A few years ago at the DTC Wine Symposium, a panelist joked about the modern winery website formula: the guy, the dog, the truck, and the vineyard. Beautiful backdrop, strong lifestyle photography, a thoughtful founder story. Polished, absolutely. Strategically distinct, rarely. The critique wasn’t about branding. It was about structure. Most winery websites aren’t broken, but they aren’t built as decision environments either. Calls to action are unclear, revenue pathways are buried, shipping surprises appear late, and wine club often lives in isolation instead of throughout the buying journey. After auditing winery sites across regions and production sizes, the pattern is consistent: performance is constrained by friction, not effort. Most wineries don’t have a traffic problem. They have a conversion architecture problem. Before increasing ad spend or launching another promotion, run a winery website audit — on your phone. Start at the homepage and move t

Wine clubs have long been the heartbeat of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) revenue for wineries. With dependable quarterly allotments, they’ve offered a level of predictability that few other channels provide. But as wine club expectations evolve and consumer lifestyles shift, managing them with outdated systems isn't just inefficient—it's unsustainable. The reality? Many wine club managers are still losing sleep (literally) over club processing. They're spending hours—sometimes days—navigating clunky systems that should have made their jobs easier. Instead of focusing on member engagement, personalization, and loyalty building, they’re stuck in a loop of manual tasks, system errors, and reactive troubleshooting. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s talk about why modern tech should support your wine club manager’s time—not steal it—and how Corksy is leading that change. The Burden of Traditional Club Processing We&rsquo

According to AI, ChatGPT specifically, AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in computer systems, enabling them to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. So, does that mean AI is going to take all the jobs? No… but it could mean those who don’t embrace AI will be replaced with those who do. AI should complement, not replace people and traditional marketing. If we do embrace AI, then how do we do so? And how do we avoid sounding like ‘AI’? First, play with it. Try things on a personal level like meal planning, grocery list compiling, finding a place to live, dating, health care, and more. Playing with it on a personal level is less intimidating for many. ChatGPT is NOT a search engine or a data storage but rather an effective tool to apply to our own data and find patterns or brainstorm beyond what we can personally come up with. To get

Overview The on-premise national accounts arena is one of the most complex, expensive, and time-consuming channels to pursue in the wine sales game — it’s also the most misunderstood! This guide will help set you up for success and shave months (if not years) off the learning curve.  Keep an open mind as you read; what most people think is required to succeed in this arena is entirely disconnected from reality. What constitutes a “chain?” When considering an on-premise chain, it should meet all of the following criteria Three or more store locations One central decision-making process Licensed to sell beer, wine, or spirits Using this definition, we at Andavi Solutions estimate the total number of on-premise chains in the US to be around 2,000 chains with a total number of stores of just under 40,000.  The indisputable attractiveness of on-premise chains Five things make on-premise chains a highly desirable quarry for selling adult be

Wine shipping and order fulfillment is a logistics game. And while the word “logistics” might conjure images of order picking, shipping tables, and trucks hitting the highway, it is often much, much more. The human element is what makes the difference between a frustrating brand experience, and an excellent one. A large part of that human element is what we call white glove service. If you haven’t experienced this kind of service from your 3PL or logistics partner, it might be time to consider a different way forward. What Is White Glove Service in the Wine Logistics Industry? White glove service is simply a company-wide commitment to providing customers with extraordinary service that is without parallel in the industry. What makes white glove service different from everyday customer service? It is not accidental or random (i.e. it is a conscious decision). It is not due to one or a handful of employees, but is an attitude that everyone shares. It is not an occa

The answer to the blog title is the point of the Annual SVB Direct to Consumer Videocast, which is taking place this coming Wednesday, June 15th.  You can sign up to receive the SVB DtC Report, receive a link to the live presentation, and a post-conference link to the videocast replay ----> [HERE.]  The past two years have presented us with dislocation and change that needs unbundling. With an expert live panel (below) we will take 90 minutes to discuss the current state of the Direct to Consumer Wine Business, and offer our views on what's coming next:   Internet sales from wineries grew by 500% when the Nation locked down in 2020. Internet sales are holding steady since the reopening. That is a permanent consumer change.  The change to by-appointment tastings for years was resisted by many in the wine community. There was always the fear that moving away from the walk-in model would reduce sales opportunities. But regional mandates required tasting room ap