Online market place launched to sell wines to would be foreign tourists
A new online marketplace hopes to sell premium wines directly to overseas customers, after the coronavirus pandemic put an end to international tourists visiting wineries’ cellar doors. Director Grant Rimmer said Wine Collective Direct will launch in February, providing an international sales channel for wine producers in the premium and ultra-premium wine segments. The initiative also hopes to deliver greater profit margins to wine producers, and even expand export markets. The platform’s introduction came at a time when online sales of alcohol were increasing, he said.
“In recent years, producers across New Zealand have invested heavily in wine tourism to reach high-end international consumers with a thirst for rare and limited production wines.”
Nearly 800,000 wine tourists visited New Zealand in 2019, spending more than $3 billion, he said. The disruption caused by the coronavirus border closures had badly affected around 300 producers that would normally host international visitors for wine tasting, tours and cellar door purchases, he said.
Wine producers can register to the marketplace next month ahead of an international roll-out. Markets will include Australia and Hong Kong initially and later Britain, the United States and others. Rimmer’s existing business, a direct-to-consumer wine export company called NZ Wine Home, specialised in cross-border compliance and distribution and would run the e-platform. Southland winery Wet Jacket general manager Alison Caird said many boutique wineries had relied on tourism and the platform was a great way to continue to sell to foreigners.
With the current lack of international tourists, Caird said: “We’re keeping our head above water, but we’re not swimming flat out.”Winemaker Steve Bird said 2020 had resulted in significant disruption to trade and Wine Collective Direct offered a new way to sell its product. Bird produced wines under the Steve Bird Wines and Manu brands, with 97 per cent of its wine exported to major distributors.
“Wine collective direct has bolted on the e-commerce platform to that existing service and refined it. It’s a one-stop-shop, logistical solution for freight, tax and compliance. ”Rimmer said such a platform had been needed for a while, but the events of 2020 had accelerated the urgency for rapid development. The platform would host branded digital cellar doors, effectively microsites, and marketing support for each wine producer that registered.
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