Do wine buyers behave differently in brick and mortar vs online stores?

Abstract

PurposeTo measure the extent to which wine buyers behave differently when purchasing wine online vs in two brick and mortar stores. The article aims to extend the use of the Double Jeopardy principle and empirical-based methodology to the wine category in a European retailing context.Design/methodology/approachCustomer loyalty data of two brick and mortar stores and the website orders of a Belgian retailer have been gathered for a one-year period. Data have been analysed based on three specific wine attributes: country of origin, grape variety and brand. Double Jeopardy measurements have been calculated for each of these attributes.FindingsThis study enlarges the scope of use of the Dirichlet principles. All three hypotheses derived from the Double Jeopardy patterns across all attributes are confirmed. From the perspective of these principles, we demonstrated that wine buyers do not behave differently in brick and mortar vs online stores.Originality/valueVery few studies have analysed and understood wine buyers' behaviour using actual purchasing data from retail stores, and none have been released comparing online and brick and mortar stores owned by the same retail brand. From that perspective, our study demystifies the way people really buy, and confirms what has been found in other product categories.