Virgin Wines rolls out free delivery for WineBank

Virgin Wines has rolled out free next day delivery as standard across its WineBank loyalty scheme as it seeks to increase its customer base.

The independent online wine retailers says the new delivery arrangement will help it attract an additional 40,000 members over the coming financial year. It comes of the back of consumer research into wine habits by The Wilson Report that found 21% of people surveyed did not buy alcohol online as they preferred not to pay delivery.

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Currently, online sales account for 11% of the total UK wine market, or £720m.

Jay Wright, CEO of Virgin Wines said the scheme was already one of the “best way” wine enthusiasts could purchase wine in the UK. “But we are always trying to improve everything we do and free next day delivery with no strings attached is the one thing our customers tell us they want most,” he said.

“We are determined to give our customers the very best service and value we can and unlimited free next day delivery will help us stand out from the crowd even further and gives customers a very real and tangible benefit.”

Virgin’s WineBank scheme was launched ten years ago, to allow customers to save a chosen amount of money into an online account, and for every £5 saved, Virgin Wines adds an additional £1 of“wine interest”. It has doubled the number of customer in the last year, to 60k, CEO Jay Wright said.

Earlier this year, Wright told db it was the right time to add new capabilities to the service it offer its customers. It is part of an overhaul of the overall Virgin Wines website which is set to relaunch with new content and capabilities, as well as being otimized for mobile users.

Virgin Wines represents 5.6% of the UK’s online wine market and claims that for every 18 bottles of wine sold online, one comes from Virgin Wines.