Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a surge in retail sales online, rising 32% in the United States in 2020 [1]. The wine industry was no different, and every sign shows this trend will continue. For example, Mordor Intelligence estimates the wine industry will grow by just over 4% (CAGR) between 2021 and 2026 [2]. And SVB Bank expects that online sales will represent 20% of wineries’ revenue by the year 2030, from just 2% pre- pandemic [3].

Millennials are largely contributing to this rise in online sales, with 80% of wine now consumed off-premises [4]. This rise in off-premises consumption is further evidenced by the sharp increase in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sales [5].

If you’re already selling your wines online, these figures may not be too surprising. But if you’re thinking of taking advantage of the many marketplaces now available, you may be in luck. To date, 46% of U.S. retailers sell through online marketplaces [6]. That figure rises to 59% for retailers based in Europe. And with marketplace sales doubling within just four years, there’s a vast market for you to tap into and grow your wine sales [7].

There’s a seemingly infinite list of online marketplaces to choose from. They serve every need across every industry. In this article, we’ve shortlisted the 5 best marketplaces in the U.S. and Europe for you to sell your wines.

5 online marketplaces to sell your wines

Vivino

We start with the appropriately named Vivino. Despite its Italian-sounding name – perhaps a play on “vivo,” I live and “vino,” wine? – it was founded in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. With 52 million users worldwide via its app and website, Vivino styles itself as the #1 wine app in the world. Vivino ships to the U.S., Canada, Brazil, 12

European countries, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore. If you’re swayed by numbers, then the numbers are impressive:

• 14 million wines
• 1.7million scanned labels 
• 3,375 wine regions
• 236,534 wineries

Vivino operates a 5-star rating system in which its community comprising millions of users can rate any wine from 1 to 5 stars. They also provide a useful list of the 25 most rated wines. With 8 million new users gained in 2020 alone, and 2 million wines explored daily, you can’t go much wrong with this platform if you’re looking to export internationally.

The Vivino app is available in the usual Google Play and App store. In addition, they provide their merchants with a dashboard and analytics. Sign up by following the instructions here.

Drizly

Despite its “drizzly” sounding name, Drizly was created in 2012 by two friends who decided it was time alcohol was delivered directly to consumers, whatever the weather. If you operate in the U.S. or Canada, Drizly could be your partner of choice. The self-styled largest online marketplace for alcohol in North America serves 100 million customers in the region through its network of 4,800 retail partners. It provides a rich online shopping experience with personalized content and transparent pricing.

The numbers speak for themselves: 

• 180+ markets served
• 1,400+ cities
• 350% growth in sales in 2020
• 230 monthly orders per retailer on average
• 75% repeat customers for every retailer on average

Drizly provides its retailer partners with a suite of digital tools to help them succeed. These include:

• Training on the use of these tools A dedicated account manager
• A driver app to track deliveries
• Market insights through the DrizlyRetailer platform 

• Sign up online to get started.

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CellarLink

If you sell to the U.K. market, you may be swayed by the comprehensive features offered through the CellarLink Vendor Management Portal. It was initially established in 2008 to trade premium Australian wines. It now also sells French, Spanish, Italian, U.S., and other wines to the Australian, U.K, and Hong Kong markets. CellarLink uniquely caters to private and business vendors alike.

CellarLink offers a range of valuable services to businesses vendors, including: 

• Foreign company set up
• Bank account set up

It also offers fulfillment warehouses, a digital marketing suite (SEO, PPC ads, social media marketing…), and a full 360 analytics suite.

So, if you’re looking for a complete listing, sales, and marketing support in the U.K., sign up here.

Bid for Wine

If you like the excitement of auctions, Bid for Wine is the place to be. They offer three options to wine sellers:

The Marketplace allows private and trade sellers to list a wide variety of wines for sale directly to consumers. Bid for Wine calls this system “peer-to-peer” selling. Their proprietary software handles the bidding and allows buyers to communicate with sellers via a messaging system. Buyers pay only when they bid, plus charges and taxes as listed. It’s the seller’s responsibility to handle payments and shipping. The Marketplace also provides a rating system where buyers and sellers can provide feedback on their experience.

Featured Auctions are also online auctions. The difference being Bid for Wine experts have curated and inspected listed items on behalf of private and trade sellers. The items are usually stored in their bonded warehouses. They also handle payments and shipping on behalf of sellers.

Live Auctions are recommended for the most valuable items. They’re conducted every 2-3 months in a salesroom by an auctioneer. They’re also streamed live so participants can bid online.

Bid for Wine offers a free online valuation service and a premium fee-based service. Register here to start selling your wines.

Catawiki

Last but not least, on our list is Catawiki. Although it’s also a bid-based marketplace, unlike Bid for Wine, it’s not limited to wine or beverages. Instead, it describes itself as the place where 65,000 “special objects” are curated every week by 240+ experts – from coins and stamps to sports cars, to diamonds, to wines.

Catawiki boasts 10 million unique visitors per month, with 1.2 million sellers across 80 categories. Register online to get started.

The Bottom Line

Online marketplaces are a fantastic way to gain new customers and test new markets for your wines. Most marketplaces will provide you with digital tools for marketing and analytics. Many will also provide logistical support and handle storage, payments, and shipping. Our list is by no means exhaustive. You are likely to come across many more marketplaces. It makes sense you’ll want to list your wines on several of them at any one time. However, listing on each marketplace individually is time-consuming. Instead, use a marketplace growth engine to manage all your listings from a centralized dashboard.

Sources

1. COVID’s impact on online shopping (2021) Digitalcommerce360.com. Available at: https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/article/coronavirus-impact-online-retail/ (Accessed: August 20, 2021).

2. Wine Market (no date) Mordorintelligence.com. Available at: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/wine-market (Accessed: August 20, 2021).
3. The pandemic sends online wine sales soaring in 2020 (2021) Digitalcommerce360.com. Available at: https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2021/01/25/the-pandemic-sends-online-wine- sales-soaring-in-2020/ (Accessed: August 20, 2021).

4. Lukovitz, K. (no date) Marketing daily: Wine sales to grow at 6% per year; 80% now consumed at home, Mediapost.com. Available at: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/323360/wine-sales-to-grow-at-6-per- year-80-now-consume.html (Accessed: August 20, 2021).
5. Richard, K. (2020) Direct-to-consumer wine sales up $222 million, Winemag.com. Available at: https://www.winemag.com/2020/08/20/wine-sales-direct-consumer/ (Accessed: August 20, 2021).
6. DC Velocity Staff (2020) Online marketplaces seize growing revenue share during pandemic e-commerce boom, DC Velocity. Available at: https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/47399-online-marketplaces-seize-growing-revenue- share-during-pandemic-e-commerce-boom (Accessed: August 20, 2021).
7. Alaimo, D. (2018) Online marketplace revenues to double by 2022, Retaildive.com. Available at: https://www.retaildive.com/news/online-marketplace-revenues-to-double- by-2022/523738/ (Accessed: August 20, 2021).