1 In 3 American Wine Drinkers Use The Internet To Compare Prices; Only 1 In 10 Actually Buy Online

Americans have no problem using the Internet to source information about how much they should be paying for wine, but still prefer to buy the wine in person, suggests data compiled by Wine Intelligence.

A third of wine drinkers in the United States (an estimated 58.5 million) go online to do research, but only 11 percent (10 million) actually buy wine online. The proliferation of social media, however, could change that in no time.

"There is clearly a big opportunity for those involved in e-commerce to make bigger noise in the market," Wine Intelligence CEO Richard Halstead told Harpers U.K.

"The use of social media to find out about all aspects of wine has increased rapidly and there's little reason to believe that it will slow down. It might not be long before blogs, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are taking over from more traditional sources such as books and magazines as the main sources of information between potential shoppers."