Are you a virtual vino?

The traditional tale of the vineyard is evolving and taking on an exciting new technological twist. But with this comes the challenge of taking an experience that is very reliant on all one’s senses into the digital world. South Africa’s embrace of wine eCommerce industry has been relatively slow. Still, various emerging technologies continue to improve our direct-to-consumer sales to meet the fast and unrelenting rise of customer interest and demand.

Numerous wine merchants are now available on-line marketing the remarkable wines that populate their cellars to consumers. Added value on these sites includes information about various investment perspectives such as education about the winemakers, wine farms, varietals, events and most importantly, their special offers. Their high-end experience is equivalent to the premium wines and most excitingly, the algorithms to match customers with products based on their preferences and tastes. They challenge the traditional wine farms to step-up, and those that rise to the challenge succeed in securing the on-line savvy shopper.

Unfortunately, many South African winery websites lack the same sophisticated experiences allowing new and returning customers to use e-commerce effortlessly. Yet, those who do may win clientele via excellent user experience instead of wine provenance. Ultimately, when fully embraced, digital direct-to-consumer sales can be the fastest-growing network of loyal customers. Furthermore, these allow the wine estates to speak directly to their patrons and offer their exclusive benefits, such as wine clubs and access to curated wines, not available to the public. It is a sense of singularity many a wine lover yearns for.

The physical experience of a tasting is irreplaceable. However, adopting digital disruptors and technological innovation for marketing in the wine industry connects a customer on a real level, and encourages brand loyalty and increasing sales. Done with genuine intent and unique content, it provides a simulated experience to those without easy access to the wine farms. This is furthered by offering education, explanation and detail information straight from the source, in this instance, the winemaker, both verbally and visually. Digitisation provides the convenience of purchasing without pressure or being overwhelmed by standing in-store, trying to select a wine. With the simple assistance of searching for the wine digitally, the consumer is exposed to the curated on-line experience, peer reviews and ‘instant brand communication’, simply holding the bottle.

The obvious next step in considering the logistical challenges of all eCommerce stores would be to continue to improve delivery and implementation services. At the same time, keeping our eye on how we can take better advantage of opportunities for disruption in production, personalisation and packaging innovations, especially with a global move towards more sustainable options.

The possibilities are endless, imagine an empty wine bottle exchange as a future eCommerce option?

Also, wine apps are changing the game of wine appreciation and offer the opportunity to learn more about wine, inform your choice, record your tasting experiences, find the best prices, locate both amateur and expert ratings and pick the best vintage. This concept of ‘crowdsourcing’ also presents the consumer with the opportunity to join a community of wine connoisseurs, experts and everyday drinkers alike, to share and exchange thoughts about every bottle. For instance, Vivino is considered the best wine label scanning application with the most significant worldwide community of over 34 million users. International wine magazine, Decanter has ‘Know Your Wine’, and acclaimed glass manufacturer specialising in wine glasses, Riedel too has an app. Locally, Platter’s Wine Guide has digitised wines in the palm of your hand. All of these assist you in becoming a potential Sommelier as you search, scroll and snap an image.

The design can draw customers to your products too. With technological advancements, such as augmented reality, labels now encourage these customers to interact with your products on a whole new level. Virtual labels create living wine labels. Each has a unique detail that will tell the required app to load computer-generated content. From there, users can interact with the newly generated augmented reality and ultimately, bring your bottle to life. It is an exciting way to introduce new design elements, unique ideas and the concept of ‘gamification’ to encourage engagement in an industry without the same speed of innovation on the client-side versus the latest modernisations available from the farm and cellar.

The use of augmented reality on wine labels is a relatively new development with two South African brands currently leading the pack. Cathedral Cellar is a premium wine portfolio offered by KWV. Once consumers have downloaded the specific app and scan their phones over the label, they can watch the winemaker providing notes on each wine and sharing their inspirational stories. The Mensa wine range — a major player among South Africa’s new-generation wine companies, has also moved to bring their labels to life, with a page through Mensa story and video of the innovative Helix cork closure in action.

Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash

Do you consider yourself a virtual vino? Here are suggestions to further have wine fun on-line:

3 Top Wine Centric Apps:

1. Vivino — Free on Android and IOS Vivino is one of the most popular wine apps that scans wine labels and provides details about the wine, including user and expert ratings, prices and features.

2. CellarTracker — Free on Android and IOS CellarTracker is the world’s largest collection of wine reviews, tasting notes and personal stories for every level of wine lover.

3. Platter’s Wine Guide — Paid for on Android and IOS Since 1980, Platter’s has been the wine lovers essential guide to exploring the world of South African wine, including ratings of over 8,000 wines and key winery information. The Platter’s app is your Platter’s ‘in your pocket’ and features all the new edition’s news and more.

3 Top South Africa Wine eCommerce platforms:

1. Port2Port — www.port2port.wine Offers an innovative and unique way of purchasing fine wine on-line by allowing leading retailers and producers, both locally and internationally, to sell and deliver directly to your door.

2. WineCellar — www.winecellar.co.za Established in 2001, WineCellar specialises in fine local and international wines, as well as wine events and cellaring.

3. Yuppiechef — www.yuppiechef.com/wine South Africa’s premier kitchen and homeware store. Yuppiechef’s curated range of wine offers something for everyone. From old-time favourites, to new and rare, they’ve sourced, tried and tested the very best of local and international brands.

2019 Veritas Young Wine Writers Competition of the South African National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) Entry —

*Media Article: Virtual labels and wine e-commerce: Technology will continue to make wine interesting. Virtual labels are increasingly popular and give consumers more options to buy wine without leaving their homes. An increased dependence on on-line wine purchases, the advent of wine delivery services and grocer shops that take orders for food and wine, all point to the growth potential in the field of wine trade. The author must look into various virtual labels in the market and how these affect wine e-commerce.*