Online wine retailing set to surge in China

Consumer research company Sootoo.com has forecast the emergence of a flourishing online drinks retail environment in China, although web-based sales for wine are currently limited.

China could see the emergence of its first online retailer to break the RMB10 billion mark in the next 3-5 years

Ding Daoshi, deputy managing editor of Sootoo said this week that online drinks retail is merely in its embryonic stage in China, but that there is immense potential for its future.

He forecasted the emergence of China’s first online retailer to break the RMB10 billion mark (approximately £100 million) in annual sales figures in the next 3-5 years.

The number of independent online retailers for alcoholic drinks in the Chinese market are estimated to be in the hundreds.

However, while offline retail has seen loyal consumer groups and high profit margins, the expansion of the online retail sector is facing bottlenecks, and, as a result, sales volumes are much smaller.

When polled by Chinese research media, Sootoo.com, consumers listed the following as factors which have the greatest influence on their purchase decisions: branding (57.31%), pricing (48%), and advertising (26.92%).

Out of these consumers, only 13.8% said that they would choose to make their purchases of alcoholic drinks online.