The latest report from Wine Intelligence, Cellar Door, Online and Wine Club Purchasing in Australia 2017, reveals that over half of regular wine drinkers in Australia have visited a winery or cellar door in the past 12 months.

The positive shift towards domestic wine tourism has been most keenly felt by the Hunter and Barossa Valleys, the two wine making regions visited by the highest proportion of regular wine drinkers in Australia. In addition, the Yarra Valley, Margaret River and Tasmania perform well when it comes to welcoming repeat visitors.

The regions of Eden Valley, Heathcote and Great Southern in particular are seeing benefits from the most frequent, and therefore loyal, visitors.

However, the report goes on to reveal that high delivery costs are amongst the biggest barriers to purchasing online direct from a cellar door for regular wine drinkers in Australia. Offering free or reduced cost shipping is the leading factor that would encourage further purchases online direct from cellar doors.

The visible costs of shipping also deter shoppers from purchasing wine online from a bottle shop’s website or online retailer.

Wine Intelligence CEO Lulie Halstead comments: “The cellar door has evolved into a key wine buying channel, with over 50% of Australian regular wine drinkers having visited a winery or cellar door in the last year alone – and almost two-thirds of them go on to buy wine to take home while visiting.

When it comes to perceptions of delivery, either from purchases made from a cellar door website or an online retailer, our findings suggest there are a number of improvements which could be made to encourage purchases, such as simplifying the order process, adding more convenient delivery timings and lowering the headline cost of delivery.”

“The younger generation is driving the demand for easier delivery, with those aged 25- 34 years old significantly more likely to indicate they would like more convenient shipping arrangements for buying wine online directly from a cellar door.”

Improved delivery services could also help drive cellar door sales during a winery visit. While purchases at the cellar door during a visit is the most likely channel for consumers to spend over $30 on a bottle of wine, it also generates the lowest basket size when compared with other channels.