However, it is a constant struggle because of bills like the House Resolution 5034, which if passed will shut down direct to consumer shipping of wine. All the big wholesalers are supporting this, obviously because they sense the system recognizing their lack of real value in the supply chain. Thus, it keeps them in control and keeps all the margin in their pockets. They say its for safety reasons to prevent kids from buying alcohol, but we all know that’s absurd. How many underage kids are buying wine online? Yeah, the big wholesalers just genuinely care about the health and safety of people… I guess that’s why they are pioneering research proving the health effects of red wine and promoting healthy moderate drinking habits to maximize the health benefits. Oh wait, they’re not?

Free The Grapes is doing great things to maintain and further open the direct to consumer channels.  Check them out and support their cause to help the direct channel open up.

Related posts

• Virtual Sales Model
• Wine 2.0

The virtual sales model for new brands begins with Global Wine Imports, our partner import company, which will be the representative importer. We then hook Global Wine Imports up with our friends at Inertia Beverage Group to establish the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) and Direct-to-Trade (DTT) sales channels. Inertia will aid Global Wine Imports in setting up a merchant account for winery clients, which will capture sales and then disburse monies to Global Wine Import clients.

Direct sale shipments will be fulfilled through Wine Tasting Network (WTN), Inertia’s fulfillment and logistics partner. WTN also has a retailer subsidiary called Ambrosia Wine, which acts as the Virtual Retailer needed to legally process DTC sales. Note that in the beginning, the winery pays to ship wine to Wine Tasting Network warehouses and are paid on an extended contract basis. However, once the brand gains traction, Global Wine Imports will be able to buy the wine before the sale.

To close out our virtual model, we must incorporate Direct-to-Trade sales. For this, we follow the same model as DTC, only now we have to include a Virtual Distributor to pay taxes and take a small cut (about $3/case) on DTT sales. This Virtual Distributor never touches or warehouses the wine, but the transaction is on paper because distributors are required to pay taxes. We’ve embraced this aspect of the wine industry in order to bring in a major potential virtual distributor partner, which we’ll disclose at a later time.

So we’ve figured out a way to get your wine over here to the U.S. and get it sold direct without you having to deal with any distributors or retailers. You only have to talk with us and the fine people at Inertia. This is going to cut your costs and allow consumers to buy your quality wines for cheaper prices. The last piece of the puzzle is how your wines are going to be marketed and actually purchased by the consumer…

Related posts

• Wine 2.0
• Viral Vines: Setting the Online Market Ablaze