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Beyond bricks and mortar

The panel comprised Matt Tipping, Mike Boyne, Emily Silva, Simon Huntington and Erik Laan

The idea, in a highly competitive and increasingly hybrid retail environment, was to invite innovative voices from the independent sector to explore the considerations, challenges and triumphs achieved through moving beyond pure bricks-and-mortar wine retail, looking at how additional revenue streams, food, education, events and more are now increasingly part of the mix.

Despite – or perhaps because of – the many differing approaches shown by the merchants present, what all firmly agreed on is that offering some form of ‘experience’ to customers is paramount in today’s trading environment.

“The days of putting wines on the shelf, sitting back, saying ‘my work is done’ and expecting them to sell, are long gone,” as Jeroboams’ Matt Tipping puts it overleaf.

Here, then, is a summary of the initiatives and advice our panel offered up on the day.

Erik Laan, Managing Director, The Vineking, Surrey

What revenue-generating initiative beyond straightforward wine retail have you developed as a business?

“We always try to make the rent work for us most sensibly. I remember years ago reading an article about guys in Lithuania who had a dress shop, but at night lifted all the dresses up and turned it into a bar, and from that point I thought we must do more things with our retail sites.

“As a result we do pop-up restaurants in the shops. It’s a really good way to do something in the evening, engage customers more, and do something unique. Our latest shop, called The Tasting Rooms, is more of a bar concept, with Enomatic machines, tapas-style food to eat, an events space downstairs, plus coffee and tea (which I never imagined I would do).”

What advice would you give to other indie merchants looking to expand their repertoire?

“Very simply, great retail works, and that comes down to giving a brilliant experience in store, having the right product and looking after your customers. The most important thing is maintaining your level of quality, no matter what you do, whether it’s a pop-up event or selling coffees.”

↘ Mike Boyne, Co-owner, Bin Two, Padstow

What revenue-generating initiative beyond straightforward wine retail have you developed as a business?

“It may be old news now, but when we started it was quite innovative to be a shop and a wine bar, providing wines by the glass. The innovation has happened step by step, so it’s more feeling our way. We wanted to see how far we could take it, but [have been] very careful to have a space where people feel comfortable.

“What we found with the wine bar customers scanning the shelves is that they are much more amenable to more interesting and expensive wines. So our confidence has been growing, we put more esoteric and higher-priced wines on by the glass, which has enabled us to push the envelope with the rest of the wines we introduce, both by the glass and on the shelf.”

What advice would you give to other indie merchants looking to expand their repertoire?

“[Ask] ‘how can we best use the space we are in? Where would I want to spend time to chill out and hang out?’ Make sure the quality is what you yourself would expect. Unless you are going to do

it well, don’t do it at all. You don’t have to do much, but do it really well, as you’d do for wine. We’re hoping people will see us as a local hub and what

we do is based on how well they can interact with other people.”

Simon Huntington, Head of Retail, Roberson Wines, London

What revenue-generating initiative beyond straightforward wine retail have you developed as a business?

“We are quite well known for our US specialism and import a lot of top US wines. A phenomenon that started around a decade ago over there [was] the start of the urban wineries. Rather than being set in traditional areas such as Napa Valley, they were in Brooklyn, in Portland, in an urban centre, bringing fruit in and vinifying in a city centre, and then also open for tastings, events, a bar. We had a space in our office and, with our US specialism, we decided to start our own winery. So, beginning with the 2013 vintage, we began buying fruit and making wine. We’re still doing it today, although we are a little more specialised, only making English wines.”

What advice would you give to other indie merchants looking to expand their repertoire?

“The advantage of the independent trade is that we can react to trends a lot more quickly and be nimbler than the big retailers. But perhaps we are not the best at listening to feedback, looking at the data as to what people are searching for. All the data is out there, Google gives it free, so you don’t need a crystal ball. You can discover what people are searching for, and don’t be afraid to ask for feedback [from customers] and really listen to that feedback and act on it.”

Emily Silva, Head of Marketing & Retail, Oxford Wine Company, Oxford

What revenue-generating initiative beyond straightforward wine retail have you developed as a business?

“We’re investing in WSET education – we have a wine school, which is very successful. Tasting plays a huge part and it’s growing – people keep on buying tickets. And our activities range from winemaker masterclasses to informal tastings with our staff.

[All of this is] very good in helping customers understand a little more about the business, and demonstrating our expertise, along with providing skills. It’s really enjoyable for everybody – staff are really passionate about wine and want to share that with customers. There are financial and other benefits too.”

What advice would you give to other indie merchants looking to expand their repertoire?

“Give people a reason to leave the house and visit the shop, so they need to have a great experience buying wine. It’s not only about wine, but coming to tastings, interacting, and online too, social media, building trust and making the customer feel special.”

Matthew Tipping, Commercial Director, Jeroboams, London

What revenue-generating initiative beyond straightforward wine retail have you developed as a business?

“If you have a physical space, paying rent and rates, you definitely need to be looking at how to make that really work. The days of putting wines on the shelf, sitting back, saying ‘my work is done’ and expecting them to sell, are long gone.

“It’s very much about experience. We do it a little bit differently though. We think daily contact with customers and their ability to walk in is a huge competitive advantage now, because everyone else seems to be moving away from that. We are employing our shop staff based on their personalities and not their wine experience – they can learn about wine through WSET.

“What we’ve been trying to do recently, looking at bar/restaurant ideas, is that you can order your wine, everything on the drinks side of things, but we are also offering to deliver meals to cook at home, even full meals, and that relates to this idea of being really valuable within the neighbourhood – doing something interesting, something different.”

What advice would you give to other indie merchants looking to expand their repertoire?

“The customers who are walking through our door are first meeting our friendly shop staff and having a chat. But from that point it’s essential that we have a really good relationship in terms of contacting them, then combining technology with traditional wine merchant skills – you need to sell wine throughout the week, and not just off the shelves when people walk in. So using shops as a way of marketing in a way that online shops can’t do. That’s really important for the future, selling but without being pushy, and it’s a fine balance.