Monday, January 26, 2009

How Do You Interact with Wine?

Still doing some research. If you have time, comment who of these six types you think you might be. Sorry, no anonymous comments.

ENTHUSIASTS
• Entertain at home with friends and consider themselves knowledgeable about wine
• Live in cosmopolitan centers, affluent suburban spreads or comfortable country settings
• Like to browse the wine section, publications and are Influenced by wine ratings & reviews
• 47% of Enthusiasts buy wine in 1.5L size – “everyday wine” to supplement their “weekend wine”
• 98% of Enthusiasts buy wine over $6 and it accounts for 56% of what they buy on a volume basis

IMAGE SEEKERS
• View wine as a status symbol
• Have a basic knowledge of wine and discovering wines is new to them
• Likes to be the first to try a new wine, and are open to innovative packaging
• The number one most purchased varietal Merlot
• Use the Internet as key information source including checking restaurant wine lists before they dine out

SAVVY SHOPPERS
• Enjoy shopping for wine and discovering new varietals on their own
• Have a few favorite wines to supplement new discoveries
• Shop in a variety of stores each week to find best deals and like specials and discounts
• Heavy coupon users and know what’s on sale before they walk into a store
• When dining out they typically buy a glass of the house because of the value

TRADITIONALIST
• Enjoy wines from established wineries
• Think wine makes an occasion more formal and prefer entertaining friends and family at home to going out
• Like to be offered a wide variety of well-known national brands
• Won’t often try new wine brands
• Shop at retail locations that make it easy to find favorite brands

SATISFIED SIPPERS
• Don’t know much about wine, just know what they like to drink
• Usually buy the same brand, usually domestic and consider wine an everyday beverage
• Don’t enjoy the wine-buying experience so buy 1.5L bottles to have more wine on hand
• Second-biggest category of warehouse shoppers, buying 16 percent of wine in club stores
• Don’t dine out often but likely to order the house wine when they do

OVERWHELMED
• Overwhelmed by sheer volume of choices on store shelves
• Like to drink wine but don’t know what kind to buy and may select by label
• Looking for wine information in retail settings that’s easy to understand
• Very open to advice but frustrated when there is no one in the wine section to help
• If information is confusing they won’t buy anything at all

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, ry. To help you out... I'm an 'overwhelmed'. Thankfully I'm married to someone who isn't, though. But none of the other categories match D. I think the closest would be an open-minded traditionalist? HOpe that helps. -j

ashdown said...

somewhere between satisfied sipper and overwhelmed

renee altson said...

overwhelmed

j said...

savvy shopper

jeramy sossaman said...

somewhere between enthusiast and savvy shopper.

jeramy sossaman said...

oh....i still buy 750ml though...i have considered if i found a local (suisun valley) winery that i loved to ask if i could swing by with a big jug and let them fill it up. is that wrong? like a gas station...for wine.

Mike Stavlund said...

I was a little *overwhelmed* with the lists of characteristics-- they seemed rather random and I couldn't see myself in any of them very clearly.

I guess the best category would be 'savvy shopper', though I never use coupons, and never order the house wine when I'm dining out-- I always ask the server to choose based on my dinner (which is instructive I suppose).

Bottom line: I like quality combined with value. If you had a website where you recommended wines, I'd read it like a fundamentalist reads the Bible. Though-- as a savvy shopper-- I'd be hard-pressed to buy wine through the site, preferring to find it at my local mega-wine shop.

...come to think of it, I mostly buy wine at the local mega-wine store, and I look for two things as I walk the aisles: sale tags, and signs showing the recommendations of the staff.