Drink Finder Is Named UK eCommerce Website of the Year 2026
Drink Finder Is Named UK eCommerce Website of the Year 2026!
At A Glance: A Milestone For Our Family Business
- Headline National Winner: Drink Finder was named UK eCommerce Website of the Year 2026 at the UK eCommerce Awards, beating out major national brands across every retail sector.
- 65 Years of Cornish Heritage: Based in the village of Constantine near Falmouth, our family-run store has traded for over 65 years and sold online since 2000.
- 5,000+ Bottles at Your Fingertips: Our redesigned Shopify website makes discovering rare whiskies, fine wines, craft spirits, and local Cornish drinks easier than ever.
- Designed Locally in Falmouth: Built in collaboration with local freelance designer Anthony Bliss, focusing on intuitive mobile navigation and an innovative side-by-side bottle comparison feature.
- Outstanding Results: Since launch, website sales have grown by 34% and customer numbers by 32% during a challenging market period.
We have some extraordinary news to share with all our customers, partners, and friends across Cornwall and the rest of the UK.
On 30th September 2026, at the national UK eCommerce Awards, Drink Finder was crowned the overall UK eCommerce Website of the Year 2026!
This is the headline award of the night, open to online retailers in every sector across the country. Last year's winner was household name Farrow & Ball. To say we are thrilled, humbled, and delighted would be a huge understatement. We are still taking it all in.
From a Cornish Village to Nationwide Wine & Spirits Retail
Constantine Stores, has been an integral part of village life in Constantine, near Falmouth, for nearly 70 years. We were early pioneers of online drinks retailing, launching drinkfinder.co.uk back in 2000 to bring our extensive cellar to enthusiasts nationwide.
Over the decades, our online catalogue has expanded to more than 5,000 wines, spirits, whiskies, and liqueurs. Having a range that broad is a dream for spirit collectors and wine lovers, but displaying it clearly on a screen is a real technical challenge with so many variants per category. As mobile shopping grew, our previous website felt increasingly cluttered, making it harder for customers to navigate our full collection on their phones.
We knew we needed a modern, high-performing platform that made bottle discovery simple without sacrificing the warm, independent spirit our regular customers know and love.
Built Right Here in Cornwall: The Redesign Story
Rather than hiring a large agency in London, we partnered with local freelance Shopify designer Anthony Bliss, who is based just down the road in Falmouth. Having a designer who could pop into the shop in person to discuss user journeys made the whole project remarkably personal and productive.
Together, we migrated Drink Finder onto Shopify and refreshed the brand identity with a modernised logo, elegant colour palette, and refined typography. Key features of the new website include:
- Reinvented Mobile Navigation: A custom mobile-first user experience that lets you seamlessly explore over 5,000 products on your smartphone.
- Side-by-Side Bottle Comparison: An innovative comparison toggle allowing you to compare bottles directly within the product listings by origin, age, cask type, and ABV without losing your place.
- Streamlined Checkout: A faster, friction-free purchasing process that gets your favourite bottles dispatched to your doorstep even quicker.
"Having a local designer who could visit in person made the project feel personal and productive. Ant kept the Drink Finder soul intact while making the journey far smoother. He didn't just give us a facelift; he built a platform that performs. This was a huge project containing a staggering amount of data that had to be transferred, aligned and most of all improved. It is great to receive the award as a reward for the work that went into it all."
Jon Wigmore, Marketing & E-Commerce at Constantine Stores
What the UK eCommerce Awards Judges Said
The panel of industry experts at the UK eCommerce Awards praised the website's blend of user experience, practical innovation, and commercial success:
"A truly exceptional Website of the Year winner, combining outstanding UX with smart, purposeful innovation. From intuitive product discovery to a genuinely useful comparison experience, every detail has been thoughtfully considered through outstanding strategic planning to create a seamless customer journey and deliver exceptional commercial results."
The best part of this award is seeing how well the new store is performing for you. Comparing September to February against the previous year, our online website sales increased by 34% and customer numbers grew by 32%. At a time when premium drinks spending was falling across the wider market, more shoppers than ever are using Drink Finder to discover bottles they had previously struggled to track down.
"We've sold wine and spirits from Constantine for over 65 years, and online since 2000. Customers are now finding and buying bottles online that we used to struggle to sell or get visibility on. To see our website named the best in the UK is something the whole family and team are incredibly proud of."
Andrew Rowe, Director of Constantine Stores
A Heartfelt Thank You To Our Customers
Winning national awards is incredible, but our highest priority remains serving our loyal customers, whether you pop into our physical shop in Constantine or order your fine wines and craft spirits online from across the country.
We want to say a huge thank you to every customer, old and new, for supporting our independent family business. We also extend our gratitude to Anthony Bliss for designing a platform we are immensely proud of. You can read the full technical breakdown of how the project was created in Anthony's Drink Finder design case study.
To celebrate our big win with you, keep an eye out for our upcoming celebratory offers across our fine wine and spirits collection!
Cheers from all of us in Constantine!
