With social distancing taking place and on-premise establishments shutting down, wineries and wine brands have seen a major drop in sales. Let’s be honest, even if restaurants and bars were open, people still wouldn’t be going in there, so the sale drop is something that we can’t really stop right now. However, this doesn’t mean that the demand for wine has stopped - it just means that the channel for demand has changed. People are still drinking, and customers still want wine. In fact, customers are stocking their homes up with wines now more than ever. As a business, you still need to sell for income, and how are you going to do that? It’s simple - you need to meet the demand and go to the channels where you’re bound to get sales as of now. That’s what sales is all about, supply and demand, so go to the market where the demand is.

The off-trade sector

Right now, the one place where sales are booming is the off-trade sector, which means retail. Since groceries are essential, retailers have seen their stores filled up almost all the time - and customers are not shying away from picking up wine bottles either. Of course, people are drinking, and they want to stock up.

So as a wine brand, this is the best time to approach retailers to stock up your wine. It’s not going to be easy of course, since they probably already have their wine lists ready, and a lot of different wine brands might also be approaching them, but you can do things a bit differently.

• Help out the retailer by making deliveries. A lot of retailers are making deliveries right now, so offer them a deal where if someone’s buying your wines, then you’ll give free delivery from your end, along with whatever else the customer is buying from the retailer.

• Promote yourself online and make your consumers want your wines. When consumers will ask for your wines at the retail stores, then retailers will have no option other than stocking your wine. So use your social media to create a demand for your wines.

Delivering restaurants

There are a lot of restaurants and bars that are delivering right now, and what you can do is a partner with them to push your wines as well. Once again, the demand for wines is still there - you just have to go through the right channel. You can push the restaurants’ food and delivery works, and the restaurants will push your wines. It’s a win-win situation for both of you.

• Help out with deliveries. Offer your delivery vans, especially when your drinks are being sold with the food.

• Push the restaurants on social media, and ask them to do the same. It’s the best way to get both your customers to see that you’re working together.

• Offer the restaurants solid deals and discounts on your drinks. Offer them cheaper cases, see if there is anything else you can do with deals and discounts. You can create food and drink combos with their menu as well as a killer deal for customers.

Self-delivery

As a wine brand/winery, you can totally meet your customers’ demands by delivering yourself. A lot of brands already have their online shops opened up, where customers can order directly, and delivery/pickup options are offered.  So you can have your online orders, and take orders through the phone as well. Your loyal customers will want your wine over any other, especially if they can easily get it through your website. To make your delivery train move faster, here’s what you can do:

• List your products on websites. The internet is very powerful, so find websites that show customers that you’re offering deliveries and pick up. Invest some time in listing your wines across different channels.

• Put simple ads across retail stores or maybe laundromats, like the old times. Talk to local businesses and put up simple ads like “£100 for a case of wine” and add your number and website so people can reach out to you directly.

• Promote yourself on social media. We’ve already spoken about this, but you can go full throttle on social media. Tell your audience that you’re delivering. In fact, you can even take orders through social media and offer delivery.

DTC channels

The internet once again steps in here. It can be hard to gain sales from your own websites at times, so registering with direct to consumer channels and websites that are delivering will help out a lot. For example, in a recent press release published by Naked Wines, they said that they’ve opened up their online store once again due to the increase in demand. So of course, people are wanting to order wines, and they’re using the internet to do so. Of course, your own website is always helpful like mentioned above, but registering with other DTC channels will help you out, and will also help you reach a whole new consumer base as well. People who aren’t your customers might also see your wines and order them. So it’s definitely a win-win situation for you.

Everything boils down to demand, and as a wine brand during a crisis, find out where the demand is, and meet those ends to perk up sales once again.