During the Covid-19 pandemic, we all learned pretty quickly to fall in love with our computer screens. They became the gateway to the world of socializing, entertainment, study, work, and business during lockdown.
Nowhere was the challenge felt more strongly than in the hospitality industry. Overnight, wineries had to find inventive ways of replacing in-person wine tastings with a format that would save their sales.
Enter the virtual wine-tasting event!
Wineries discovered that they could achieve the same and even higher level of wine sales with a virtual event. All that was necessary was imagination, elbow grease, a top-notch wi-fi connection, and the cooperation of an experienced guide!
Now that the pandemic has retreated, swirling that glass over the Internet is here to stay. In terms of profits, virtual wine tastings proved their worth when there was no other option. Now they’re a great complement to face-to-face tastings and, for a relatively small investment, offer revenue-generating opportunities that the former doesn’t.
Read on for the top five ways a virtual wine-tasting event can help boost sales.
Grow New Customers
First things first. A virtual wine tasting event helps you connect with new customers far and wide in a way that an in-person event can’t. In fact, you can gain new clients anywhere where you distribute your wines.
A remote tasting can grow interest in your wines and, when you have an e-commerce facility set up, generate some jaw-dropping revenue over the course of a couple of hours. If the idea of dealing with online sales during a remote tasting is daunting, never fear. An experienced virtual wine tasting event company makes this seamless.
It’s also fun. You can get creative with ideas for virtual tastings to catch the eye of new customers. Maybe you want to promote a new range of wines or simply revisit the finest of your back catalog. Perhaps you want to do a deep dive into your selection of reds or whites or cover the gamut of wine styles in your portfolio. The choice is yours depending on where you want to see sales!
Re-connect with Old Customers
We all love new custom but long-standing loyal clients who may not be able to drop by your winery physically also deserve a welcome nudge to remind them about your amazing wines. Keeping in touch with fans of your winery with virtual tasting events creates a sense of community and encourages return sales.
Do you want to highlight your vintage? Or how about a ‘meet the winemaker’ tasting? Your steadfast admirers get to remember you and tap into a ‘family’ of fellow wine lovers with a glass in hand while you benefit from sales without leaving your winery.
It’s a win-win and you can set it up in a few hassle-free steps. Trust in Taste has streamlined this process so all you have to do is select the wines you want to showcase, ship them to us for rebottling into small sample vials, and have your presenter ready on the night!
Brand
When Trust in Taste works with a winery on a virtual tasting event, the main focus is on selling your wines on the spot. We operate a dedicated e-commerce platform that runs on the night with your guests making purchases as they discover wines they love. The investment you make in the tasting can easily return ten-fold or more in one event (and we have the paperwork to prove it)
Who says it has to stop there though? Whether old or new, a virtual wine tasting event keeps your winery in your customers’ sights after the event as they sip and enjoy their purchases with friends and family.
A recent study published in the respected International Journal of Hospitality Management journal examined how “wine brand loyalty” was a result of “wine brand love”. The study encompassed Australia, Chile, France, Mexico and Portugal and included nearly 3, 500 surveys on this topic. Among other interesting findings, the study provided insights about wine company marketing that built on brand loyalty.
What’s more, the study concluded that “wine experience” experience was more important than “wine knowledge’ in building brand loyalty. What better wine experience is there than a tasting event?
A virtual wine tasting is the perfect opportunity to sow the seeds of brand love and loyalty. Such an event can increase the chances of customers ordering another shipment of wine when they’re through with the fine labels you showcased at the tasting – whether or not you have another event lined up.
Keeping in touch about winery news and new releases after an event can keep your winery at the forefront of your customers’ minds when it comes to stocking up on wine. After all, they’ve already tasted your fine reds and whites and love them!
Headache-Free Virtual Tasting Events
Since 2018, we’ve run thousands of virtual wine tastings with hundreds of clients and we’ve learned one thing. Most of you didn’t get into the wine sector to organize online events.
Luckily, we love it running virtual online tasting events and have finetuned an easy 3-step, headache-free process for our customers that we can talk you through in a quick call.
It looks like virtual wine tastings are here to stay so do your winery a favor and don’t miss out on the sales opportunities and brand awareness they offer. Cheers!
