The transactional wine website Morrisons Cellar is currently being tested and will be launched later this autumn. It forms part of the retailers’ plan to grow its wine category by £100M within three years.
The move follows the supermarket’s FTSE 100 fall earlier this week. Morrisons shares fell by 4.5p to 269.5p, as analysts expressed concern over its fortunes.
Julian Wild, food group director at legal firm Rollits, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “Morrisons chose to take a different direction from other retailers by going into manufacturing.
“When [chief executive] Dalton Philips arrived, I thought he would review that strategy and withdraw from manufacturing but he added to it by going into seafood processing in Grimsby.”
Wild claimed there was over-capacity in food manufacturing arena, but that was not the only challenge the supermarket faced.
“Two of the strongest areas of growth are online retail and convenience stores. Morrisons hasn’t got either,” he said.
Interactive sales
Morrisons Cellar will offer an increased range of wines and an interactive tool to help customers find wines they will enjoy.
Simon Harrison, Morrisons strategy partner, said the website had an edge over those of other retailers as it took the opinion of 10,000 consumers on board.
In a statement issued to FoodManufacture.co.uk, he said: “The initiative was developed in response to a 10,000-strong survey in which the nation’s wine drinkers explained their frustrations with the way wine is currently sold in the UK – we’ve listened to this and put the learnings into action.”
Confused consumers
Harrison said: “People are confused by wine. Drinking wine should be a pleasure, and so should buying wine. But for many people that simply isn’t the case as some shoppers find it confusing and intimidating.
“We are launching the Taste Test concept to cut through the complexity.”
The Taste Test module has been licensed exclusively to Morrisons for the grocery sector by its developers Bibendum.
By asking consumers three questions around their preference for sweetness or bitterness, the facility allocates consumers with a flavour profile. This sits within one of the four areas: sweet, fresh, smooth and, intense. It is then matched against the wines online and in-store.
Harrison said the Cellar website had been driven by the expertise of online baby product retailer Kiddicare, which it acquired for £70M in 2011, with Morrisons staff working alongside the Kiddicare team on its development.
“It’s probably no exaggeration to say we wouldn’t be where we are today if it hadn’t been for the Kiddicare acquisition,” he said.