Atlas / Retail & Consumer
Industry profile
Wine & Spirits Retail marketing benchmarks
Strongest on Acquisition Performance, weakest on Data & Tracking. Wine & Spirits Retail sits above the national average, and that tension shapes how the whole industry markets.
Score signature
Bars are this industry. Ticks are the national average.
Biggest strength
Acquisition Performance
71 out of 100. The engine carrying the whole score.
Biggest gap
Data & Tracking
58 out of 100. The dimension dragging the industry down.
Where to start
Brand & Positioning
The most upside per point of effort: 10% of the score and 1 points below the field.
The map
Where this industry sits
Every dot is an industry we measure. Choose any two dimensions for the axes. Wine & Spirits Retail is the red mark.
Acquisition Performance →
Wine & Spirits Retail sits above average on Retention & Loyalty and above average on Acquisition Performance. That tension defines the industry.
The spread inside the industry
Every number is a Marketing Score out of 100. It rolls six dimensions into one figure, so 50 is a business doing the basics and 79 is one that markets like a business twice its size.
The distance between the strongest and weakest performer here is wide. A small cluster is genuinely good. A long tail sits well behind. The bar to lead this industry is lower than the reputation suggests. So where would you land?
The breakdown
How far above or below the field
Each row plots this industry against the whole field. The dot is where Wine & Spirits Retail sits, the line is the national average and the faint marks are every other industry. Tap a row for what the dimension means.
How modern and capable is the digital setup?
How well does the industry win new demand?
How well does it turn interest into customers?
How well does it keep and grow customers?
How clear and distinct is the brand?
Can any of this actually be measured?
The read
What the numbers say about Wine & Spirits Retail
On the whole, Wine & Spirits Retail is an above-average industry. It leads on acquisition performance and trails on data & tracking, and the fastest gains sit in brand & positioning.
Acquisition Performance
Sits right at the top of every industry we measure. This is the engine carrying the score.
Data & Tracking
Sits around the middle of the pack. The soft spot that drags the whole number down.
Brand & Positioning
Carries the most weight in the score and sits below the field. Move this and the whole number moves with it.
A acquisition performance-led industry with a data & tracking problem. The reputation says one thing. The pipeline says another.
Go deeper
The bifurcation of Australian wine and spirits retail+
Australian wine and spirits retail is split between two worlds. Endeavour Group (Dan Murphy's, BWS) dominates volume with a combined market share exceeding 50%. Independent retailers, specialist wine stores and emerging online players compete on curation, expertise and experience. The composite averages these two distinct marketing approaches.
Acquisition is the strongest dimension, driven by the large retailers' advertising budgets and the independents' discovery-driven marketing. Dan Murphy's and BWS drive traffic through promotional catalogues, online advertising and app-based deals. Independent retailers attract through curation, tasting events and social media wine education.
Conversion with 25% weight reflects the purchase experience. In-store, this is layout, staff knowledge and recommendation quality. Online, it is product search, filtering, reviews and delivery options. The retailers that excel in both channels capture more of each customer's wallet.
Retention tells the loyalty story. Wine clubs and subscription services are the highest-retention model. Vinomofo, Naked Wines and independent cellar-door clubs build recurring revenue relationships that transform the economics of wine retail.
The ecommerce shift is accelerating. Online wine sales in Australia grew 40%+ during COVID and have retained most of that growth. The retailers with strong online ordering, delivery infrastructure and digital customer relationships are capturing a growing share. Those without ecommerce capability are losing customers to online-first competitors who offer convenience and personalisation.
Acquisition and conversion in a discovery category+
Conversion carries 25%, the highest single weight. In wine and spirits retail, conversion is the in-store or online purchase experience. Product knowledge, store layout, online UX and recommendation engines all influence whether a browser becomes a buyer.
Acquisition at 20% and 70.7 is the strongest dimension. Wine and spirits retailers acquire customers through location, events, online advertising, email marketing and the products themselves. The retailers with strong online presence capture the growing ecommerce segment.
Retention at 20% and 64.9 reflects the repeat purchase nature of the category. Wine and spirits are consumable. The retailers who build loyalty through subscription clubs, personalised recommendations and consistent quality retain customers at significantly higher rates.
Where wine and spirits retailers should invest+
Retention with 20% weight is the biggest value opportunity. Wine clubs, subscription boxes, personalised recommendations based on purchase history and tasting event invitations build the loyalty that transforms occasional buyers into regulars.
Data with 5% weight is the weakest dimension. Retailers with loyalty programs collect rich preference data. The ones using it for personalised recommendations, targeted promotions and inventory decisions outperform those who treat all customers the same.
Brand with 10% weight differentiates through curation and expertise. The retailers with strong brand identity, whether premium (wine-focused independents), value (Dan Murphy's, BWS) or specialty (craft spirits, natural wine), attract defined customer segments.
Highlighted terms link through to the marketing dictionary.
Frequently asked
Common questions about Wine & Spirits Retail
How does wine and spirits retail compare on marketing?+
What marketing works for wine retailers?+
How important are wine clubs for retention?+
How is ecommerce changing wine retail?+
Keep exploring
Where to go from here
Pull any thread.
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