Founded in 1982, Wine Insiders is a pioneering direct-to-consumer (DTC) online wine shop. For decades, Wine Insiders managed its vast ecommerce operation on a custom platform because it needed specialized tools to handle alcohol tax and compliance.. And although its home-grown infrastructure helped cement Wine Insiders as a leading destination for wine enthusiasts online, the brand was missing out on the latest innovations in DTC technology and app integrations that it needed to stay at the forefront of ecommerce. This changed with the announcement of a partnership between Shopify and the DRINKS app in 2022.
The DRINKS app allows wine retailers in the United States to have real-time tax and compliance fully embedded within a native Shopify checkout experience. With the help of its retention and growth agency partner Electriq, Wine Insiders seized the opportunity to re-platform to Shopify Plus soon after the DRINKS app launched. The team was eager to tap into the app’s valuable compliance features along with those of the many other apps and integrations within the Shopify ecosystem. For example, the team deployed Shopify apps to execute a subscription and retention strategy, enabling personalized email, SMS, customer surveys, and post-purchase campaigns with extensive automation and flows at scale.
Wine Insiders felt the impact of Shopify Plus immediately. Customers enjoyed a streamlined shopping and checkout experience with real-time alcohol and other tax calculations built directly into checkout, while additions like Shop Pay 1-click payments and personalized subscription wine clubs drove higher conversion rates, repurchase rates, cart sizes, and lifetime values.
Migrating an ecommerce powerhouse like Wine Insiders is a lightning bolt moment for the alcohol industry, highlighting that Shopify is safe, streamlined, and scalable for the largest, most sophisticated merchants.
