86% of wine consumers want the option to buy online together
Cobuyr reveals results from first global consumer survey, highlighting untapped demand for Social Buying in wine e-commerce
London – August 3, 2025 – Cobuyr, the pioneer of Social Buying, today announced the results of the first-ever global consumer survey on Social Buying, offering ground-breaking insights into how consumers want to experience online wine shopping.
The survey, which polled 212 wine consumers across multiple countries between May and July 2025, found that social buying, which is the ability for consumers to invite friends, colleagues, and wine clubs to split and pay for the cost of wine directly on the websites of wine retailers and wineries, is overwhelmingly in demand, yet largely unavailable today.
Despite growing online sales, 77% of wine drinkers still shop both in-store and online, with only 23% exclusively buying wine online. The main barrier cited is that current e-commerce and payment systems lack group wine buying options: 86% of respondents said they would like the ability to buy wine with others online. This presents an opportunity for wine retailers, wineries and marketplaces to transform the online shopping experience that boosts consumer engagement and drives sales.
Social Buying: The opportunity wine businesses are missing
Other key findings from the global survey include:
59% of consumers want to make group wine purchases directly with wine merchants or retailers, while 32% prefer to do so with wineries, and just 5% with wine marketplaces.
41% of respondents said the main reason they want to buy wine in a group is to avoid purchasing an entire case or large order alone. 27% want to save money by sharing costs, and another 27% say group buying would allow them to access higher-end wines otherwise out of reach.
A majority of respondents would invite multiple friends to participate: 55% would invite three or more co-buyers, turning a single shopper into a mini-network of new customers for retailers. 23% would invite one other co-buyer, and another 23% would invite two. Notably, 55% would invite more than three others to split the cost and number of bottles and/or cases.
When asked where they would most like to buy socially online, respondents most frequently selected Hedonism Wines and Total Wine (27%), followed by Berry Bros & Rudd, FINE+RARE, Last Bottle, The Wine Society, and Wine.com (23%). Other selections included 'Other' (18%), Corney & Barrow, Jeroboams, Lay & Wheeler, Majestic Wine, and Naked Wines (14%), Amathus, BevMo, Laithwaites, Millésima, and Waitrose Cellar (9%), and finally Acker, Handford, Honest Grapes, House of Townend, Lea & Sandeman, Tanners Wines, The Salusbury Winestore, VINATIS, and Virgin Wines (5%).
While 41% of consumers would maintain their current spending per wine purchase, they would buy wine more frequently due to the appeal of the social experience. Additionally, 32% of wine drinkers reported that purchasing wine together would encourage them to spend more overall, suggesting that group buying can increase purchase frequency, average transaction value, and customer lifetime value.
“This survey is a wake-up call for the global wine trade,” said Lance Mercereau, CEO and founder of Cobuyr. “Consumers are telling us they want a more connected, social way to buy wine online - one that reflects how they actually drink wine: together with family, friends, colleagues and members of wine clubs. Social buying isn’t just a convenience; it’s a growth engine waiting to be unlocked by businesses because consumers want to purchase together.”
Cobuyr’s Global Consumer Survey on Social Buying will be conducted annually to track the adoption of this growing trend worldwide. Social Buying from Cobuyr offers a new DTC playbook for wine retailers and wineries to acquire and activate consumers by enabling group purchases online, boosting engagement and sales.
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Cobuyr, the pioneer of Social Buying, has developed an innovative AI-powered group payments, data and analytics platform. By enabling consumers to invite friends, family and club members to split purchases at checkout, Cobuyr drives incremental sales through a unique social buying experience that creates a network effect for all types of retailers. Integrated via standard APIs with e-commerce, payment and CRM systems, Cobuyr also delivers actionable customer insights including a unique AI recommendation engine that suggests products and co-buyers to boost customer acquisition, retention and loyalty. Discover how Cobuyr can transform your business at www.cobuyr.com.