If you’ve been debating whether 2026 is the year to invest in your gifting channel, it’s time to sip on these facts: Wine is inherently giftable — birthdays, holidays, corporate milestones — making it one of the best categories to capitalize on the massive, largely untapped online gifting market. The gifting flywheel drives new customers organically, since every bottle received as a gift is a brand discovery moment that can turn recipients into loyal buyers without spending on ads. Corporate gifting is a massive B2B opportunity that wine brands are perfectly positioned for, but most are still fumbling through manual processes instead of leveraging modern tools. Gifting reduces over-reliance on Q4, capturing year-round occasions like anniversaries, promotions, client gifts, and thank-you gestures to create more predictable revenue. Getting in early is a competitive advantage. Most wine brands haven't modernized their gifting experience yet, so those

Five years ago, running a winery on Shopify meant duct-taping a lot of things together. Great for e-commerce. Okay for DTC. Difficult for wine clubs. Not really designed for tasting rooms. That's changed. The combination of Shopify's platform investments and a handful of wine-specific apps has created something genuinely new: a single operational stack that connects your tasting room, your wine club, your online store, and your loyalty program under one customer record. That convergence has real operational consequences — and it's why an increasing number of wineries are consolidating everything onto Shopify. Here's what's actually different. Your Card on File, Finally Done Right One very frustrating limitation of running a winery business on Shopify used to be simple: Shopify didn't let you vault a customer's payment card and charge it later for anything other than a subscription — not from your POS or your back office or sales team for one-tim

Corporate gifting is quickly becoming one of the strongest growth channels in the wine industry. In this session, Jessica Luke of Jackson Family Wines and Jessica Smith of WineDirect Fulfillment share how wineries can capture this demand with streamlined operations and tailored gifting experiences. Attendees will walk away with practical steps to build or expand a corporate gifting program that drives new customers and year round revenue.  Wine Sales Symposium - May 13, 2026 DoubleTree Hotel in Rohnert Park, CA Learn More Speakers Director of Marketing / WineDirect Fulfillment  Director of E-Commerce & Email Marketing / Jackson Family Wines  

Online gifting is one of the fastest-growing ecommerce categories, and wine is right at the top. The truth is, the brands winning in this space aren't just riding the trend. They're building dedicated gifting infrastructure to squeeze every last drop from tis big opportunity. Wineries and beverage brands that invest in purpose-built gifting tools like Zest typically see significant gift sale growth in their very first holiday season. And those that scale over multiple years are seeing 30–75% year-over-year growth through channels like concierge gifting and self-service corporate gifting. Clif Family Winery is one brand that made the shift (and hasn't looked back). "Gifting orders were pretty much always high-touch and handled over the course of several calls and emails. Now, we can sell gifts while we sleep, which we see happen all the time!"  — Katie Taylor, Gifting & Subscriptions Sales Manager, Clif Family Winery Curious why wine keeps sh

The Post-Harvest Drop-Off Fall brings a flurry of activity to wine country. Tasting rooms fill with eager visitors, social media buzzes with harvest photos, and the energy is palpable. Then November arrives, and for many wineries, engagement plummets. According to Silicon Valley Bank's 2024 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Survey, the average winery converts less than 15% of harvest event attendees into repeat customers by year-end. This represents an enormous missed opportunity. The wineries that thrive year-round don't view harvest as a seasonal peak but as the starting point of a strategic customer journey.  Harvest Is Your Customer Acquisition Funnel Stop thinking of harvest events as isolated experiences and start viewing them as the top of your sales funnel. Smart consumer brands recognize that seasonal events provide a prime opportunity to collect valuable customer data while creating memorable brand experiences. These touchpoints become the first step in an ongoing relat

5 Ways Your Winery Can Strengthen Customer Connections (and Sales) This Holiday Season 5 Ways Your Winery Can Strengthen Customer Connections (and Sales) This Holiday Season The holidays aren’t just busy, they’re your best chance to turn quick questions into lasting loyalty. Today’s shoppers are scrolling on phones, not standing at the tasting bar. The wineries winning December bring tasting-room warmth online with guest-first DTC moves. 1 Real-time webchat Turn Browsers into Buyers with Real-Time Webchat Bring hospitality to your website: help gift-givers pick the right bottle, answer shipping questions, and keep carts from drifting. RedChirp integrates with vinSUITE, so conversations save to the customer profile for thoughtful follow-ups and personalized offers. Prompt ideas for staff: Who is the gift for? What’s the budget? Red, white, or sparkling? Favorite foods? Learn more: RedChirp • vinSUITE eCommerce 2 Segmentation Reconnect with the Customers Who

Everywhere you look right now—Hallmark Channel, Netflix, social media—it’s Christmas in July. And while most people are watching cozy movies and pretending it’s snowing outside, here’s a better question for wineries: Are you ready for your holiday season? October, November, and December (OND) are your biggest sales months of the year. Holiday winery marketing doesn’t start in October—it starts now. They’re sprinting through Q3—right now—while everyone else is still daydreaming about hot cocoa and watching Christmas movies… you’ve got rosé in your glass and wine bundles to plan. 1. Clean Up Your Data — Because Bad Data Costs You Money This isn’t just about removing bounced emails. Bad data quietly drains OND revenue by blocking you from segmenting, targeting, or even reaching your customers. Your Move: Export your full email list (now, not later). Use ChatGPT to help spot typos like gmaii.com in

As the busiest time of the year for wineries approaches, it’s crucial to prepare strategically for Q4 to ensure you’re capturing every possible sale. Whether you’re focusing on Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) channels or looking to expand your reach through events and collaborations, this guide will help you make the most of the holiday season. 📊 Analyze Your Data for Strategic Insights ☐ Dive Deep into Past Q4 Data: Review past Q4 sales data to identify trends in customer preferences and purchasing behavior. Understanding what worked (and what didn’t) will help you refine your approach. If you’re a new winery or your previous platform didn’t capture detailed data, focus on setting up robust data tracking this year. Use this Q4 as a baseline to gather insights that will guide your future strategies. Don’t hesitate to experiment with different marketing tactics to see what resonates most with your customers. ☐ Segment Your Audience: Utilize data segme

Have you heard the term Marketing Supply Chain (MSC)? We are all familiar with the traditional supply chain but what about a supply chain specific to supporting marketing needs? Event marketing, demand generation, customer advocacy and channel programs require constant logistic management. The planning, production, management, automation and distribution of custom items and event materials needed to support marketing and sales, as well as employee engagement and corporate gifting. ✔ Swag, kitting, distribution ✔ Custom ordering sites ✔ 360 degree event fulfilment ✔ Print and signage ✔ Professional project managers ✔ Real time reporting Almaden is revolutionizing the marketing supply chain is. Our solutions and service ensure that you, the marketer and program manager, have a stable, reliable process - so you can get back to what you love: creating & designing, building engagement, and supporting the needs of your teams. Learn more in this article https://almadenglobal

The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) State of the US Wine Industry Report 2024 and the 2024 SOVOS/ShipCompliant DTC Wine Shipping Report came out last month, and the picture they paint is a little hard to make out. Is consumer spending on wine truly up, or down? How much are abstainers affecting the market? Have trends stabilized post-pandemic? While we don’t have all the answers, we can share our own perspectives, based on our decades of experience with the industry and these reports—and we can advise wineries on how to prepare for the rest of the year, given these trends. We feel that the data indicates wineries should be paying attention to… Planning ahead for a busy OND (holiday) season, What weather holds and cold shipping could mean for sales cycles, and How data can continue to enhance DTC sales and the DTC experience. Strong OND Sales Could Mean Good Things to Come Both reports noted that DTC sales were lowerer in 2023. This made for an unprecedented second year tha