PORTUGUESE AND INTERNATIONAL ONLINE CONSUMERS OF WINE: A NICHE MARKET?

Online retailing is growing rapidly; according to all estimates, it will account for a significant percentage of retail sales in the future. Shopping online has become part of some consumers’ daily lives. For producers of wine, an online store is an important channel through which to provide product information and offer direct sales to their customers. In a hyper-fragmented industry, such as the wine industry, finding new niche markets could be a powerful tool in gaining a competitive advantage. This paper investigates the Portuguese online consumer of wine using a survey to describe and analyse the main characteristics, buying habits, motivations, influences, and overall satisfaction of the Portuguese online consumers of wine. A comparative analysis with international online wine consumers assesses differences based on nationality.