The Wine Society has reported a “record-breaking” Christmas, as it prepares for a challenging year ahead.
The Wine Society said gross sales reached £35.7 million over the eight weeks leading up to December 27, up 1.5% compared to the same period a year prior.
The week leading up to Christmas marked the Society’s “highest ever” sales week, surpassing £7.1 million. On December 13, it also set a new single-day sales record of over £2 million.
The online retailer said its success came from the decision to hold prices. In May 2023, The Wine Society committed to maintaining stable prices, absorbing tax and duty increases instead of passing them on to customers.
However, following duty rises and the removal of the wine duty easement, the company said that price increases will come into play for around 90% of its products from February 3.
The Wine Society told Drinks Retailing that it will continue to hold the pricing of its own-label wines even with duty and easement changes. These make up approximately 10% of the overall range by volume.
The Wine Society said it is facing a “tough year ahead” as duty rises, and National Insurance and business rates increase.
“On top of these cost challenges, the new Extended Producer Responsibility is coming in April, another significant cost,” the retailer added.
CEO Steve Finlan said: “In the face of such headwinds, we are prioritising looking after our most important people: our members and our employees. We have committed to holding prices on our range of own-label wines, and for employees, we have announced a pay review to be paid into wages next month.”
Finlan confirmed to Drinks Retailing that the collective impact of changes introduced in 2025 will cost the company £5.5 million, resulting in a hiring freeze and cancelling investment plans.
“These numbers are very important as a collective bill of £5.5m for a business whose statutory operating profit in 2024 will be around £500k,” he said. “This means that we now have a recruitment freeze in place. We have slashed investment in 2025. We are having a pay review of 3% in February because it is the right thing to do as a responsible employer.”
