Alibaba and Yonghui Try New Retail Model on Wine

Offline supermarket under Alibaba

Write | WBO Morris/ Evans

Translate and Edit | WBO Kiwi

This year, Alibaba opened an offline supermarket Freshhema, and another China supermarket giant Yonghui created a new retail model of “shop-in-shop mart” named Super Species.

Sub-divided sections such as “Trout Workshop” and “Boston Lobster Workshop” are set in Super Species. Fresh seafood can be cooked and enjoyed instantly in the shop. In the drinks section Cheers to Joy, wines and beers are sold there. Surprisingly, wines and cocktails are sold by glasses in bars.

The same situation happened in Freshhema, wine machine placed next to dining area to attract customers for a try.

These two KA stores have greatly improved buyer’s experience in wine retails, which was rarely seen in China before.

 
Freshhema: more than half sold out in a few hours

Last week, WBO visited one shop of Freshhema in Shanghai, and found one wine machine put near seafood and meatpacking area. These wine dispensers are provided by the supplier ibarrel, alongside with a sales promoter.

It was observed that in this shop, one single glass of wine is priced at CNY20(€2.6) or so, 120ML for each. Four bottles including 2 red wines and 2 white wines were presented at that shop. Scanning QR code and paying through Freshhema APP could enjoy a discount at CNY14.4(€1.9) for each glass.

WBO has confirmed with the sales promoter, four bottles of wine inside are just put in the morning. According to the observation, by noon or so, four bottles of wine sold more than half, many customers are glad to experience one glass by when seeing this.

Super Species: a big stride for wine retail

Wu Qihua, a wine importer based in Fuzhou, buy things at one Fuzhou Super Species frequently.

Due to his introduction, Penfolds Bin2 is sold at CNY19.9(€2.6) for each glass in the wine section, the price is acceptable for common consumers.

Customers can buy various seafood in Super Species, each could be done at once after paying the processing fee of CNY10-15(€1.3-1.9). Yonghui Supermarket has been influential in raw food for its freshness, but the drinks section didn’t perform as well as food, so they are trying to improve wine sales by highlighting consumer’s sense of food and wine pairing.

“Of all the customers, about 10% bought wines, however 30% prefer slightly chilled imported beer for their pork or beef, and the left were drinking fresh juice through on-site service.

Wine bar counters have enhanced their equipment by adding new technology, with cold air blowing, temperature controlled more strictly than before.

As disclosed by senior executive in Yonghui, the best sellers are Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Chang Yu. Imported beer performs better than wine, but not as profitable as wine.

Wine sale goes comparatively poor in the evening, so Super Species are hatching a "late night pub" project, introducing live performances to boost wine consumption at night.

Experiential marketing helps to enhance consumer awareness of wine

Wu showed his optimistic attitude towards this model. He predicted that all section will get better and better in Super Species. People feel free and relaxed when enjoying their meal in the open dining environment, optional ingredients, on-site processing made it more reliable.

When it comes to Yonghui’s wine retail, before opening Super Species, many wines are facing poor sales problem, but has now been changed, according to Wu.

Another professional wine supermarket dealer Jia Bin, based in Xi’an, speak highly on this model too.

“KA market can provide a better experience to basic consumers, especially those who are still relatively unfamiliar with wines, trying and learning through the specific wine scene, this really helps”, said Jia.

Experience marketing and the combination of food-wine matching is an innovation in KA market. 

This model will give certain impact on restaurant channel when it goes popular. Increase rate in restaurant is relatively higher than in supermarket and varieties are difficult to compete with supermarket, which accelerate the promotion of wines into consumer’s daily life, according to a wine marketing critic.

Whilst some insiders pointed out, most of Chinese consumers have no idea on drinking wine with food, so it’s not that easy to increase the consumption of entry-level wines in supermarket by just adding a wine machine.

Various of ways are needed to guide people and encourage them to try and know benefits or wonderful taste of food and wine matching.