Tesco set new sales record pre-Christmas

Tesco has achieved a new record for pre-Christmas sales of wine online through its Wine by the Case site and Tesco.com with sales rising by 28% and 51% respectively compared to the same period a year ago.

Tesco category manager for Wine by the Case, Stuart Anderton said that starting the price promotion a few days earlier was a major contributing factor meaning Tesco were ahead of the market and could take advantage of weekend traffic, beginning on a Friday instead of a Monday.

The retailer’s peak week in late November sees Tesco shift four times more wine through the retailer’s websites than average.

He said that Tesco customers were exceptionally responsive to emails that talk about wine and pointed out that they generate more visits to Tesco’s websites and a higher number of transactions than emailed promotions for any other category at the supermarket.

A single email promotional offer could reach hundreds of thousands if sent to Tesco’s database of Wine by the Case customers, or millions if sent to all the retailer’s grocery shoppers.

In the UK Tesco are responsible for 1 in 4 of all wine bottles consumed, that's including wine sold in restaurants and bars (the off trade), says Dan Jago UK and Group Wine Director and are the biggest wine buyer worldwide.