Tesco offers fine wines online

Published: 12 May, 2010

Tesco has started to sell a selection of rare, unusual and fine wines from around the world as part of a new online offering.

Tesco Wine by the Case - the online wine range from the supermarket giant - has launched a new Fine Wine page offering small parcels of premium wines, which can be delivered the next-day, nationwide.

The new Fine Wine selection has been assembled by Tesco's product development managers and offers a range of rare, exclusive or simply unusual wines.

Wines listed include Petaluma Tiers Chardonnay 2003, Tignanello 2000 and Remi Rollin's Corton Charlemagne 2003.

Tesco's Nick Jackman, 37, category manager of Wine by the Case, said: "The first indication are that the launch has gone very well indeed.

"Our website offers huge potential for us to recommend a substantial Fine Wine portfolio to 98% of the UK population.

"We have already seen premium and bespoke wine parcels perform very well and we have seized the opportunity to present a wider range to our customers.

"We have got the flexibility to bring in small parcels of wine online.

"It is not that fine wine cannot sell in store, it's that the space they would command in store is never going to be as much as the opportunity online.

"Our customers who shop online are slightly more affluent than you would find in store in terms of their propensity to spend more on a single bottle of wine.

"It makes sense for us to understand our customers and target the right wines for them."

The wine will be controlled at Tesco's new distribution centre in Northampton.

Stock was previously shared between several sites but the new centre, which opened last year, enables small parcels of a few cases to be managed in and out.

Dan Jago, Tesco's beers, wines and spirits category director, said: "Consumer confidence is steadily returning.

"As we have seen with the success of Finest - and our Fine Wine range in store - Tesco is a trusted environment from which to buy wine and this new page will offer many of our customers access to finer and rarer wines."

A new team of wine advisers is being trained to help customers placing orders over the phone.

Tesco plans to continue to expand the range over the year to develop a broader choice and take advantage of small parcel opportunities which arise, "creating a dynamic and exciting range for customers to enjoy and explore".

To visit the site go to www.tesco.com/wine

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