Accounting for the other half

Walk-in sales now make up just 52% of indies’ revenue. So where is the rest coming from?

Walk-in trade once again accounts for the majority of indies’ sales – but only just. This year’s figure of 51.7% is up from 49.9% last time, but it’s significantly down on what we came to expect in the time before Covid.

In our January 2020 survey – which can be considered a snapshot of 2019 – around 60% of revenue came from take-home sales from shops, a broadly similar figure to what was reported in the 2019 survey.

So what might account for the relative decline? Drink-in sales have bounced back to 12.4% of revenue, an almost identical figure to what we saw immediately before the pandemic.

Wholesale trade has seen a similar recovery. Despite nervousness about the immediate prospects for the on-trade, indies on average obtain almost 16% of their turnover from wholesaling, just as they were doing immediately before Covid caused mayhem for pubs and restaurants in 2020.

Local deliveries, which our survey didn’t even measure before the pandemic, now account for a respectable 6.4% of turnover. That’s obviously a long way off the Covid high point of 23.5%, but it may suggest that at least some of the customers who discovered their local wine shops in 2020 have stuck around.

We measure such revenue separately

How do indies’ revenue streams break down?

from online sales, even though there is clearly some blurring of the lines. It’s no surprise to see this year’s figure for web sales well down on its equivalent in the 2022 and 2021 surveys, but a more useful comparison may be with the figures from our 2020 survey.

At that time, indies were obtaining just 5% of their revenue from e-commerce, an under-performance that had been one of the most striking features of our survey since its inception more than a decade ago.

Now the figure for online sales stands at 8.5%, reflecting not just changing consumer habits but a much more professional approach to the online channel from many independents.

You can still get the wines you want –if you plan ahead, argue some merchants

For several months now, it’s been a familiar refrain among independents: bottle spend is going up, but overall spend is going down.

It’s borne out in our survey data, with average bottle prices rising by 60p, to £15.70, compared to the market average of £6.35 (a figure based almost entirely on supermarket sales data). Basket spend in the independent trade fell by 41p, to £52.20.

It may be that most merchants would be happy to settle for that, if this is as bad as things get. Our survey questions were posed in January, after a turbulent year, but one in which recession was avoided, and many consumers seemed to have more money to spend than had been feared. The coming 12 months may present new challenges.

The freeze on duty in 2022-23 was welcome, but there have been other inflationary pressures on wine, connected to rising costs of transportation and dry

Average still wine bottle price Average basket spend

goods, and in some cases weather-related volume shortfalls.

Not all of these increases are necessarily passed on to retailers, and in turn to their customers. And merchants are showing no sign of allowing such increases to eat into their margins which – as our graph illustrates only too vividly – have been holding firm for several years.

It’s no surprise to see wine dominating the indie sales mix. This year’s figure of 74% is very slightly ahead of last year’s figure, but broadly in line with what the survey has reported in recent years.

Spirits have fallen below the 10% mark for the first time, down from 11.7% in the 2022 survey. It’s unclear whether this is just a statistical blip, or a sign of the gin bubble bursting, or the beginning of a more general trend.

Beer, which we normally expect to see around 8%, is down to 7.2%, while cider, soft drinks and hot drinks bump along at similar levels to those we usually report.

Food items are nearing the 6% mark, continuing an upward curve that reflects the sector’s increased interest in deli products and premium confectionery.

How much of your turnover comes from these categories?

Which suppliers do indies most like working with?

Not only has Boutinot claimed first place in the popularity poll for the 10th year in a row, the proportion of merchants nominating it as a favourite supplier (out of 147 names put forward) has risen and the gap between first and second has widened.

It’s a remarkable achievement, and one that reflects Boutinot’s lack of complacency in the independent trade. Its kinship with its customers is evident, both in terms of the breadth of its range and the support provided by the sales team.

Just as impressive is the performance of Marta Vine, whose vote tally almost doubled this year, sending the business into fourth place. Vindependents also continues its recent upward curve in the voting, and breaks into this year’s top 10.

given equal weighting

What do indies think about their suppliers?

Little has changed in this section of the survey since 2022, though it’s encouraging to see indies reporting slightly increased satisfaction with suppliers.

78% are upbeat about the support they receive, up from 77% last time, a figure bettered only in 2021 (79%). The proportion of respondents with positive things to say about reps has risen from 77% to 81%.

Slightly fewer indies (39% compared to 42% last time) are likely to be in the market for new suppliers this year.

The sense that suppliers prioritise on-trade clients is waning, with just 26% saying there’s some truth to this, versus 39% last year.