(Harpers) - American wine drinkers have dramatically increased their use of the internet and social media to source information about wine over the past four years – but only 11% have actually bought wine in the ecommerce sector in the previous six months, a Wine Intelligence has shown.

While 58.5 million of regular wine drinkers say they research wine online, fewer than 10 million buy wine online.

Wine Intelligence said the data suggested many wine shoppers “still need convincing that the internet as interesting, convenient or as good value as going into a shop”.

One in three use the internet to look up information about prices, and 38% use social media to stay up to date with discounts and promotions.

Use of a range of social media has soared but just 30% trust posts on social media sites against 83% for advice from friends, family or colleagues, and 76% for information given out by staff in wine shops.

“The number of regular wine drinkers buying online in the US has risen from 5% to 11% since 2011 but there is clearly a big opportunity for those involved in ecommerce to make a bigger noise in the market,” said Richard Halstead, Wine Intelligence’s chief operating officer.