Key Takeaways
With market uncertainty and a pandemic still in flux, what strategies can you enhance and retain to drive future revenue?
01 By-appointment tastings appear permanent.
By-appointment tastings, which many feared prior to mandated COVID restrictions, have now been widely adopted.
02 Technology is rapidly making its way deeper into the industry.
Digital marketing is growing in importance both to gain club members and for direct sales.
03 Virtual tastings prove beneficial for niche groups.
While most de-emphasized virtual programs, fourteen percent of wineries grew the model citing success with corporate programs.
Tasting rooms rebound
In 2021, internet sales proved resilient, shrinking 1% but holding ground. Club sales dropped, relatively speaking, while tasting room sales benefited from new practices and exceeded their pre-COVID share of direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales.
Virtual tastings took flight in 2020 and crashed in 2021
With Zoom burnout becoming prevalent, 67% of wineries slowed or discontinued virtual tastings in 2021. But not everyone took that approach. Fourteen percent continued or grew virtual programs, with many citing success in corporate tastings and club signups.
Growth of email marketing
When we asked the question about list size a decade ago, the average email list had less than 5,000 names. Today, that has ballooned to more than 15,000, with an average email contact to case production ratio of 1.8:1.
Is by-appointment here to stay?
With business reopening, wineries who weren’t forced into offering the by-appointment tastings haven’t changed their model. While the rest of the wineries settled into either a mixed model or strictly by-appointment offerings.
Direct-to-Consumer Wine Survey Report Virtual Event 2022
The report findings were discussed during a live virtual event featuring Rob McMillan, EVP and founder, SVB Wine Division. Industry experts joining him included Paul Mabray, CEO, Pix; Jessah Diaz, Marketing Manager, National Brands & DTC, Rutherford Wine Company; and Leah McNally, Senior ECommerce Manager, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
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Written by SVB's Rob McMillan
As one of the US wine industry’s top voices, Rob assesses current market conditions and provides a unique trends forecast in his annual report. Project Lead: Molly Stichter
