Internet Wine Sales

Dear Retailers,

As ecommerce sales continue to grow (by some estimates up to 15%), it brings up new challenges and opportunities for brick and mortar stores who can leverage both online and physical presences.  Of course, the internet provides convenience that no one can ignore.  The best example of this is Netflix.  The online rental giant completely transformed the movie business, contributing to the closing of many video stores. With more wine and liquor websites popping up everyday and changes in the legal landscapes for inter-state shipments, how can retail stores work to stay competitive?

One way is to begin shipping wine yourself and becoming an option online for your customers.  Many of you have websites and might be thinking about selling online.  If you are thinking about it, you'll have to do some research to navigate through the various laws for shipping wine to different states.   One of the best sources to help you navigate through this are the Fedex and UPS websites which lay out some of the restrictions and opportunities for sales in different states.  This is a great opportunity to start shipping within your state and then expanding outward.  It allows for customers the option of purchasing from your physical store or your webstore while also increasing your customer base beyond your geographical limits.

Don't forget that as a retail store, you do play a special role in your customers selection process of wine.  Selecting wine can be a daunting process for any consumer. Of the thousands of bottles available on the internet, your store probably does not have the space to carry every wine on the market.  Your competitive advantage lies in your ability to have dialogue with your customers.  The internet's wide selection offers variety, but very little in helping navigate through all the choices besides point ratings and some reviews.  It's hard to ask google or wine.com what would my mother like to drink if she loves eating meatloaf?  Study the wine and other products your store carries and make sure you and all of your employees are experts on your products. Your team's knowledge can be the difference in convincing a potential customer on a sale and establishing a trusted relationship over the long run. People appreciate guidance when it comes to wine as it's a complicated product and are willing to pay a premium for it.   Of course your high volume wines will always need to be priced competitively and a good way to gauge your pricing is using wine-searcher.com as we discussed in our previous post.

We read an interesting article in the NY times recently that talks about how restaurant are posting their wine to be used on the new Apple Ipads. The additional information of tasting reviews by wine critics, notes by wine makers, and search aids have made people feel more confident, inspiring them to spend more money on a bottle with dinner. The Ipad takes an intimidating black and white list of wines offered on the spot at a restaurant and make them user friendly.   You can provide this same service for your customers on your selection of wines as a way to supplement your staff. Take the stress out of buying wine by helping your customers with your multi-faceted and personal knowledge. To aid in this process, consider taking notes on your customers. Notice what a customers likes, dislikes, and their price range to help you aid them.  Keep track of what they purchase over time if your systems allow to alert them to something they may like in the future.

Another service you can offer are hands on activities like tastings. We probably don't have to tell you that this is a great way to sell wine. This is a service the internet cannot and probably will never be able to offer. If you don't do tasting events, consider this a good way to get a leg up on the internet.

We don't have all the answers, but hope we can inspire you to tackle some of the growing opportunities that the internet and your store can take advantage of.

Cheers!

True Fabrications

Self-Service Wine?

Dear Retailers,

You should definetely read this article on talking about self service wine stations in French grocery stores. Much like water filling stations in U.S. grocery stores, the self service station allows for reusable containers to be filled by the shopper. Do you think this idea of self-service and personal containers could work in the U.S.?

The benefits of a machine like this are clear. Wine can be packaged for less money (no bottles and only one large container has to be shipped). By using less packaging and reusing personal bottles, this device could be marketed as good for the environment and better value for consumers.  This would make wine far less cost prohibitive. The availability of inexpensive wine might introduce more people to the joys of wine that would have seen it as too expensive, prior to the self-serve tanks.

I'm not sure if a device like this really could succeed in U.S. stores? Americans like variety as is obvilus with the number of wineries now offering their own vintages. These machines are limited in selection and likely quality. At the same time, a specialized, smaller store might be able to put this into use (think Trader Joe's and two buck chuck). But, with all the varying laws and restrictions from state to state, this would take a long time to hit the stores. 

Whether you think its a silly gimmick or the way of the future, we would be curious to know what you think as a retailer? Would you put this in your store?

Cheers!
True Fabrications

Wine Searcher for Retailers

Dear Retailers,


No doubt the internet has changed the way we all sell our products. But as a wine retailer, what tools do you use to help you purchase the right inventory for the right price? And equally important, what tools are your customers using to hunt down the right retailer to find the right wine? You may have heard of http://www.wine-searcher.com/ and if you haven't, you should check it out.

Wine Searcher allows both merchants and the public to see listings of wine prices all across the country. Consumers can find their favorite or rare bottles anywhere and contact the vendor (which could be you). Because of this information availability, wine-searcher's results not only offer the lowest prices to consumers but allow companies to keep in tune with the going prices for certain wines. It's a great way for you to keep your prices in tune with the market.

While wine-searcher might be convenient, like any web phenomenon, it's not without a dark side.
Critics of the website say that competition may under or overvalue a bottle of wine. While Wine-searcher prevents under the table sales, companies have also been known to game the site to affect prices. Finally, businesses can purchase sponsorships that will have their results appear more often when someone searches for a bottle of wine. People have complained that this creates a competitive edge where local shops now have to compete with the entire country.
There is a great article from the LA Times on this website that you should check out when you have time. (Read Article)

Love it or hate it, websites like wine-searcher.com can be great tools for your business.. From sites like snooth.com where anyone can publish a wine review, to more number based sites like wine-searcher, the internet is changing the wine industry and the knowledge available. It is important to figure out how to utilize these resources for your benefit and perhaps even how to differentiate yourself from becoming just a place to find the best price.



Cheers!
True Fabrications