Insights from Today’s Wine Aisle: How to Unlock Retail Growth
When retailers simplify wine discovery, shoppers gain confidence, baskets grow and loyalty strengthens.
The wine aisle is more dynamic and more challenging than ever. Shoppers face overwhelming choices, retailers are navigating space and marketing constraints, and suppliers are under pressure to deliver on both cost and quality. Yet within these challenges lie opportunities for growth.
When it comes to driving total store value, few categories carry as much potential as wine. As Arlin Zajmi, director of national buying, adult beverages, at Aldi USA, says,
“When wine is present in a grocery basket, the basket is 65% larger. We want wine in the basket not just for the value of it and selling the wine, but also how it’s helping the total spend.”
Wine plays a unique role as a basket multiplier. It doesn’t just increase category sales; it fuels growth across produce, meat, deli and other high-value departments. Despite its potential, wine remains one of the most complex categories in grocery retail. Its complexity, marked by category isolation, shifting consumer expectations and operational hurdles, also creates unique opportunities for retailers to innovate, engage shoppers and drive measurable growth.
Structural Challenges Retailers Face
From conversations with adult beverage leaders across both regional and national banners, four recurring hurdles stand out:
Timing Is Everything: Leadership changes and organizational shifts open the best window for new initiatives.
Adult Beverages as an Island: Unlike chips and salsa or bacon and eggs, wine lacks natural cross-merchandising partners, making visibility and engagement more difficult.
The IT Bottleneck: Projects requiring deep integration often stall due to long IT roadmaps. Retailers lean toward solutions that deploy quickly with minimal tech involvement.
Non-Core Overload: Category leaders are primarily focused on pricing and assortment, leaving limited bandwidth for shopper engagement or education. Without vendor partners taking the lead, these growth-driving activities risk falling to the sidelines.
What Industry Leaders Are Learning
Across these conversations, one clear theme emerges. Retailers aim to simplify the shopper journey while keeping operations lean and suppliers focused. This means:
Retail design matters. Aisle space and layout shape innovation feasibility.
Supplier focus drives value. By driving shopper engagement through retailer-led strategies, retailers enable suppliers to deliver quality and efficiency at scale.
Technology amplifies impact. When strategically applied, AI-powered personalization transforms technology into a discovery engine that guides shoppers to the right wines, boosts basket size and drives repeat visits.
Six Levers to Unlock Growth
These six strategies can move the needle for wine sales:
Wine-Centric Marketing: Updated signage, shelf-talkers, QR code and digital discovery tools deliver personalized recommendations, simplify choices and enhance the shopper experience.
Cross-Category Promotions: Pairing wine with cheese, charcuterie or prepared meals encourages shoppers to think beyond the single bottle purchase.
Moment-Based Engagement: Make wine approachable by linking selections to everyday occasions, while interactive tastings create trial moments that convert into repeat sales.
Customer-Centric Pricing: Transparent, consistent pricing builds shopper trust and drives long-term loyalty.
In-Store Knowledge: Training for staff and shoppers reduces friction and builds confidence at the point of sale.
Shopper Personalization: AI personalization aligns wine discovery with retailer strategy, simplifying operations while unlocking growth through higher spend and purchase frequency.
Looking Ahead
The wine aisle of tomorrow will be shaped by clarity, personalization and integration into the shopper’s broader journey. Retailers adopting AI-driven recommendations and integrated shopper experiences will unlock the category’s full potential. Suppliers can focus on quality and efficiency, while the total store benefits from stronger baskets and loyalty.
Wine is more than just a category. Executed strategically, it can become a growth engine for the entire store.
Learn more about growing wine sales with personalized discovery.
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Insights from Today’s Wine Aisle: How to Unlock Retail Growth - Wine Industry Advisor