ROMANIA: Jidvei enters the online channel and aims for 5-6% of sales | Progresiv
Jidvei, one of the most important local wine producers, has entered the online commerce following a "minimum" investment and expects to reach 5-6% of the total sales in the ranges marketed on this channel in the first year of operation, said for Progresiv Maria Necsulescu, Deputy General Manager of the company. 
The decision to open their own online store was supported by the opening of a warehouse in Bucharest.
"It's clearly a trend today to move purchases from offline to the online. Even in the wine sector, which was slower in adopting online commerce, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of online trade in total sales. Thus, according to some studies, global wine trade has come to account for 4% of total sales. However, for many consumers, e-shops are more used as a place to collect wine information, a place where they are not overwhelmed by the large selection of bottles. That's why we did not launch this e-shop with the main purpose of increasing sales, but to strengthen the reputation of online selling ranges and Jidvei brand”, said Maria Necsulescu.
In the online store, buyers will only be able to find top brands such as Mysterium and Owner's Choice, with eight wines currently available from the two ranges. By the end of the year, the company plans to add sparkling wine. The producer estimates sales of 5,000 bottles in the first year of operation.
"Since we only sell wines from our top ranges, we can not talk about the share of online in total business. Instead, we can only focus on sales for the respective ranges, for which we expect online to reach 5-6% in the first year, and then increase to 10-15% later", added Maria Necsulescu.
The company, which owns 2,500 hectares of vineyards and wine cellars located in Jidvei, Blaj and Balcaciu, reported in the first eight months of this year a turnover of 109 million lei, up by 8% over the same period last year. Jidvei ended 2016 with a 150.6 million lei business and a net profit of 13.8 million lei.
