Wine merchants understand that partaking in a glass of wine is more than just a beverage choice—it’s an experience steeped in tradition, culture, and personal preference. Wine enthusiasts love not only the taste but also the story behind each bottle.
As technology advances, an opportunity has arisen for wineries to bring the intimate, bespoke experience of the tasting room to the virtual world, allowing for broader reach and personalized interactions. In today’s digital age, every winery selling online is, indeed, an ecommerce company.
The ecommerce model, paired with a DTC strategy, is the future for wineries that wish to foster customer loyalty and elevate brand engagement. Leveraging the power of technology can help us do what we have always excelled at: building relationships and creating brands that tell engaging stories.
Here are three major ways technology can automate and personalize your customers’ wine tasting experience.
1. Personalization: Cater wine deliveries to customers’ tastes
We’ve long understood that customer retention drives sales. Now, with ecommerce subscription technology, we can bring this notion online and personalize the experience for each individual customer.
Through the deployment of personalization technologies within platforms like Shopify, we can use data to recommend wines based on a customer’s previous purchases, flavor preferences, or even food pairings.
Just as a sommelier would recommend a bottle in a tasting room, our ecommerce platform can do the same—online, and at scale.
2. Customized reorder experiences: Building long-lasting, high-value customer relationships
In the world of wine, variety is the spice of life. The thrill of discovering a new favorite bottle is a joy that wine lovers know well. By allowing customers to customize their reorder experiences, we can emulate this joy in an online setting.
Whether it’s through an SMS alert for a new blend that matches their taste or an email offering a promotional bundle of their favorite wines, providing customized reorder experiences fosters a sense of excitement and novelty.
As a result, we are building long-lasting, high-value customer relationships that can endure beyond the fleeting trends of the digital world.
3. SMS & email automation: Cultivate a digital wine club experience
In a traditional tasting room, personal interaction and membership exclusivity are key elements that drive customer engagement. Transitioning this concept into a digital space, the tasting room transforms into an ecommerce subscription service.
Think of the potential: automatic SMS and email alerts to let your customers know about the arrival of new vintages or special offers tailored to their preferences. Using automation in your tech stack enables you to maintain that personal touch with your customers, nurturing a strong relationship while simultaneously driving retention and sales.
Embrace the new era of wine tasting
The world of wine tasting has entered a new era: one without legacy distribution and retail limitations. Through digital innovation, we have the opportunity to place our brand story front and center and bring the personalized tasting room experience online.
Now, wineries can cultivate long-term relationships with customers nationwide, and toast to the promising future of ecommerce subscriptions.
For real-time compliance
Wine merchants can take advantage of the DRINKS app on Shopify, which is the only real-time compliance and tax solution embedded into the checkout. In doing so, they can bypass the rigorous process of navigating the complex state/local alcohol shipping requirements.
Brandon Amoroso, President and Founder, Electriq, A DRINKS Company
Brandon is an ecommerce strategist who focuses on customer retention and lifetime value to drive DTC growth and has worked with Wine Insiders, Florence By Mills, Health-Ade, and more. He is the host of The D2Z Podcast, a podcast about business growth with a Gen Z mindset.
