The 2020 turning point: a 224% rise in sales
2020 will be remembered as the year of the lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic. For several months bars and restaurants remained closed, and this hit the sales of Prosecco DOC hard. In response, vendors sought out new channels in order to reach the passionate consumers of this Veneto sparkling wine. E-commence was soon recognised and harnessed as the ideal route to achieve this, and was swiftly the subject of great investment in terms of technology and communication. And it was precisely thanks to e-commerce that prosecco was able to resist the negative effects of the closure of Italian hotels, restaurants and bars. The figures for the year reached record highs, with an 224% increase in online sales.
The trends in 2021: everyone continued to buy prosecco online
What appeared as a new “trend” in 2020 in response to the Covid-19-imposed restrictions became the new way of shopping and a true and proper habit in 2021. The local producers of Prosecco DOC and DOCG have since consolidated their direct relationship with the consumer, an act which was fundamental to respond to consumers’ needs and tastes. E-commerce is almost always managed by the producers directly; i.e., by the same individuals who would usually receive their clients in the shop located at the winery.
This positive trend has continued into 2022: online prosecco sales are once again up by 180%.
The 2020 lockdown caused an unrelenting rise in digital transformation, in particular in the food & beverage sector. The result is a trend that has also consolidated in 2022: everyone is buying Prosecco DOC and DOCG online.
According to the magazine Wine News, the consumer age group showing the biggest rise in interest in prosecco is 18 to 24 years, with a 150% increase in online research into prosecco compared with the previous year. By contrast, the other age groups have shown relatively stable tendencies with respect to those in 2020-21. Interestingly, online interest in wine has grown disproportionately in women, who demonstrated a 200% increase compared with just +80% in men.
