Having read about the pending closure of a Dublin wine shop, an article on the demise of the independent bookshop by Peter Merholz, and the perennial problem of commoditisation, I began thinking about parallels with the wine world.
On the demise of the independent bookshop
From Peter Merholz over on the Adaptive Path blog and the demise of the independent bookstore (Cody’s in San Francisco).
They stuck with an outdated 20th (19th?) century notion of being a collection of shelves filled with books, and didn’t embrace the 21st century reality of providing a distinct experience that connects with their customers.
Blaming the customer
From an independent Irish wine retailer:
From a retail point of view, it has become more evident that alot of customers don’t appreciate the differences between a specialist wine shop and your run of the mill supermarket. While I very much hope to stay on working in the wine business, I have strong concerns that shops such as mine will struggle to survive as the large multiple retailers continue to use alcohol as a loss leader.
This seems to be a common enough scenario, with Peter Merholz’s article on bookstores also featuring the selfish customer,
the tenor of the discussion around these failing stores places blame on the customers who no longer shop there (or who never did).
While I sincerely sympathise with the situation above, I take issue with blaming the customer for the demise of the business and the inability to adapt to new challenges (doing the same thing as you’ve always done and expecting a different result).
Granted, there are huge challenges facing the small independent shop, whether it’s a small grocery or wine shop against the virulent sprawl of Londis, Spar and Centra convenience stores or the supermarkets.
Darwin: adaptation is the key to survival
How can a small retailer compete with large supermarkets (and uninformed customers)?
Cody’s never offered comfy chairs or coffee. It never tried to be a destination. It just did the same thing it always did.
If bookshops should be creating a “desirable literary experience”, surely wine shops can also dare to be different by creating a desirable destination.
It’s not easy creating new customers andn even better, creating loyal fans.
So, what can wine shops do about the challenges they face? To me, it’s a case of adopting small but evolutionary changes:
- Take an interest in every customer that comes to your shop
- Always have a few open bottles in your shop
- Offer free wine lectures from your shop (so people can buy)
- Offer wine cards to get people to try different grapes or wines from around the world
- Start a local wine club
- Write a book on wine (for non-wine people)
- Sponsor the wine at a small non-wine event
- Offer wine tastings in company’s offices
- Get on YouTube, Facebook etc.
Case study: Enowine, Dublin
One small example is Enowine in Dublin’s IFSC. Everyday, Enowine, a shop I genuinely enjoy going to, has up to 40 wines available for tasting from their Enomatic system. This is not just a shop, but a destination with comfy sofas, books and magazines on wine.
Of course, some may say they are “preaching to the converted” i.e. wine people but they offer a different experience to any other wine shop I’ve been to in Dublin..
Case study: Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV
Gary Vaynerchuk is a great case study in how he has evolved his business using innovation, 21st century thinking and some plain common sense.
- Not reading trends, but talking to every customer that came in the door.
- Not playing in the playground that you’re supposed to – i.e. not swimming around in wine circles the whole time.
His interview on the “Big Idea”, (CNBC) is worth a look.
Huge opportunities
There are huge opportunities to reach new customers in person and online yet most of the main players in Ireland have yet to catch on.
A wine shop owner recently asked why I was blogging. I gave a predictable answer,
“You’ve asked the wrong question. It shouldn’t be why I’m blogging about wine, but why you aren’t“.
Of course, there are some already daring to be different.
Lar,
This is a really good and interesting post. Who are the independent wine retailer that are closing down?
I really don’t think the issue is with the consumer at all and find this remark (From a retail point of view, it has become more evident that a lot of customers don’t appreciate the differences between a specialist wine shop and your run of the mill supermarket. While I very much hope to stay on working in the wine business, I have strong concerns that shops such as mine will struggle to survive as the large multiple retailers continue to use alcohol as a loss leader) quite objectionable, for many of the same reasons that you have noted above.
I don’t think that the independents are in direct competition with the supermarkets and shouldn’t even bother trying to complete head on with them as they will always lose. There is more to wine than it’s alcoholic content and the price associated with that. The products held by independents should be quite different than those held by the supermarkets. The independents should be glad that the likes of Tesco haven’t taken the Irish market as seriously as they have the British market (where they have totally restructured their fine wine section to take in the big merchants head on) as they have a serious competitive advantage if they have the motivation to exploit it.
There is a serious requirement with independents to differentiate themselves and engage customers. The biggest problem that I find with independents is their pricing can sometimes seem completely out of synch with reality. They should be able to produce a wine at every price point that will be a better more interesting drink than that of the supermarkets (who for the most part buy high volume commercial wines). Unfortunately this isn’t always the case. When you start to consider wines available through online sources some of the independent pricing because seriously questionable. In the current climate and perhaps always in an Irish mindset is a certain search for value. If we feel ripped off we will take offence and perhaps never visit a shop again. Independents should also be able to deliver a much higher level of personal service than the supermarkets. Unfortunately this also isn’t always the case… I think where the serious competition is for the independents is online.
Take the following example:
Whilst browsing a certain wine shop yesterday I saw a bottle of Champagne that I recognized on sale for €40. The shop was being manned by 3 young guys, who had music blaring and they were sitting around regaling tales of the previous nights endeavours, they didn’t engage me once in my 5 minutes in the shop. I wasn’t sure exactly what cuvee this was so I went home to have a look online. What I noticed online was that the average price for this wine was ~€20, and if I wished to buy a case I could get it shipped to Ireland for ~€30/bottle!! What motivation have I to return to this shop who are charging over the odds and not actually offering any kind of service of note?
Anyway, I’ll pull up here as this reply is getting a little long. Apologies for the rant.
Cheers,
Will
All very interesting stuff indeed, and thanks Lar for putting together the research. If Taste of Cork leaves me alone sufficiently, I hope to put up some thoughts, for what they’re worth, on the matter on Saturday.
Julian,
It would be very interesting to hear your perspective on this! I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Cheers,
Will
Ditto, Julian, would love to hear your thoughts.
I’ve some follow up thoughts that I’ll try and put down too. Enjoy the Taste of Cork. Hope the sun comes out.
The weather here was biblical (old testament) this morning.
Lar
I am going to make a reply to this in due course. Promise
Hi Sour Grapes,
who is closing down? High chance of big shake up in our business in the next 12 months – it is shaky enough at the best of times! Anyway, my musings are now newly on https://www.onthegrapevineblog.blogspot.com – would like your views on the scribblings of a blogging virgin…
Great to see another Irish wine blogger, Gabriel.
[...] but the blog has only just come to my attention, thanks to Gabriel’s joining the debate at Sour Grapes. Here’s the [...]
Pardon me for being so simple, but I have to interject that small can be beautiful and successful: if it has something to differentiate it. Tradition is not differentiation, it is a long pier and a pair of great walking shoes all laced up. Obviously if the person running the business thought they were a corner shop competing with Tesco’s, than clearly they never stood a chance. Strictly a case of poor vision, and not necessarily bad performance nor lack of effort or nor ability.
Sure one can have a lot to offer based upon one’s experience and history, but let’s get real people quaint tradition must be maintained as adamantly as any new venture just opening up. If the trouble with normal is it always gets worse, than the trouble with comfortable is that it always disappoints.
I have has precisely the opposite experience and began a lot smaller indeed with three barrels of wine. I began, a cliche I know, in the garage and for six years now and have never not had a growing following that came to me [adamantly] and insisted upon my growing the business. Not only have they always bought all the wine I can make, and insisted in my making more, they have insisted by buying futures. Almost a quarter of my 2008 wines, still in the barrel, are sold for delievery in March. I am the smallest winery in Chile and to my knowledge the only one ever to have sold futures.
Break the molds people. Swap dance cards once in a while, drive a different route, try a new perspective. Small is great if one can see…
djmk,
https://www.garagewineco.cl
Hi Derek,
thanks for the comment. I checked out your site and it looks as if you have something great going on in Maipo. Keep it up, and hopefully we’ll see your wines on the shelves of some small Irish wine shops.
Lar
I’ve worked very hard on an answer and failed. I can’t separate my personal views (bitter, benighted) from what I’d like to say in a professional capacity. I think the independents as a species, in books, wine, or whatever, will survive, probably irrespective of whether they jump through all the hard-work, up-to-the-minute hoops that are recommended for the good of their health. This is not to say that there will not be many painful individual casualties along the way – most people do not care about what’s important in a book(shop) or in a wine(shop), and see bang per buck-led business as just plain better in every way than the particularities of this or that specialist (whatever they *say*).