With the busiest season of the year underway for wineries, we're taking a moment to reflect on the challenges and triumphs of 2020 — and look ahead to a bright future.
Credit: Kenton Gilchrist | Painted Rock Estate Winery
Hear from our clients and our leadership team how the events of the past year are shaping the future of ecommerce and DTC shipping.
2020 has been a tumultuous year to say the least, as we deal with Covid-19, economic uncertainty, civil unrest and record-breaking wildfires. In this environment we are reminded that who we are as a company is as important as what we are and the services we provide. We take pride in our commitment to our team, our community and our customers, and we are grateful to have shareholders who stand by our mission.
We take environmental and social responsibility to heart. We are more than just software and logistics. This is our fourth consecutive year supporting wildfire relief, from California to Australia. For five years we’ve supported Worldreader, a charitable organization committed to solving the problem of illiteracy. Since 2018 we’ve supported Black Vines, celebrating 10 years of elevating Black-owned wineries – a number of whom are our customers. We offset 100% of the carbon emissions from our fulfillment customers’ DTC packages, and in 2021, will offer foam-free packaging with a new, environmentally-friendly solution.
We believe in diversity and inclusion. Our team reflects this commitment at all levels of the organization. We invest in our employees. This means compensating them fairly, providing meaningful benefits and a clean, safe work environment. We foster dignity and respect and a path for advancement for those who work hard and are committed to our mission. It has been gratifying to see the growth and development of many team members over the years.
We are the Winery’s Champion. This year’s sea change underscores the need for wineries to focus on ecommerce. Online sales have skyrocketed and many of our ecommerce and fulfillment clients have seen unprecedented growth. With these changing tides, we’re enabling wineries to scale in a way no other DTC partner can. Since April, average order value has increased 29% over the same period last year. Along with providing our own DTC services, we connect wineries with new sales opportunities through online marketplace partnerships.
Our team and our footprint are growing. This year we’ve expanded our workforce to 250+ people including experienced developers and engineers, client success professionals, operations experts and seasoned DTC innovators. We provide our staff with the tools they need to be successful, and over the next two years, will open new fulfillment facilities in Napa Valley and the Central Coast.
We’re investing heavily in our ecommerce platform. We are committed to bringing wineries a best-in-class ecommerce solution and are thrilled to share the details of our product roadmap with you. Our continued platform and infrastructure upgrades – made possible with significant investment in people and resources – are designed to better align our services to meet our clients’ needs.
Your partnership is our lifeblood. Our customers are valued partners, and without you we cannot succeed. We rely on your input and support, and it is your needs that fuel our development and growth. From offering robust shipping incentives and absorbing peak season surcharges for our fulfillment clients, to supporting our ecommerce customers with the largest and most well-established success and development teams in the industry, we are committed to doing everything we can to empower you. We truly appreciate your business.
It is these values and principles that guide us, and our goal remains the same: help wineries continue to grow and prosper. We are the Winery’s Champion.
Joseph Waechter
President and CEO
Our team is proud to show you how much you can benefit from one truly integrated wine club, ecommerce, POS, and fulfillment solution.
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Not only did WineDirect Payments significantly reduce monthly spend on payments, it also gave the team back valuable time.
Our commerce and fulfillment services are trusted by 1,800 wineries to boost DTC sales, and while that number continues to grow, we pride ourselves on understanding each and every winery’s unique needs.
“WineDirect has been very good for our business on all fronts: POS, CRM, growing a wine club, managing our cellar doors & generally making us look more professional! It's a very sophisticated system that's always improving. We have super support & I can’t think of any drawbacks.”
Louise Hemsley-Smith, Battle of Bosworth Wines | McLaren Vale, Australia
“Our project manager went above and beyond to make sure we were ready for our launch. She is always responsive, always has a solution, and always replies within the day. She knows the system like the back of her hand and we are so lucky and grateful to have had her. ”
Kelsey Miller, Truett Hurst & VML | Sonoma County, California
“Our partnership with WineDirect is what keeps our business running and growing while keeping our staff and overhead low. We truly appreciate all of you and your hard work and cool, calm, and collected demeanor. We always have faith that our shipments will be packaged, shipped, and delivered correctly!”
Mandy Bauer, Caliza Winery | Paso Robles, California
“Our project manager was extremely helpful and took the extra time to explain things in depth, which helped make our learning easy. The training webinars and videos are also very helpful. WineDirect's care toward individual wineries and their needs was phenomenal.”
Mike Cook, L'Acadie Vineyards | Nova Scotia, Canada
“I found WineDirect's training to be immensely helpful by walking me through the steps to set up our wine club from scratch. I appreciated their personalized attention to my project, and tips along the way to improve our point-of-sale functionality. Thanks guys!"”
Kristen Ross, Anthem Winery | Napa Valley, California