Pietro Rocchelli offers a concise operational vademecum useful for guiding the decisions of buyers, category managers and commercial directors of wineries and relaunching wine in large-scale distribution.

In recent months we have analyzed the transformation of wine in large-scale retail from different angles: shrinking demand, rationalization of assortments, centrality of price, evolution of category management, and the need for more mature collaboration between industry and retailers. The picture is clear: wine has not disappeared, but it has lost automatic centrality ..

Today it is no longer enough to be there. It is necessary to be relevant. If the industry wants to start a revitalization phase in the Italian retail sector, we need to less rhetoric and more operational discipline. Here is a concise vademecum useful for guiding the decisions of buyers, category managers and winery sales managers.

1. Less labels, more function

Multiplying references does not increase category value. Leaner, more readable and consistent assortments promote rotation and reduce confusion.

Each bottle must respond to a clear function:

everyday life,
conviviality,
special occasion,
gift,
individual consumption.

If it is not clear “when” that wine enters the cart, it is unlikely to enter.

2. Price as language, not promotional leverage

Price is the primary driver of choice in large-scale retail today. It is not a problem, it is a fact of reality. Segmenting the assortment by price ranges consistent with consumption occasions helps the customer to orient themselves.

L’everyday fair price – the right price every day – builds trust more than repeated promotion. Spiraling the discount weakens the perceived value and destabilizes the category.
The clarity of price reinforces it.

3. Rotation as a survival criterion

Large-scale retail is a capital-intensive system. Every linear meter must work. Buyers and producers must share a simple metric: rotation is the measure of relevance.

A wine that doesn’t turn over is not just a commercial problem, it is a system problem. The sell-out matters more than the sell-in.

4. Data and sensitivity must walk together

Large-scale retail today has sophisticated analytical tools. But data without interpretation do not generate value.

Integration is needed:

performance analysis,
Knowledge of consumption dynamics,
Qualitative reading of behaviors.

Wine category management cannot be just numerical, but it can no longer be just intuitive.

5. From negotiation to partnership

The traditional relational model, based on trade pressure and annual conditions, shows its limitations.

The revitalization of wine goes through a more evolved collaboration:

data sharing,
Joint planning of initiatives,
Use of retail media as an extension of marketing,
Alignment on category goals.

Producer must not ask for space. It must demonstrate that it brings value.

6. Returning experience without complicating language

The contemporary consumer does not reject wine. He rejects unnecessary complexity.

There is a need to make the experience easier:

essential communication,
concrete storytelling,
Segmentation by moments of consumption,
integrated digital tools.

Wine must go back to being natural in spending, not exceptional.

A shared responsibility

The GDO cannot simply manage wine like any other category. The industry cannot continue to propose self-referential and overlapping ranges. Reviving the role of wine in modern Italian retail requires lucidity, discipline and common vision. Ideological revolutions are not needed. Consistent choices are needed. Less noise, more function. Fewer promotion, more value. Less conflict, more planning.

Wine will not become central again because it has been in the past. It will become relevant again if it can adapt to the present. And it is precisely in the large-scale retail trade-the place where the reality of consumption is measured every day-that this new season can begin.