If you’re a wine lover, you’ve likely been struck by the sticker shock of a wine from a vineyard you’d never heard of before. How much could it possibly cost? And why would anyone pay that much?! But, thanks to an innovative new company called Underground Cellar, those premium wines now have a chance to be accessible to more people than ever before.
You see, the wines offered through Underground Cellar are not sold at a discount. Instead, they’re randomized upgrades – you pay for a bottle, but it might be an extremely high-end wine that would typically cost much more.
This model is unique because it’s perfectly in line with winemakers’ goals to create premium brands that command a certain price. As a result, they don’t ever have to discount their products, and they still get people trying wines that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.
It’s been a while since Underground Cellar began selling wine, and already the company has amassed more than 1,000 wineries from around the world who want to participate in this “slot machine for wine.”
This article will explore the unique approach that Underground Cellar is taking to eCommerce and why its business model has been so successful.
How Wine eCommerce is Done Today
If you’re a supplier of wine and you want to sell through an eCommerce platform like Amazon, the average cut you’ll take is around 45%. That’s because it’s considered a high-risk business; many wines don’t sell fast enough to justify that kind of discount. And once they’ve sold, they’ll need to be marked down.
With the average wine costing a little over a dollar per bottle, it can be difficult to recoup costs for a winery. That’s why most of them do not sell through eCommerce platforms like Amazon; doing so would make them lose money!
This is where Underground Cellar comes in and is disrupting online wine sales in a major way.
How Underground Cellar Works
Underground Cellar works with wineries to let consumers buy their wines. However, when they do so, there are no discounts given on the prices. That’s because the customers are receiving randomized upgrades to more premium bottles.
A potential customer purchases a bottle, but it could be something much better than what they expected – maybe even something worth five or ten times as much! This is all communicated upfront, so there are no surprises. And since Underground Cellar works with multiple distributors, there’s a quality guarantee on all of their wines.
Of course, with that being said, customers have been pleased with the service so far. A few months after Underground Cellar started selling wine, there were already 400 wineries on board. Now, they’re sitting around more than 1,000 of them!
Underground Cellar hopes to disrupt the entire wine industry by giving value through these randomized upgrades. And considering how many people are now trying high-end wines that would usually be beyond their means, it’s succeeding.
If you’re a winemaker, you should consider selling through Underground Cellar. And if you already are participating, make sure to check out this review of one of their wines!
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