

"Finally all this hard work has paid off in the past few years. Our growth has been great; our customers understand us and now the industry is starting to get us. For me that was massively important," James said.

James is now poised to take the winning range online. But James knows that the digital space is an entirely different animal and the discount retailer will need to work hard to continue to change consumers' perception.

James said: "We have to work harder than everyone else, because of the misconceptions that many consumers still have about the quality of our range. We need to over-deliver on quality, offer credibility, but simplicity."

For more in-depth analysis of Aldi's online offering click here and to read the full interview with Mike James on his range strategy click here.

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