Top 40 Wine Retailers Weigh in on Trends; Napa Technology Survey Shows Retailers Adding Tasting to Aisles and Profits

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, October 19, 2011 (Press-News.org) Napa Technology, developer of the WineStation Intelligent Preservation and Dispensing System, commissioned a survey of 40 top wine retailers nationwide on wine purchasing trends and best practices for increasing bottle sales.

Respondents agreed that today's consumers are willing to pay more, when given the opportunity to sample wine before they buy. And those retailers willing to look outside the wine bottle for creative and technologically innovative solutions are seeing the profits pour in.

The survey found that 76 percent of retailers agree that wine buying customers are savvier than they were 4 years ago. Recognizable labels are no longer cutting it, as 84 percent of retailers say consumers are demanding a wider variety of wines than they have in the past. According to the majority of respondents, the average retail purchase price is between $10-$20, with 58 percent reporting that consumers are paying less for a bottle of wine today than they were 4 years ago.

However, consumers will increase the amount they spend per bottle when retailers invest in try before you buy tactics. Successful efforts take the shape of loyalty programs, daily wine tastings, and events designed to engage the consumer in sampling higher priced wines. The largest margin of success was displayed in environments with wine preservation systems, such as the WineStation, that offers temperature control, 60 day preservation and real time data that track product, customer preferences, and sales. 69 percent of those surveyed with preservation systems report offering finer and higher priced wines to their grocery store aisles.

A mid-sized retailer in Detroit, Michigan states, "The WineStation has really helped build our wine club and wine sales business. With 16 different brands and varietals offered, sampled and rotated seasonally, we've made choosing the right wine a fun experience for our customers, and a profitable extension of our business. The WineStation absolutely helped make us "Detroit's #1 Wine Store."

The survey mirrors the rewarding user experience, 69 percent of retailers state that customers have a positive feeling about wine systems and believe it encourages both additional and new purchases. Consumers are no longer satisfied with tasting notes beneath the price tags at their local grocery store or wine shop. They want to try it for themselves and use their own noses, palates, and list of adjectives. In fact, 97 percent of retailers state that consumers are willing to spend more on a bottle of wine if they can sample it first. 45 percent of retailers claim that when sampling is available the increase in the wine bottle purchase will be 5 to 15 percent higher than average. Furthermore 30 percent of respondents report increases from 15 percent to more than 25 percent above the store's average per bottle sale.

A leading grocery store chain serving the Mid-Atlantic region using the WineStation, reports an average price for a glass of wine sampled through their WineStation to be $5.91. Showcasing that consumers, when given the opportunity will both sample and indulge in finer and higher priced wines than the average $10-20 bottle that they are used to buying. Additionally, the retailer found the average price per visit of customer sampling activity to be $17.20, increasing customer loyalty, time spent in store and overall profits.
With customers' thirst for wine knowledge and variety, retailers are becoming more savvy in their ability to sample, making wine preservation systems a cheers-worthy tool to keep retail wine sales growing and more profitable.

For a copy of the complete survey statistics, please click here: http://www.inkfoundry.com/2011/10/wine-retail-survey-results-at-a-glance/.

Methodology
Commissioned by Napa Technology, the retail wine survey took place in September 2011. The sample size included 40 top wine retailers who were contacted by Ink Foundry via a private database and select open and closed social networks. Individuals who participated in the survey are existing users of wine preservation systems, non-users of preservation systems, grocery stores and wine shops.

About Napa Technology
Napa Technology, LLC is a designer and manufacturer of Intelligent Dispensing Solutions for wine that ensures optimum freshness with each pour. The company's breakthrough product, WineStation, is designed to drive revenues and maximize the profitability of each bottle. WineStation has been adopted by hospitality, entertainment and foodservice industries as a new way to serve, preserve and capitalize on the value of available customer preference data.

For additional information on WineStation and Napa Technology visit www.napatechnology.com.