Thanks to the abundance of available eCommerce solutions, we now have the ability to get both perishable and non-perishable items delivered right to our doorstep. Alcoholic beverages are a more recent and fashionable addition to this list, with wine, beer, and spirits leading eCommerce sales. In fact, the global market for alcohol eCommerce is expected to reach $42 billion by 2024, making it the next big D2C trend. Alcoholic beverages, like all other market segments, saw a significant increase during the pandemic, resulting in a 42% increase in alcohol eCommerce in 2020. Wineries and wine producers would benefit financially from the wine eCommerce vertical as sales reach their peak and more brands move their operations online.
A wine e-commerce solution that adopts cutting-edge technologies seamlessly integrates with all necessary business systems and helps maintain all your online and offline sales on one channel may, in the end, be the answer for wine manufacturers and distributors. However, it is still unclear how wineries can effectively take advantage of this digital opportunity. Let’s first examine the obstacles that might be preventing you from utilizing an eCommerce wine platform or creating an online wine marketplace in order to solve this equation.
The biggest difficulties in moving the alcohol industry online
The majority of wine producers and retailers still don’t know how to accept and process online orders. Still, a relatively new industry, the sale of alcohol online is being researched and gradually embraced by complementary brands. In light of this, the following are some initial difficulties the wine eCommerce sector faces when going online:
1: State-to-state differences in laws and regulations
Contrary to non-alcoholic beverages, the sale of alcohol necessitates a number of licenses and adherence to local, state, and federal laws. Depending on where they are located and where they want to sell, related brands must obtain stringent approvals during this entire time-consuming process. As a result, numerous wineries and wine producers/retailers deal with difficulties related to alcohol transportation, shipping, logistics, and getting approval from authorities in the shipped location.
2: Manage and complete orders efficiently and conveniently online
The proper storage requirements for their distilled beverages for maximum taste preservation present challenges for alcohol sellers in addition to regulatory limitations, necessitating carriers with the necessary equipment and systems for transporting such beverages. Additionally, it can be challenging to meet customer expectations for same-day, next-day, or quick deliveries. This makes it difficult for eCommerce marketplaces for wine and liquor to complete orders.
3: Providing users with highly-discussed personalized experiences in eCommerce
It is all about omnichannel, connected, and personalized experiences, which presents a challenge for wine brands, particularly as they first enter the market. The entire process of establishing an active wine eCommerce platform to increase the number of touchpoints is a little hard get for wine manufacturers and retailers.
4: Develop a sizeable online audience
Even though your brand may be well-known in your neighborhood or district, if you want to sell wine online, you need to increase customer confidence in your wine. It might feel like you are starting your company from scratch, especially if you are doing it online. Then, you must make sure that each and every one of your customers is of legal drinking age.
5: To increase sales, create a well-integrated wine eCommerce system
Utilizing a wine eCommerce platform is only the first step; you also need to move all of your business operations online, including inventory management, product management, order fulfillment, shipping, payment processing, CRM software, and other areas. This calls for tightly integrated extensions of your primary eCommerce platform, which can appear to be overwhelming and even discourage you from moving online.
Why do you need a mobile app for your winery?
1) Increased customer engagement: wineries can interact directly with their patrons by using a mobile application. The app allows users to browse and buy wine, book reservations, and get alerts about promotions or events.
2) Improved Customer Experience: By offering a simple and convenient way to access winery information and services, a mobile application can improve the overall customer experience. Customers can view tasting notes, learn more about various wines, and make reservations at the winery using the app.
3) Increased Brand Loyalty: By giving customers a personal and practical way to interact with the winery, a mobile application can help increase brand loyalty. Positive app experiences increase the likelihood that users will return to the winery and refer others to it.
4) Enhanced Sales and Marketing: By giving wineries a targeted and personalized way to reach customers, mobile applications can aid in the growth of their business and marketing initiatives. To increase sales and customer engagement, wineries can use the app to push notifications about special deals, occasions, and new wine releases.
5) Competitive Advantage: By helping wineries stand out from their rivals, a mobile application can give them a competitive advantage. By providing a practical and customized mobile experience, wineries can differentiate themselves from other wineries that do not have a mobile app.
What benefits can a mobile app offer your winery?
1) Notifications via Push
You know how, on the majority of smartphones, you get a notification with a sneak peek at a text or email message? You can schedule a mobile winery app to notify your followers of various messages at a particular day and time using push notifications, which are known as For instance, on a Saturday at 10 a.m., you could schedule a message to go out to everyone who has downloaded your winery’s mobile app, saying, “Stop by today before 5 p.m. to taste our special wine pairing with Godiva chocolate.” Additionally, push notifications can include brand messages and inform your audience of upcoming events and sales.
2) The fix for sporadic internet connections
Even though I frequently extol the virtues of having a responsive website, it will make no difference if a customer is in a remote area without cell service. Native mobile apps function without Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.
3) Directions
Mobile applications can integrate with Google Maps without any issues. The “get directions” button that appears on most apps, when clicked, launches your Google Maps app. By doing this, you avoid the hassle of having customers try to copy and paste your address from your website. Additionally, they will still be able to access directions even if their cell service is down.
4) We envisage data
Actually, we don’t, but a lot of my marketing consultants do. They adore examining Google Analytics, which shows which links were clicked and how each visitor arrived at your website. Why? It assists them in advising clients on message timing and the kinds of goods each client is most likely to buy.
More than any other marketing tool, mobile apps can provide you with detailed information about your target audience. Apps can provide you with information about your users’ locations, frequency of app openings, and preferred products. Additionally, you can request registration from users of mobile apps by asking for information like their email addresses and age.
5) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
We enjoy SEO. There, it was stated. We have been able to find clients from all over the world by following SEO best practices. Another excellent place to use your keyword phrases in the title and description is in mobile apps to draw in your target market.
6) Connect to social media
These days, mobile apps can integrate with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, which can be extremely helpful for promoting your wine brand. For instance, a client might use your winery app to share the following status update to Facebook: “I’m going to Chaumette winery this weekend at 2 PM; who is going to join me?” This would spread information about your winery and advertise your winery app.
You, the owner or marketing director of the winery, can schedule one message to automatically post on Twitter and Facebook, as well as be broadcast as a Push Notification in another way that social media and mobile apps are integrated. It saves so much time!
7) Branding
Delivering the same consistent message across all platforms is a crucial component of creating a powerful brand. This includes your voice inflections, the way you deal with clients, and the frequent use of brand symbols like your logo, wine label, and color scheme. Mobile apps are particularly crucial because brand advocates can rate both your overall app and your individual products. By promoting your brand on social media, they can also raise awareness of it.
Mobile Opportunities in the Wine Industry
1) Draw Younger Customers
The wine industry has found younger consumers, primarily millennials, to be an exciting prospect, but these consumers don’t purchase wine in the same way that previous generations have. Although millennials are buying fewer bottles of wine, they are willing to spend more money when they do. Local and family wineries can effectively reach these younger customers by using mobile messaging and marketing. Given that 96% of millennials already have smartphones, it makes sense for wineries to start interacting with them via mobile devices. Something as straightforward as including QR codes on the bottle leads to more wine-related information
Consumers strive to be “conscious consumers” as their values change. As a result, they are interested in knowing that their wine is produced sustainably. Additionally, this is making consumers value transparency. A straightforward way to meet their values is to use mobile to educate consumers about how their wine is made, where it comes from, and anything else they need to know about the production.
2) Construct digital experience
Due to COVID-19, we know you’re probably sick of hearing the term “digital experiences,” but bear with me. The trend of buyers not visiting tasting rooms or vineyards as frequently as they once did is expected to continue through 2020. Wineries should therefore begin considering how they can offer their customers these experiences. What is the most effective method for doing this? Set them up online. You can geographically expand your audience and give them more access by creating digital tasting rooms.
Digital experiences don’t have to be complicated, though. An illustration would be a straightforward interactive mobile tool that customers could use to determine their wine preferences or what kind of wine they ought to buy. To compile a hand-picked list of wines that suit their tastes, this tool could elicit information from users about the flavors and aromas they enjoy. This is merely one simple method for bringing offline sommelier experiences online.
3) Make shopping simpler
The adoption of digital and mobile practices will also make it simpler for everyone to purchase wine. Instead of being exclusive, consumers want wine to be more widely accessible. It’s a great way to increase accessibility and make it simpler for customers to buy and experience a wine that the wine industry is bringing onto digital platforms. Utilizing digital and mobile marketing strategies also enables you to use data to tailor each customer’s purchasing experience, which speeds up the purchasing process and provides an opportunity to forge closer bonds with them.
About Ample eBusiness
Ample eBusiness is an Indore, India-based company that always employs the best strategies. Our professionals give their all to make your business the best in the world and to keep up with the competition. We have a well-organized team that includes marketing and IT specialists who effectively communicate with one another. They put an emphasis on objectives and outcomes, and they each contribute fairly. They are willing and passionate about their work and committed to it.
Features of our mobile apps for wineries
• Wine catalog: We have a thorough wine catalog with in-depth descriptions of each wine, along with information about its origin, vintage, and recommended food pairings.
• Wine search: Our users can look for wines based on price, region, rating, grape variety, and other factors.
• Order and buy: Our app enables users to order products and buy them directly from the app. Saving payment and shipping information for upcoming orders may be one of these options.
• Wine club membership: Users can manage their membership through the mobile app, view upcoming shipments, and take advantage of special member benefits.
• Event calendar: A calendar of upcoming events, including wine tastings, tours of the winery, and special offers, is included in winery mobile apps.
• Vineyard information: Information about the winery’s vineyards is available to users, including the grape varieties grown there, the types of soil used, and the climatic conditions.
• Wine education: Winery mobile apps may also contain informational material on the subject of wine, such as articles, videos, and tutorials on subjects like wine tasting, food pairings, and wine-making methods.
Although the wine eCommerce market is still in its infancy, wineries, wine producers, retailers, and wholesalers are heavily influenced by the potential of a liquor and wine eCommerce marketplace. You can use the appropriate platform, outside technologies, and external systems with the aid of a leading wine eCommerce solutions provider to create a flexible, dependable, and scalable wine eCommerce system. Leading wine retailers and producers, Ample eBusiness, has received assistance from our experts in launching their multisite wine eCommerce solution online using the challenging Adobe Commerce platform. For your unique business needs, get in touch with one of our certified experts.