Trends in the Tasting Room
Thanks to a survey by Wine Business Monthly, we know that trends for Direct to Consumer (DTC) Sales and eCommerce are changing, especially during the holiday season. In this survey, Wine Business Monthly found that average visitor counts in tasting rooms have declined for a variety of reasons. More consumers are looking for unique ways to engage with wineries, so the number of winery visits has dropped as customers spend longer at each winery, focusing on their experience.
In California, distance can be another barrier. In the chart below, there is a wide margin between the percent of visitors who live out of the area (noted by the blue bar) compared to the percentage of DTC sales (noted by the diamond).
The good news is that consumer's online presence is growing! Wine club membership is up by an average of 14%, and has increased across all markets.
With the holidays approaching and the weather getting cooler, more consumers are staying home and shopping online. It's a crucial time to stake your place in the online gift-giving market, and focus on your winery's website engagement and email marketing.
Boost Revenue with Cart Recovery
The holidays can be the busiest time of the year for you and your customers. Take advantage of the arrival of new browsers and those distracted shoppers by implementing a Cart Recovery program.You can use any of these three tools (or all of them) to bring shoppers back to your site, after they get distracted with holiday chores.
Automated Cart Recovery
Cart Recovery is an automated email program that alerts customers that have added items to their online cart, but leave the website before checking out. This software identifies those customers and sends them an automated customizable email. These emails are specifically tailored to bring that customer back to your site to complete checkout, which allows you to recover the revenue that would have been lost otherwise.
To demonstrate the basic workflow, Cart Recovery tracks data and activity while a customer browses your site, and then the system records what they've added to their cart.
While they're shopping, the system collects data, like the customer's email address. This can happen when an existing member that logs in, a new customer joins a mailing list, newsletter, or wine club, and when a customer starts to checkout.
Tip: Didn't capture that customer's email? The Cookie Pool Email Database identifies customers by using unique metrics that finds their email address if they've previously logged in to your site or other sites. You have access this database to search and share email addresses using vinSUITE's CartStack Pro membership.
If the customer hasn?t completed checkout within a certain period of time (ex. 30 minutes), the system will send them an email with your winery's branding, the cart items, and a link back to continue checkout.
Browse Abandonment Campaigns
Browse Abandonment works very similarly, allowing you to catch customers even if they didn?t start a cart. Since the system can capture emails site-wide, Browse Abandonment campaigns allow you to send friendly reminders to your window shoppers, noting items they viewed on the products and category pages within your site.
Just like Cart Abandonment, there are three customizable emails that you can send at different times to draw the customer back to your site. Escalating messages providing different offers can help promote conversion. For example:
- 1st email: Sent after 20 minutes - The message offers no discount, it is more of a reminder and lets the customer know you are available and willing to help.
- 2nd email: Sent after 24 hours - This message can create a sense of urgency, as you might be running out of a product soon.
- 3rd email: Sent after 3 days - This last message can provide a discount for shipping or the product, depending on your unique branding.
Exit Intent Pop-Ups
Exit Intent Pop-Ups are windows that appear on your website when a customer scrolls towards the exit button like they're about to exit the website. A pop-up will appear that offers a discount or a promotion to entice that customer to stay on your site and keep shopping.
Best Practices for Better Holidays
Along with adding a Cart Recovery program, these simple tips can help you succeed this holiday season.
Evaluate your email marketing campaign
- Be sure to send at least one email per month to stay in touch with your customers
- Be true to your brand and tell your story for a more personalized connection with your clients
- Review reports and statistics so you can fine-tune messaging and make them more appealing for customers
Have a clear call to action on each email
- Urge your customers to be proactive
- Include a link for an added benefit from any email engagement
Shop your own website
- Make sure your website is easy for customers to use and navigate - customers won't buy from your website if they don't understand it!
- Check your website to see if it's mobile friendly, responsive, and has the latest checkout
If you have any questions about these features, please reach out to your sales representative or our Client Services Team at support@vinsuite.com .