THE WINE MERCHANT. An independent magazine for independent retailers
Issue 89, March 2020
Dog of the Month: Digby Hawkins Bros, Godalming
Reasons to be cheerful in 2020 Survey of 200 busineses shows confidence slowly returning in a trade that saw sales fall by 11% last year
O
ptimism about the coming year
has seen a modest uplift among independent wine merchants,
following a challenging 2019 for traders.
According to The Wine Merchant’s annual
survey of independents, 19% of merchants are “very optimistic” about achieving a
sales increase in 2020, with 44% declaring
themselves to be “fairly confident” of doing better than they did last year.
Despite store numbers holding up well
in 2019, the survey shows that as a whole,
turnover dipped by 11.4% to an average of £550,049 per shop.
This year, 14% of indies say they
are likely to open additional branches,
compared to 11% in the 2019 survey, and 40% expect to increase staff numbers, a figure up from 37% last time.
However the proportion of businesses
expected to sell up this year has quadrupled to 8%.
Shop sales mow account for just under
60% of turnover, down slightly on 2019, with margins holding steady at around
35%. Drink-in sales have risen to 12.5% of the trade’s overall turnover, with average margins of just under 60%.
Wholesale margins are marginally up at
21.8%, but sales from this revenue channel have hit a new low of 15.9% of turnover. • Survey coverage begins on page 24 and continues in our April edition.
Bob’s on the job Tanners in Shrewsbury was one of a number of wine merchants affected by the February floods, but Robert Boutflower was determined to make sure deliveries got through, come hell or high water