New service launched for wine lovers to order their favourite tipple by text

Majestic will launch its Text for Wine service through its online retailer Naked Wines, which it bought for up to £70 million in April.

It said the text service would be useful for busy customers who do not have time to browse its website.

As of last week, Naked Wines said its 150,000 UK customers could begin ordering cases of wine simply by sending the business a text.

It said the service is the first of its kind in the world, and lets customers order specific wines. But it also allows customers to order by providing the types of wines they like, as well as their budget, or the occasion they plan to drink it.

The new service was the idea of an employee, and carries no additional charge other than standard network rates.

The group said if the pilot UK programme proves successful it will also be rolled out to Naked Wines' US and Australian operations.

When Majestic bought Naked Wines in the spring it also appointed its chief executive Rowan Gormley to run the larger group.

Mr Gormley founded Naked Wines in 2008, and replaced former Majestic boss Steve Lewis, who left the retailer in February after poor sales.

Mr Gormley said: "Access to Naked's digital marketing skills was a clear benefit for Majestic following the acquisition, and the launch of "Text for Wine" is a fantastic demonstration of these skills in action.

"The fact that the idea came from an employee is testament to Naked's strong entrepreneurial culture, which we are working on bringing across to Majestic."

In June Majestic posted a 22% slump in annual profit to £18.4 million as Mr Gormley pledged to scale back new store openings and warned that it would cost around £3 million to launch initiatives aimed at turning around the group's fortunes.

Majestic had been planning to expand to 330 stores from its current 211 but the new boss said in June he wanted to limit new openings to 20 to 30 locations "that can deliver a good return on investment."