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Talkin' Tech

Talkin’ Tech is a monthly column in the Beverage Media that discussed issues related to ecommerce for wine stores.

Why Reinvent the Wheel? Sticking with an Industry Specific Solution for your Retailer Website

In recent discussions with a prominent retailer who was selecting an ecommerce solution for his store I was surprised to discover that the benefits of an industry specific solution for both his POS system and website were being overlooked. Part of the reason for this was the involvement of a project manager from outside the [...]

Have you talked to your Wholesaler about Interstate Shipping?

Have you talked to your Wholesaler about Interstate Shipping? We have a unique view of the wine industry at Beverage Media in that we work with retailers, wholesalers, importers and wineries to support their businesses. Of these industry players the mostly maligned tends to be the wholesaler who is hidden from public view and appears [...]

Wine Information: from Scarcity to Abundance

If you’ve spent time searching for labels and wine information you will recognize that access to this information is variable. Wineries and importers assume that you will come to their website where they may provide trade-oriented content resources. In many cases the information is missing, or more frustrating has been built into a flash presentation [...]

Is It Legal to Sell Wine You Don’t Own?

The concept of “just-in-time” inventory has become a hot button issue in the wine trade recently. Businesses that sell wines they don’t physically own have been attracting attention from state regulators, and other areas of the trade. The California Alcoholic Beverage Control (CA-ABC) issued an advisory earlier this year that has had an impact on [...]

Raising the Bar on Retailer Ecommerce

Over the past five years there has been a significant shift in the way we use the Internet. We have heightened expectations and want to interact with websites in different ways. The biggest trend that has impacted behavior is the growth of social media. The Pew Internet Project reports that 35% of adults [...]

Are There Still Opportunities Online for Wine Stores?

Has the Economy Impacted Online Sales?
After years of supporting wine stores online, I take it for granted that most any retailer can benefit from a presence online. So it was with some puzzlement that I revisited this question for a presentation at the Empire Wine Merchants’ Retail Seminar.
To be sure, the past 4 Quarters has [...]

New Directions in Wine Writing

It is sad to watch the demise of prominent local newspapers as they struggle to respond to the threat of the Internet. With newsstand sales and subscriptions way down, Rupert Murdoch announced plans to generate revenue by charging for online access to his newspapers, effectively hiding his content from search engines. In a similar move [...]

The Barcode has a Birthday

In early June the UPC code turned 35 years old. This milestone was celebrated in Orlando by attendees at the annual U Connect conference who shared an enormous birthday cake adorned with a bar code. Originally develop to help supermarkets speed up their checkout process; the UPC code has grown to become an international standard [...]

Does it Exist and is it Priced Too Low?

Ever since it launched as a bookseller in 1995, Amazon.com has been relentless in its quest to squeeze efficiencies from the fulfillment of online orders. One way they do this is to have distributors drop ship specific orders directly to consumers, working from a selection of inventory that Amazon does not keep in stock. As [...]

Containing the Cost of Online Fraud

Selling wine in this climate can be hard work. While some argue that consumers are drinking more, they are certainly harder to please. Completing the sale and shipping your order should be money in the bank, but unfortunately, some orders reappear unexpectedly, like a corked bottle of wine.
Chargebacks are demands from the customer’s bank that [...]

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