DW8 Growth, page-6052

The WD Marketplace actually provides more opportunities for type B restaurants to offer their clients access to off-the-beaten-path wines without being tied to a sales rep and their limited range. The sales rep's role as 'mini sommelier' to advise chefs on wine pairings does not have to be monopolized by a sales rep dealing with a limited range, or distributors per se. The platform by design opens up the opportunity for entrepreneurial individuals with wine & culinary expertise to step into this space as independent advisors (as one example) drawing from a bigger universe and working with the restaurant on a more bespoke and even seasonal basis. To a chef that offers more options to differentiate their product which should vary on a season basis for higher end places and that would also set the house apart, raising the ability to premium price their goods/service offering. I simply wouldn't discount the disruptive and adaptive possibilities as we've got too many other industries to see what may happen.

Take apart restaurant margins for example and where the biggest profit/item is made on a % basis and how that supports the rest of the business (it's wine and alcohol). Then consider how saving a few bucks will increase that multiplier further and the math speaks for itself. Yes, that's only one argument and some will continue to prefer personal relationships with their sales rep but revisit other industries that went from selling door to door to a more online-centric model over the past 20 years and there's a good benchmark of what is coming. I would also expect WD does provide some guidance to buyers on the ranges and more specific items going forward that help differentiate their site from just a basic reseller site. I bet there are also tons of former sales guys in other industries that previously said this will always be an in-person sales game not to be disrupted by tech, only for them to lose their jobs eventually as let's face it: cost (all things equal) is king for any purchasing manager/business owner.

I continue to argue that the Bidendum deal impact is not yet fully understood and factored into anticipated cases to be shipped as I expect that to be a key door opener with larger clients they have serviced for 10-20 years whom they can now offer an even wider range, and more value add. There will be symbiotic advantages that will play out increasingly over time. Likewise, that relationship will provide a case study for distributors as some industry dynamics will change -- no matter if it is WD or someone else disrupting it. It's not a matter of if, but when.