It’s now 6 weeks to Christmas. Shopping trends, consumer habits, and social behaviors have changed for good in 2020, and this inevitably has an impact on Christmas sales. Here are a few tips and ideas worth considering for wineries wanting to set themselves apart this season.
Buying for others
The most important difference with how your customers previous purchased your wine is that you are now trying to capitalize on them purchasing wines for others, as opposed to themselves. Customer and club members may be willing to spend, While ultimately this still means buying wines, your packaging, and the pricing both need some tweaking.
Special Packs
Don’t rely on consumers to make up their own “gifts” or “packs” by browsing your production selection. Create a few packs each with a different price point or target recipients. Think of
- Offer packs based on how the recipient is perceived to know about wine: introduction to wine; wine discovery pack; a wine enthusiast pack.
- Create packs based on who the recipient is to the buyer; an employee that has not been in the office for months, a family member in a different city, a close friend they have not seen in months.
- Consider packs based on the purchaser budget; some may wish to spend 35, others 70, and some well above the $100 mark.
Bundling also allows dissociating the individual price of a bottle with the overall value-add of the pack. A simple marketing strategy to sell 3×25$ bottles for $70 or 80$, depending on your business goals.
Christmas wrapping
Considering most online Christmas sales will be shipped to the recipient directly, the purchaser will not actually be able to wrap or repackage their present. As such it would be wise to offer gift wrapping conscious of the occasion (Christmas, birthday, Thank You, etc).
Additionally, reusing the cartons received from the bottling line should be avoided. They have often been opened, sometimes resealed, and definitely thrown around a few times, and while “they do the job” they are also not representative of the gift nature of the purchase. (You wouldn’t offer a box of chocolate in a reusable grocery bag, right?!)
Packaging and Special Notes
Keep in mind that the recipient may not know your business or product. This is a perfect opportunity to tell them who you are and why this gift offered to make a difference to you and the person offering it. A clear offer to buy more when they run out of wine should be included.
A gift note may not always be the most obvious thing to write (online!) for the purchaser, and will always impress the recipient. Why not include one of your own, perhaps even on a card or event-specific material. A short, hand-written Merry Christmas on a Christmas card will not only be appreciated, but will also turn the gift purchased, your product, and your business, into the talk of the evening.
Bulk Buy & Club Membership
Most purchasing gifts often don’t stop at one. They have many friends, many nieces or aunties, or many employees. Seize the opportunity to offer a buy-3-get-1-free, or extend membership discounts to the transaction to encourage a larger purchases and club signups.
Additionally, keep in mind that offering a subscription as a gift is becoming more common, and also a great opportunity to launch a new club tier targetted towards gifting.
