Due to the pandemic and the associated lockdowns, only a few tastings could take place at wineries last year. However, since wine tastings play a significant role in direct sales and account for a large share of the annual turnover of many wineries, an alternative had to be found: online wine tastings. This tool was used worldwide to compensate for the losses caused by Covid 19. The pandemic forced both consumers and producers to adapt their behaviour and find alternative ways to communicate. The study presented here provides insight into how wineries around the world have engaged with online wine tasting and how this innovative online tool can help overcome the crisis.
The study
The survey took place within the framework of an international cooperation between Geisenheim University and Winetourism.com. The study aimed to provide an overview of the current state of online wine tasting around the world and to find out how it can be carried out successfully. In January 2021, a total of 1,423 wineries from 42 countries participated in a large-scale online survey. Most of the responding wineries came from the traditional wine countries Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Austria. German and Italian wineries together accounted for about half of all respondents. However, wineries from the "New World," such as the USA, Australia or Chile, also participated in the study. In terms of company size, there was a wide range among respondents from small to large wineries. This made it possible to examine differences between individual countries as well as different farm sizes.
Share of wineries with and without online wine tastings
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many wineries were looking for alternatives to compensate for cancelled events. Conducting online wine tastings was a popular tool and the phenomenon experienced a significant upswing due to the pandemic. Figure 1 shows the main themes of the survey. Of the 1,423 participating wineries, 39% offered online wine tastings. Of those, 92% cited the 2020 Corona lockdown as the primary reason. Accordingly, it can be claimed that digital wine tastings were a response to the Covid pandemic. In further questions, wineries with and without online wine tastings were analysed separately in order to shed light on the reasons for and against this virtual event. As mentioned above, differences between countries were considered as well. For example, more than half of the German wineries in the survey offered online wine tastings ˗ an above-average share compared to the other countries. This can be explained by the fact that a large part of the clientele of German wineries is located in their own country. This makes it much easier to communicate with these consumers and attract them to an online event. Also, shipping within Germany is easier to organize. In addition, Wines of Germany and major German newspapers such as Der Spiegel and the FAZ picked up on the topic, which brought it a lot of attention and increased interest among end consumers. In other countries, the situation was somewhat different: while Spain and the USA – like Germany – had an above-average share of online wine tastings, only 19% of the surveryed French wineries offered virtual wine tastings.
The share of wineries that did not offer online wine tastings amounted to 61% of all respondents. This includes the slow starters who still need some time to adapt, wineries that are still somewhat skeptical about this online tool, and those that reject this type of event because they consider it unsuitable for them.
Reasons for online wine tasting
The answers to the question about the reasons for offering online wine tastings are very complex and evenly distributed (Figure 2). As online wine tastings are still a relatively new distribution channel for most wineries, there is great uncertainty about the benefits they can expect from this modern tasting method. Figure 2 shows that most wineries see online wine tasting as a universal tool to achieve different goals at the same time.
In a country-by-country comparison, it was found that German businesses see online wine tastings primarily as a substitute for cancelled events and for winning new customers. Respondents from Germany, Portugal and the USA also want to increase direct purchases with the help of digital tastings in order to compensate for the losses caused by the pandemic in the short term. On the other hand, wineries from Italy, Spain, and Austria would primarily like to increase their brand awareness through online events. The most significant difference in terms of farm size was found between small (<10 hectares) and large wineries (>60 hectares): while larger wineries primarily wanted to increase their marketing value and brand awareness, small wineries mainly aimed to attract new customers and increase direct sales. These results of the small wineries can generally be transferred to Germany. This is partly due to the fact that the proportion of small farms in Germany was above average.
Reasons against online wine tasting
About two-thirds of the wineries surveyed have not yet organised online wine tastings (61%). The reasons given varied widely: the wineries' biggest concern was that the demand for such events was too low and, thus, not enough customers would participate. The second most important reason was that the wineries simply do not have capacity (e.g. staff) to organise and conduct online wine tastings. In addition, one of five wineries indicated that they were not interested in online wine tastings or that this type of event did not fit their company philosophy.
Basic characteristics, technical dimensions
Figure 3 shows the technical dimensions (number, length, participants and platforms) in four diagrams. The first diagram deals with the number of online wine tastings offered. Almost 90% of the participating wineries held less than 21 online wine tastings. Most held only up to five (54%). This suggests that most wineries do not see online wine tasting as a core element but as an additional service that they wanted to at least try out. The majority of online wine tastings took either 30-60 minutes (38%) or 60-90 minutes (29%). In terms of the number of participants, the majority of wineries (73%) held smaller events with a maximum of 20 participants. However, 11% of the wineries surveyed held tastings with more than 40 participants. This shows how high the potential for online wine tastings is. These high numbers of participants are hardly possible with physical wine tastings at the winery. Diagram 4 clearly shows that Zoom, with 62%, is the most important worldwide platform for hosting online wine tastings. This shows once again how much this platform has benefited from the pandemic. Zoom's dominance in online wine tasting can be explained by its user-friendly operation and the fact that no installation is required for participants. At the same time, the platform offers good video and audio quality with clear functions and special rights for the moderator, which can be useful during an online wine tasting.
Profitability
The survey revealed that only very few wineries (6%) that organised online wine tastings saw them as unprofitable. In contrast, 56% of the wineries saw them as profitable. Online wine tastings help to overcome the crisis and are an additional service that is well received by customers. From a winery perspective, it saves time, e.g. for setting the table and washing glasses. In addition, sustainability aspects play a role, as no travelling is necessary, thus reducing the consumer's CO2 footprint.
Those who would like to carry out an online wine tasting profitably will find helpful aspects on the right-hand side of Figure 5. Here it can be seen that as many sales and marketing channels as possible should be used in order to achieve a broad reach and thus address enough interested people. This is confirmed by the fact that online wine tastings are more profitable the larger the number of participating consumers. Winemakers should also take as much time as possible and organise longer online wine tastings. Another key aspect of profitability is the focus on end consumers (B2C).
There are significant differences among the countries in terms of profitability. For example, the wineries from Germany and the USA reported the biggest profits. These were precisely the countries that pursued an increase in turnover as one of their main objectives. Furthermore, most wineries in these two countries had concentrated on wine tastings with end consumers. In contrast, wineries from Austria and France, which focused mainly on business partners (B2B), did not achieve a monetary advantage with online wine tastings – however, presumably short term monetary benefits in these cases was not the primary aim of the wineries. B2B-focused events could replace wine fairs, but could also be very important for wineries with a large export share. These wineries often invite buyers to present the wines of the new vintage. Usually, these meetings are combined with negotiations. Such online B2B wine tastings could thus be considered as a means of generating profit in the medium or long term, but not with the online event itself.
Do online wine tastings have a future?
Figure 5 shows that most of the wineries that have organised online wine tastings are very satisfied and want to continue offering them in the future. Only 3% of the wineries want to stop organising online wine tastings. Of the wineries that have not organised such online events so far, as many as 80% are considering doing so in the future. This suggests that interest in online wine tastings will continue to grow. After all, they are easy to organise and do not pose a major technical challenge if the necessary equipment is available. They are excellent for attracting new customers, usually in combination with social media channels, which in turn can generate a higher number of followers.
Due to the pandemic, online wine tastings have become more common. Our results show that they are likely to remain relevant. Once the lockdown is over, there may be a decrease in online events as the willingness to travel increases, but of course, this will not stop the growth of digital services. At this point, it is worth mentioning that many people associate a visit to a winery with an experience that seems difficult to replace digitally. However, one of the most important target groups of future online tastings are people who cannot or do not want to travel to wineries physically. Here, the customer base can be expanded. Likewise, digital tastings are a good solution for international business relations in the B2B sector ˗ this way, work can be done in a more environmentally friendly and time-saving manner, even if one has to do without classic face-to-face meetings.
Summary
Online wine tastings seem to be a suitable tool to fill the gap of physical wine tastings resulting from the Corona-induced lockdown. However, there are some critical points that should be considered when planning such an online event: first, video and audio technology that is not very costly but suitable is required. Wineries should consider whether it makes sense for them to use service providers for online wine tastings or whether they should build up their own technical expertise. For contacting potential participants, a well-maintained Customer Relationship Management system could be of great importance. Otherwise, the wineries will have to make "cold calls" to win unknown customers. Apart from the digital setting, the content of the tasting and the interaction with the end customers during an online wine tasting are pretty similar to those of classic wine tastings. Both investment and advertising costs are low and do not represent a significant risk for the wineries.
The new marketing opportunities offered by online wine tastings pick up on the megatrend of digitalisation, which was accelerated by the pandemic. Online wine tastings offer a way for wineries to communicate with their customers personally via digital platforms. Many of these platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, are among the widest-reaching social media sites in the world. This allows many businesses to build their brand and effectively interact with their customers. Online wine tastings have attracted many new private customers for wineries and have become a promising, media-rich tool for most wineries.
Through online wine tastings, customers are now able to book individual or group tastings without physically being at the wineries. This expands the product range of the wineries and, at the same time, creates value for the customers, resulting in a positive impact on the wineries' revenues. Online wine tastings offer additional chances to sell wine directly to the customers ˗ for the event itself and in the form of repeat orders. There is a high probability of leaving a positive impression on customers and generating important word-of-mouth effects through online wine tastings.
