This file photo shows a customer picking a wine. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Large discount stores have emerged as the main outlets for consumers to buy imported wine, a consumer watchdog said Tuesday.
According to a survey conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) of 1,000 local consumers who had purchased imported wine in the past year, Chilean wines accounted for the largest share of purchases at 41.1 percent of the imported wine total.
In terms of the level of satisfaction (the highest score is seven), French wines ranked first with a score of 5.47, followed by Chilean wines at 5.46, American wines at 5.38, Spanish wines at 5.29 and Italian wines at 5.28.
When it comes to the main outlet for consumers to buy imported wine, large discount stores came on top with 72.8 percent, followed by department stores at 10.8 percent, liquor specialized stores at 9.1 percent and convenience stores at 5.2 percent.
At 44.5 percent, close to half of all consumers picked taste as the most important factor in selecting imported wine.
An analysis of the average price of imported wines based on data monitored by the KCA showed that the average price of Chilean wines stood at 3,185 won (US$2.73) per 100-milliliter, down 35.5 percent from the figure marked in 2018.
During the same period, the average price of French wines, Italian wines and American wines fell by 12.3 percent, 10 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
The KCA attributed the decline in average prices of imported wine to the diversification of sales channels towards large discount store and convenience stores, and the emergence of various apps that make it easier for consumers to compare the prices of imported wines.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
