From a new study of 3,500 "premium" wine drinkers conducted by Constellation Brands (PDF) come this breakdown:
- Enthusiast (12%) - passionate
- Image Seeker (20%) - how it makes them feel
- Savvy Shopper (15%) - good wine at good value
- Traditionalist (16%) - track record
- Satisfied Sipper (14%) - comfort
- Overwhelmed (23%) - want help
If your winery Web site is focused your visitor, you should be thinking about how you are addressing each of these segments. How would each one of these visitor types react if they came to your home page (or more accurately, the most frequent entry page for your site)?
It's important to note that the largest category is "Overwhelmed." It's one of the reasons we recommend that your home page make a suggestion for people to follow. It's the reason that Vino100 is such a great retail concept for wine.
This is really a really useful report for any winery interested in making their Web site more effective for the people who visit it. In fact, I could imagine a page which asks "Which kind of wine drinker are you?" , where each of the six types links to a page which talks about how your wine might or might not, if we're being honest, be right for them (along with a suggested wine and a "how to buy this wine" link).
If you're only addressing the "passionate" wine drinker on your Web site, you may be missing 88% of your visitors. You gotta think like a visitor.
(one small note of caution: this study defines a premium wine as one costing $5 or more per 750ml - I'd hate to see the non-premium stuff!)
Certainly some categories are higher than others--like the "overwhelmed" you mention--but I'm surprised to see that each is as least in double digits.
Posted by: Adam DuVander | October 21, 2005 at 03:13 PM