VinQuest™ 2016 Consumer Direct Wine Sales Report

Benchmarks & Best Practices for DTC Wine Sales

Windsor, CA – Consumer direct sales through tasting rooms, wine clubs and ecommerce continue to fuel the growth of thousands of small and mid-sized wineries in 2016, according to the latest VinQuest 2016 wine industry research released today by VinterActive LLC.

Based on their VinQuest™ 2016 survey of 224 U.S. wineries, VinterActive reports direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales continued to grow at a double-digit pace in 2016 and was responsible for the majority of revenue generated by U.S. wineries producing fewer than 10K cases/yr.

Key findings of this year’s research reveal:

• DTC Sales Growth Average in 2016: 11%
• Wine Club share of 2016 DTC Sales: 39%
• Tasting Room share of 2016 DTC Sales: 33%
• Ecommerce share of 2016 DTC Sales: 12%
• DTC share at wineries making under 4K cases/yr: 69%
• DTC share at wineries making 4-10K cases/yr: 57%
• DTC share at wineries making 10-42K cases/yr: 42%
• DTC share at wineries making over 42K cases/yr: 23%

By correlating DTC sales growth with channel marketing practices, this year’s VinQuest report shows top-performing wineries in 2016 profited by targeting high-end consumers with limited-availability premium-priced wines and personalized customer service.

“Private allocations, members-only products, customized wine club shipments and mobile optimized commerce were all winning strategies for DTC wineries in 2016,” according to VinterActive CEO, Bryan St. Amant.

This year’s VinQuest research offers a detailed comparison of tasting room, wine club and online sales at wineries of all sizes from 10 U.S. states. DTC technology trends were identified along with barriers to success.

The 63-page VinQuest™ 2016 Consumer Direct Wine Sales Report provides detailed responses to all survey questions and proprietary performance analysis by price-point, region and winery size – including detailed regional averages for Napa Valley and Sonoma County wineries – at a cost of $995.

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About VinQuest 2016
The VinQuest™ 2016 online survey was conducted by VinterActive LLC with support from leading winery associations in an effort to better understand the size and dynamics of the consumer direct wine sales channel. Now in its ninth year, VinQuest research has produced one of the largest and most widely used sources of consumer direct sales data in the U.S. wine industry.

Participating winery associations include: Napa Valley Vintners, Sonoma County Wine Road, Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance, Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Temecula Valley Wine Growers and Lake County Winery Association. Initial guidance and support was provided by Wine America and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

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