I want to clear up a possible misconception about The Winery Web Site Report. One of the first winery owners I spoke to when assessing the viability of my idea asked, "Do people really buy wine online?"
The answer? It doesn't matter as far as your Web site is concerned.
Now, before you decide I'm completely nuts, allow me to explain. First of all, you may not be able to sell wine online, depending on your state laws (although the majority of the 2,700+ US wineries we know about are in the so-called "reciprocal states"). Second, it may not make sense to spend a lot of money developing an online ordering system for your site. Third, you may already be in the fortunate position of selling all the wine you make.
But your Web site absolutely must answer the question, "If I want to buy your wine, how can I do it?" And someone who wants to buy your wine right this very instant should be able to get the answer within one click of your home page (I'm a big fan of a link labeled Buy Now on your home page). You Web site should be all about helping your visitor satisfy their need (purchase, information, ...) as quickly and completely as possible, regardless of whether you sell online or not.
And that's how The Winery Web Site Report evaluates how well your site meets the needs of buyers.
(By the way, Benson Marketing reports that wineries surveyed by MKF report just 2% of their sales come from e-commerce.)
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