Expanding the Vine & Cellar w/ Curtis Mann, MW, Albertsons

To give their customers the ability to trade up and a broader selection than what’s inside their 1,900+ grocery stores, Albertsons Companies have launched Vine & Cellar. Curtis Mann, MW, Group VP of Alcohol, discusses the greater selection, wine description and storytelling, and flexibility Albertsons has with Vine & Cellar to complement their in-store offerings. 

Detailed Show Notes: 

Curtis’ background

• Worked at IRI / Circana (database of retail scan data)
• Worked in retail wine stores and restaurants
• Was head of beverages at Raley’s (grocery) before Albertsons

Albertsons Companies

• 1,900 stores that sell wine
• A lot of value wine, some specialty stores (e.g., Pavilions, Hagens) sell fine wine
• West Coast - more domestic (~40% import, 60% domestic), East Coast - more imports

Vine & Cellar (“V&C”) online wine store

• Wine only now, no beer & spirits yet
• CA only now will expand to others (e.g., WA, IL)
• Extension on top of the grocery store website
• Has a larger selection of wines (2,300 items vs. average 800-1,000 at typical stores, up to 1,500 at some stores) - e.g., Super 2nd Bordeaux, allocated CA Pinot Noir
• Wines are only available to ship via UPS (vs. in-store pickup or delivery)
• Can use the same checkout process for groceries and V&C

Benefits for consumers of V&C

• Curated wine selections that are representative of their regions
• Buy groceries and V&C wines and checkout together
• More flexibility - can do wine dinners, in-store tastings, wine clubs

Goals of V&C

• Let customers continue to explore and trade up on wines and not trade out of Albertsons
• Don’t cannibalize in-store, but more add-on, incremental purchases
• Capture a portion of the wine DTC market

Online vs. in-store buying

• More imported wines online
• Broader selections vs more volume of the same wines in-store
• Avg bottle price is $10 higher on V&C than highest in-store
• ~½ V&C customers buying iconic wines (e.g., Silver Oak), ~½ exploring (e.g., Burgundies in the $50-100 range)
• V&C customer is both existing Albertsons and some new customers
• You can put a lot more details/descriptors of wines online
• Online buys in 6 or 12 packs to economize on shipping

Marketing V&C

• QR codes inside stores
• Vinecellar.com
• Some ads on the website, V&C wines come up during a search for wines if they are not offered in-store
• Events / PR
• Napa Safeway has V&C featured wines in-store
• Some paid search, Wine-Searcher

Loyalty programs - now Albertsons customers get promo codes for V&C

Wine trends - less high-end wines, people focused on value / high QPR

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