6 Key Steps on How to Sell a Wine Effectively

Sugar, acidity, and alcohol levels are not just the factors that people consider to buy a bottle of wine.

Buyers also consider the factors that attract them without smelling and tasting the wine. Continue reading and learn how to sell a wine and the contributing elements that charm wine buyers.

6 Steps to Efficiently Sell a Wine to the Public

People have different takes on wines. While some likes grape wine, its sugar, and its acidity, some also hate the idea that you are buying an alcoholic sugary drink to look like a sophisticated drunk person.

This becomes a challenge to most wine sellers. They need to make and project the wine as appealing and enticing as it could be to convey that wines are worth buying and that it is not just another soda-type beverage with add-on alcohol.

But before these wine sellers successfully win the battle on how to sell a wine against those skeptical wine buyers, here are the necessary things that they learned and prepared before jumping into selling the wines in the market.

Step 1 Know your wine

Wines are not just wines. They have specific features and characteristics that differentiate them from other sets of wines. It could be their taste, aroma, acidity, sugar, and alcohol level.

As a wine seller, you must know the distinct characteristics of the wines that you are selling. This will help you to market your wine on all platforms possible efficiently.

Step 2 Know your market

Selling is not just putting your product in the store and waiting for a buyer to buy it. Selling is the art of communicating with the buyer.

It is a way of sending a message that they need the product without telling them that they need it. Thus, you must know your market.

You will lose sales if you don’t know how to tickle your buyers with simple and brief messaging.

Step 3 Invest in your staff

Do you believe in the saying, ‘Do not judge the book by its cover?’ If so, start to unlearn it because, in business, you need to have solid and enticing messaging to ensure that you get the buyer’s attention.

You must work with an experienced artist, consultant, and brand strategist to nail packaging.

Step 4 Secure all the licenses

Like any products you see in the store, you also need a license to sell wine. You can sell wines without these licenses, but it is always best to sell them legally – with papers.

There are two types of wine licenses you need to secure, these are on-license and off-license.

The former allows you to sell wines through in-premise consumption, like in bars and restaurants, while the latter allows you to sell take-out wines like those in grocery stores.

You need to consider getting other licenses on how to sell a wine entirely. Depending on how you sell your wines, you may also need these most common licenses:

Restaurant License	It doesn’t limit you to selling alcohol.
Beer and Wine License	Limits you to sell beers and wines only.
Tavern License	License for a wine-selling bar.
Commercial Hotel License	License for a wine-selling hotel.
Commercial Special Facility License	You need this license if you need to sell wines at casinos, airports, and other tourism businesses.
Community Club License	Get this if you have plans to sell wines in non-proprietary clubs
Industrial Canteen License	They are precisely drafted for industrial businesses in remote areas. The primary function is to allow the company to sell wine to its employees and guests.
Producer or Wholesaler License	This is a license for the wine seller who is both producer and wholesaler at the same time.
Nightclub Licenses	This license is for establishments whose primary function is to provide entertainment.

Also, you need to understand the law on selling liquor; if you are looking for someone to talk to who can help you know more about what rules and how the laws work in your state, we suggest that you contact the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC).

Step 5 Check places and platforms

Once you have everything ready, check the best places where you can sell the wines. You can tap the best retail wine stores in your area and ask for a consignment deal if they are not into buying wines. This is the easiest way to sell wine.

Another way to sell a wine is through online platforms. After the pandemic hit the economy, most businesses closed their physical stores, making them innovative.

Thanks to technology, most stores are still generating profit. The online stores and free deliveries saved most stores.

If you have plans to sell it online, you may create your website with the help of leading platforms and plugins like Shopify, WooCommerce, Expertrect, VinoShipper, and VineSpring.

Each venue and plugin have its strength and weaknesses. We highly recommend checking their features and benefits first before subscribing to them.

Step 6 Market your product

After securing all the papers, you must start working on introducing the wine to the public. You need to market and advertise it. Here are some cost-effective ways for people will remember and buy your product.

Offer free-tastes

To entice customers to buy your product, you must hit their weaknesses. This means that you must learn how to tickle their senses.

Do you see those ladies at the grocery store offering free products and tastes? Do you know why they are doing that?

Most companies believe that experience is the best marketing strategy for people to buy the product. As to selling wines, the best way to sell a wine fast is to let the prospective customers and shoppers have a free taste.

Letting the person taste the wine allows him to experience its taste which usually creates pleasure and a desire to want more. So, do not forget to give free tastes to the public if you want more sales.

Offer free shipping

The free-shipping marketing strategy is also crucial to your business’s success, whether you are into physical stores or online stores. It doesn’t matter which store type you have, nor whether or not you own a winery, distillery, or wine retail store.

People who are already interested in your wines have already 50% chance to buy it. Add some perks, discounts, and offers, and they will check out their favorite bottle of wine.

Advertise your product

Advertising is another marketing strategy where you will introduce your products to prospective buyers.

You may advertise your product through the following:

Print Advertising (Newspapers and Magazines)	Publicity Stunts and Humor
Direct Marketing Strategies	Outdoor Advertising
Guerilla Marketing Tactics	Sponsorship
Social Media Advertising	Online Content Marketing

Value your loyal customers

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to market your product. No, it is the most excellent way to sell your product. Do you know why? It is because people have reputations and credibility.

Suppose a person buys your product and tells another person about their excellent experience with your wines.

In that case, the person who hears that story will either accept the wine or say the story to another person leaving a bigger chance that the third person will buy the wine.

Thus, you must take good care of your patron or loyal customers. Give them perks, discounts, and offers solely intended for them. Thank them, and send them an e-mail marketing about the newest offers you have for them.

When is the Perfect Time to Sell a Wine?

Learning how to sell a wine is learning how to do business. And just like all those cookies and cakes you see inside the grocery stores, wines also have a perfect time to sell.

Aged Wines

For aged wines, you need to familiarize your wines’ ages. Most aged wines are best sold when their ages are divisible by five or ten. This is because most people buy anniversary wines that correspond to their age, birthdays, or wedding years.

Vintage, Classic, and Rare Wines

If you are into wine collection, you will understand that vintage, classic, and rare wines will somehow make a noise over the years. It is just like collecting the rarest car. For car collectors, the rarer the car is, the better it is to collect, regardless of the price.

Weather-bound Wines

It may be surprising that most wines are sold during summer.

It may just be another regular season to some, but summers are when people go out and have some fun! This is why most wine sellers are attracting more wine buyers despite the wine’s price.

However, the profitability does not apply to all wines in the market. Some limited, classic, and vintage wines you mostly see in auctions are left behind.

So, don’t try selling these wines during summer, as most auction centers are closed during this season. Selling those collection wines during this time may underappreciate your collectible’s value.

Conclusion

There are several factors that you need to consider when selling a wine. First, you must learn the wine’s distinct characteristics from its acidity, sugar level, and taste. Then, marketing and advertising will come into play. Apart from that, you must learn everything you need on how to sell a wine.