Australian wine brands first to market with leading Chinese wine app

The Australian wine trade has secured a world first partnership with China’s leading wine app 9KaCha to drive online wine sales and brand awareness of Australian wine in China.

Geddes a Drink Pty Ltd, with local experts Rob Geddes MW and Angus Hughson, have developed and launched a digital marketing opportunity with 9Kacha for international wineries in China, with Australian winemakers receiving first access to this service.

A number of the country’s leading wineries such as De Bortoli, Gemtree and Robert Oatley Vineyards, plus smaller winegrowers such as Shaw Wines, Montara and Woodstock, are currently working with the platform, which facilitates brands with their digital marketing and online sales to young, high interest wine consumers through 9KaCha.

Aaron Brasher, business development director for Robert Oatley Vineyards was one of the first to sign up to the 9KaCha platform.

“We are always looking for ways to build the Robert Oatley brand in China and we see 9KaCha as a cost effective tool to connect with premium consumers in the online space,” he said.

The development of this digital marketing opportunity has been through the collaboration of Australian wine expertise with Chinese market experience and cutting-edge Chinese technology in a global first.

It provides a real time digital link between wineries and premium wine consumers in China.

Matt Bahen, De Bortoli’s general manager of China Sales, sees strong potential for 9KaCha to assist with De Bortoli’s long term China strategy.

“The Chinese consumer is screaming out for knowledge and the industry needs credible content.  We’re proud to be a subscriber of the 9KaCha platform and its services which boast a credible identity in Rob Geddes MW, and expect to share in the success it delivers both in terms of brand development and all important sales,” he said.

9KaCha collects data from its corporate partners, including Samsung, Haier and the leading search engine Baidu, and uses artificial intelligence to drive wine recommendations to a premium audience, including over 1.5 million regular users.

“Most 9KaCha app users log in everyday to check premium wine reviews and receive product recommendations. These customers are linked directly to retailers, driving their online purchases through various channels, including 17 leading retailers, as well as directly from distributors and agents,” explained Hughson.

“With an average age of 38, and females outnumbering males in the vital 26 to 35 age group, 9KaCha offers brands a rare opportunity to market directly to a highly engaged group of digitally focussed, young wine consumers.

“Currently this key market segment is largely missed by regular distribution channels. This platform provides a unique service to target these digitally-savvy consumers vital to the future of Australian wine sales in China.”

China is already the largest online wine retail market in the world and it is believed that the challenges to the Chinese retail market posed by the Coronavirus will accelerate online demand in 2020 as sales through traditional routes to market are expected to fall.

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Image: Sourced on Twitter