Recently when asking a winery how much they knew about wine segments and their own customer profiles, I discovered they knew very little, like many things there is the intention but little time to actually get around to do anything about it.

According to Johnson and Bruwer study they classified wine segments according to the following;

The Segments are:

1. Conservative, Wine Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers (20.9% of wine drinkers)
2. Image Oriented, Knowledge Seeking, Wine Drinkers (22.3%)
3. Basic Wine Drinkers (16.8%)
4. Experimenter, Highly Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers (19.0%)
5. Enjoyment Oriented, Social Wine Drinkers (20.9%)

However this is all very well, if you know which of your customers fall into which groups, and this is where building your own customer profiles is so important.

As ‘wine industry’ writes one of the biggest and most important changes in the wine industry has been the shift from being producer to consumer driven.

Historically a luxurious good associated with wealth and prosperity, if a consumer did not like a certain wine they were labelled as uncultured. Clearly, producers held the power in the value chain.

Today however, with globalisation and access to information, this is no longer the case. People of all socio-economic status consume wine, causing greater segmentation in types of wines produced and empowering buyers.

So what can you do about it, well the answer now seems a little bit easier.

The answer, of course, is to start building a profile of your customers and thanks to a recent innovation – Cuspidor; this is a lot simpler.

Cuspidor captures demographics including age, gender, postcode and personal details including name and email address in a non-evasive way. It allows you to capture customer information from those not so engaged customers through a quiz type format.

just because they are not engaged with the cellar door doesn’t mean they dont know what they like and they won’t buy

And, for those groups, who don’t want one the one interaction with the cellar door staff it allows you to offering a tasting paddle and for them to be self directed by Cuspidor, all they need are their phones.

Because Cuspidor allows customers to make notes and for them honestly to rate the wines. It starts to provide you with the basis of a profile of your customer base. This information coupled with your Point-of-sale information will build a profile of the customers and the wines of your winery they like and buy.

It will identify any geographical hotspots, which can provide valuable information in persuading retailers or restaurants in that area to stock your products.

It will provide social media opportunities to engage customers on the wines they like and invite them to special events which appeal to them.

You will be able to build profiles on return visitors and identify potential brand advocates.

According to marlene pratt, in her survey examined how the typical wine tourist is viewed by respondents. The image of a typical wine tourist was portrayed through descriptors self-generated by the respondents themselves

Respondents were requested to imagine the typical wine tourist who visits their favourite wine region. Over 1,900 descriptors were provided by respondents; ranging from motivational attributes, such as relaxing, through to appearance, such as sophisticated.

The most common descriptors/adjectives used were;

• interest, knowledge and passion for wine, wine lover (22.7%),
• relaxed (22.2%),
• sociable, friendly (20.3%),
• higher income earners (16.4%),
• fun (15.7%),
• mature people (13.8%),
• educated, intelligent (13.1%),
• adventurous experience seeker (12.5%),
• tourists (12.3%), and
• enjoy good food (9.6%).

The full paper can be found here

If you would like to know more about Cuspidor or how Iwine HQ can help you build your customer profile please contact us.

According to Johnson and Bruwer study, they identified the following wine segments;

The Segments are:

1. Conservative, Wine Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers (20.9% of wine drinkers)
2. Image Oriented, Knowledge Seeking, Wine Drinkers (22.3%)
3. Basic Wine Drinkers (16.8%)
4. Experimenter, Highly Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers (19.0%)
5. Enjoyment Oriented, Social Wine Drinkers (20.9%)

It suggests that the key segments for local wine retailers are

• 1. Conservative, Wine Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers (20.9% of wine drinkers)
• 2. Image Oriented, Knowledge Seeking, Wine Drinkers (22.3%)
• 4. Experimenter, Highly Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers (19.0%)

Wine Segments – a really short summary relevant to wine retailers

• Conservative wine drinkers want to be buy wines they already like, no advice needed thanks.
• Image-Oriented seek information and will believe more expensive wines are better quality.
• Experimenter wine drinkers are keen to receive advice, will act on a knowledgeable sales person’s recommendation, and like to try different wines.

Wine Segments – a short summary

Segment 1 – Conservative, Wine Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers (20.9%)
The consumers in this segment of the Australian wine market are likely to be

• tertiary educated males (63%),
• male/female ratio is 70:30,
• working in a professional capacity
• with over half having a total household income in excess of $75,000 per year.
• These consumers demonstrate connoisseur-related tendencies,
• are interested in the provenance of the wine they drink
• and are involved in wine storage and preparation for drinking rituals
• they are likely to have a cellar at home or some other space used solely for the storage of wine
• and they use the correct glassware, decant their wine and check it for spoilage prior to consuming the wine.
• They derive enjoyment and satisfaction from drinking wine
• and approximately 40% of them drink wine every day.
• These consumers display a good knowledge of wine and wine-related matters.
• When purchasing wine, the occasion during which the wine will be consumed plays a role in the purchase decision.
• They are somewhat reluctant to purchase wines that they have not tried before
• and they do not seek information or advice when purchasing wine.
• Rather, they tend to rely on their own knowledge and beliefs and hence their purchases could become ‘stereotyped’ – they are likely to purchase similar styles of wines over the years and do not exhibit variety seeking or experimenting behaviour.
• Their purchases are rarely spontaneous, although they have a wide selection of brands from which to choose. Their preferred retailers are fine wine specialist stores.

Segment 2 – Image Oriented, Knowledge Seeking, Wine Drinkers (22.3%)
Consumers in this segment share many of the characteristics of the previous segment. They are likely to be

• tertiary educated males (65%),
• male/female ratio is 80:20,
• with over half having a household income in excess of $75,000 per year.
• They also display connoisseur tendencies and are interested in the provenance of the wine they drink
• and they have a dedicated cellar (or space) for storing wine.
• They indulge in pre-drinking rituals and about 40% drink wine every day.
• These consumers have some knowledge about wine and they are actively seeking to further their existing knowledge.
• One way in which this is manifested is that they take more notice of wine-related media today than they did two years ago, a reflection of their growing interest in wine.
• When purchasing wine, they seek information about their prospective purchases and are guided by the views of wine writers and other opinion leaders.
• They are risk averse, as they tend to purchase in accordance with the recommendations of others.
• They are particularly mindful of the price of the wines they buy, but this does not mean that they buy cheap wines.
• Rather, they tend to have the view that the more expensive the wine, the better it is.
• They have been drinking wine for some time, probably since their university days, but they now have the income to buy the wines recommended by others.
• Their preferred retailers are fine wine stores.
• They derive a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction from drinking wine and like the image that drinking wine portrays.

Segment 3 – Basic Wine Drinkers (16.8%)
These wine consumers

• have little time for the rituals and image that often surround the drinking of wine.
• They drink wine because they enjoy it.
• These wine drinkers are comparatively well educated relative to the general population, with 40% having a tertiary education,
• however, their average household income is lower than all but one other segment, with 36% earning less than $50,000 per year.
• The male/female ratio is 60:40, an indication that the male dominance in the previous two segments is diminishing.
• When purchasing their wine, this segment does not take into account the occasion during which the wine will be drunk and they seek little information about their purchases.
• They have a number of safe brands from which they choose their wine – these brands have served their purpose in the past and will do so in the future.
• Their average amount spent per week on wine is relatively low.
• They are less frequent drinkers of wine than some other segments.
• Their preferred retailers are national wine chain stores.

Segment 4 – Experimenter, Highly Knowledgeable Wine Drinkers
(19.0%)
The consumers in this segment

• share the same connoisseur tendencies and the interest in the provenance of the wine and the associated rituals as segments 1 and 2.
• What separates them (in part) from those other two segments is their very detailed knowledge of wine and wine-related subjects.
• This segment had a significantly higher mean general wine knowledge score than the next highest scoring segment.
• Although they have this detailed knowledge, they have the desire to learn more and are therefore updating their knowledge on a regular basis.
• They are also likely to be well-educated males (61%), male/female ratio = 70:30, with household earnings in excess of $75,000 per year (57%).
• The other main distinguishing factor is their approach to buying wine. They like to take a risk when buying wine and they are keen to drink wine that they have not tried before. They are experimenters in their wine buying.
• They are also keen to ask for advice and seek information about the wines they are considering. This is consistent with their quest for knowledge and their interest in the provenance of the wine.
• This can also lead to spontaneous buying of wine – perhaps a sales person has recommended a wine and provided information about that wine and this consumer is happy to buy something different based on that recommendation.
• As a result of this experimenting approach, they do not have a safe set of brands from which they purchase, although it is likely that they become brand loyal to those wines that meet their ‘experimenting’ needs and wants.
• Their preferred retailers are fine wine stores.

Segment 5 – Enjoyment Oriented, Social Wine Drinkers (20.9%)
This segment has

• a predominance of female consumers,
• with the male/female ratio 40:60.
• Half of the drinkers in this segment have tertiary qualifications,
• but their average household income is lower, with 36% earning less than $50,000 per year.
• The average age of this segment is lower than that of segments 1,2 and 3.
• The consumers have little time for the rituals and image that surround the drinking of wine,
• but they do derive enjoyment and satisfaction from drinking wine.
• Almost 40% of these consumers only drink wine during the weekend, which is consistent with socialising and just enjoying a glass of wine.
• They are less likely to drink wine on a daily basis than all other segments and they have the highest rate of once a week consumers, therefore they could be classified as more occasional drinkers.
• Their average weekly consumption is correspondingly the lowest of all segments at just over 8 glasses.
• In their purchasing behaviour, the occasion during which the wine will be consumed plays some part.
• They seek some information before purchasing wine and they exhibit some variety seeking or experimenting traits, perhaps because of the information they receive.
• These consumers also exhibit quite strong spontaneous buying behaviour and the packaging and labelling of a bottle is an influence in their purchases.
• This may indicate that this segment is attracted to so-called ‘concept’ brands.
• Their preferred retailers are national wine chain stores.

This is an old study but forms the basis for building your own customer profiles

*From: Johnson,  T, & Bruwer, J. “An Empirical Confirmation of Wine-Related Lifestyle Segments.”  International Journal of Wine Marketing Volume 15 Number 1 2003