Pandemic or no, e-commerce wine is here to stay
by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On
Eric Schwartzman: “The rule book was written in the 1930s, and it’s all out of date”
There’s e-commerce, and then there’s e-commerce in the wine business, and sometimes it seems like the two are completely different propositions.
Until now, says Eric Schwartzman, a digital marketing consultant and the author of “The Digital Pivot: Secrets of Online Marketing.” His take: The pandemic put the final kibosh on the three-tier system and its century-old restrictions that make it difficult when it’s not illegal to buy wine on-line. And, says Schwartzman, it’s just a matter of time until the walls come tumbling down.
“The rule book was written in the 1930s, and it’s all out of date,” says Schwartzman, who has seen first-hand the difficulties in selling wine over the Internet while consulting for a California winery during the pandemic. “It’s amazing that it hasn’t kept up with technology – and even for alcohol. If you can do that, everything gets easier.”
That’s one of the things that retailers found out during the pandemic, he says. Despite the handicaps they faced, whether legal restrictions or websites that weren’t designed for much more than browsing and showing Google maps, retailers found that e-commerce was more than just a bonus.
“I know I talked to retailers in many categories who saw what happened,” he says, “and who wished they knew more about digital, that they been to digital quicker.”
And wine e-commerce could bring retailers business they didn’t know existed. Says Schwartzman: “It’s all about ease of use. Consumers want to use as few clicks as possible. They don’t want to be hassled by popups or diversions. They don’t want a site that looks like it came from the dinosaurs. They truly do judge a website by its cover.”
As such, there is momentum today – from both retailers and consumers – to reform three-tier that may not have existed before. We’ve noted this before on the blog – and that someone from outside of wine has noticed the same thing speaks volumes.