Key Takeaways
In the midst of the wine industry’s ongoing challenges, signs of progress are beginning to materialize.
01 The DtC model is evolving
Whether it’s new approaches to tasting rooms, pricing, marketing or experiences, wineries are reassessing their core strategies to help boost consumer interest and visitation.
02 Innovative marketing strategies designed for younger customers show promise.
Wineries that are successfully pursuing the 30-to-45 demographic share their latest tactics.
03 Today’s direct-to-consumer sales channels offer clues to new opportunities.
Examining wine club, tasting room and e-commerce metrics can help innovative wineries develop additional direct sales approaches.
Bottle price increases continue
The growth of premium wine bottle prices has kept up with persistent inflation, bucking the expected trend. Can it continue in an environment where discounting is often used to spur volume growth?
Ongoing tasting room developments
In 2013, our research showed that seated tastings led to increased average checks and conversion rates. We’ve been proponents of the by-appointment model–and the industry gradually moved in that direction. Today, falling visitation rates have led to a renewed willingness to embrace walk-ins.
Promising tasting room test results
We’ve suggested that during slower periods in the tasting room, wineries consider altering their tasting room pricing and experiences to target the aspiring affluent 30-to-45 aged consumers. A small percentage of respondents tested these tactics and encouragingly, 35% reported that lower fees improved visitation. Thirty-two percent reported that their tests needed more time to fully evaluate. The remaining respondents said the tests did not change visitation patterns.
Explore other SVB reports
Written by SVB's Rob McMillan
As one of the US wine industry’s top voices, Rob assesses current market conditions and provides unique trends forecasts in two notable reports: The Annual Direct-to-Consumer Wine Report and the Annual State of the US Wine Industry Report.
