People aren’t visiting wineries. And the result is a spike in online wine sales.
Wine Enthusiast cites analytics firm Sovos which analyzed data from over 1,000 wineries and released a mid-year report:
“According to the report, nearly one million more cases of wine were shipped in the first half of 2020 compared to 2019, which equates to an additional $222 million spent by consumers to have wine delivered directly to their doors.”
That represents a 29% y/y increase.
Also per the report, Sonoma leads in terms of volume and growth, having shied 290,000 more cases with a value of $71 million.
Napa still leads in direct-to-consumer (DTC) because its wines are expensive.
More highlights from the Sovos 2020 mid-year DTC wine shipping report can be seen below.
So not surprising that COVID-19 has impacted the wine industry just as it has so many others — learning, work-from-home, gyms, restaurants, etc. The abrupt change has forced many e-commerce plans to accelerate. Long-term, when things eventually return to a new normal, I expect the new systems and processes being implemented today will ultimately help wineries reach new buyers, far beyond the traditional in-person tasting room business model. Hopefully net positive opportunity arises out of a challenging year.