Virgin Wines toasts sharp rise in customers and plots new app launch

Virgin Wines saw its customer base surge in the second half of last year, as the company revealed a new plan to triple revenues to £100 million in the next five years, partly by launching a new app.

The London-listed company said on Wednesday that new customer acquisition rose 29% in the six months to December 27 compared to the same period in 2023.

Sales rose 6.7% over the six-week Christmas trading period, helping boost pre-tax profit by 20% over the half-year.

Virgin Wines said the pick-up in new customers had continued into the start of 2025, as it launched a new growth plan aimed at tripling turnover.

The company said it wants to invest more money in picking up new customers, as well as striking more commercial partnerships.

It has already struck deals with Ocado, Moonpig, WH Smith and Very in recent years, while it cited supply agreements with travel companies LNER, Avanti and Great Western Railways.

Chief executive Jay Wright hailed the “encouraging results, particularly during the peak Christmas trading season”.

He said: “Our strategy of acquiring high-quality customers at an industry-leading low cost per recruit, while maximising the quality and value of our wines through our unique open-source buying model, continues to position us well to navigate market headwinds.”

He added that the company would also invest in launching a mobile app, and continue scaling up its new Warehouse Wines brand, which made £1 million in sales over the most recent trading period.

Virgin Wines said a new app is “a major investment that is already under way and will give the business the ability to engage more frequently and effectively with existing customers as well as create additional methods to acquire new customers”.

He added that the latest growth plan would mean investing more money, which would hit profit in the short term.

However, he said: “This is an ambitious and transformational change in our business strategy and investment case, which we are excited to implement over the coming years.”

Shares in the Aim-listed company fell 8% on Wednesday morning.