Aldi to launch online wine sales early next year

Discount grocer opens up new line of attack in supermarket wars by selling wine per case in its first online venture

Aldi is to open a new front in its assault on the UK grocery market early next year when it begins selling wine online.

The move comes despite the impact of the continuing price war on the group, which has suffered its first fall in operating profits in six years. Matthew Barnes, chief executive of Aldi in the UK and Ireland, said a huge part of an 11m decline in operating profits last year, to 260m, was due to price cuts, as Aldi responded to waves of activity by its bigger rivals.