Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/267019
TASTING ROOM SUMMARY Ye a r- o v e r- y e a r s a l e s g r o w t h among participants was approxi- mately 13%, with the highest growth occurring in Napa County (19%). Conversion of visitors to mail- ing list averaged 10%, with higher rates reported on the East Coast (11.5%) and Napa County (15%). Conversion of visitors to club membership averaged 4%. The conversion rate was lower in the East (1.6%) and higher in the West (5.5%). The highest rate was in Napa County (6.5%). Looking at paid tastes (the most accurate method of tracking visi- tations for large wineries that are open to the public), conversion to list averaged 10%, with the high- est rate in Sonoma County (26%). Conversion of paid tastes to club averaged 4% overall. The rate was slightly lower in the East (3%) and a bit higher in Sonoma County (5%). The average tasting room pur- chase was around $60 overall, while the average purchase was $42 in the East and $68 in the West. Not surprisingly, Napa Coun- ty had the highest average pur- chase price ($100). o help direct-to-consumer sales managers understand how the performance of their wineries compares to others in key opera- tional metrics of business success, Vineyard & Winery Management partnered with the Bennett Val- ley Group to conduct the inaugural North American Tasting Room and Wine Club Benchmark Survey. Nearly 200 wineries – the major- ity based in the western United States and Canada – shared their tasting room and wine club data for the third quarter of 2013. That peri- od was chosen for analysis because it is one of the most important quar- ters of the year for sales – if not the most important. The tasting room benchmark is comprised of 10 metrics (see the sidebar on metric definitions), covering various measures of visi- tation, conversion to purchase, con- version to list, conversion to club and year-over-year sales growth. The wine club benchmark is com- prised of five metrics: club size, average tenure, acquisition rate, attrition rate and year-over-year growth rate. Following are highlights of the survey results. WINE CLUB SUMMARY Growth in wine club member- ship was about the same as the growth in tasting room sales: 13%. The highest growth rate occurred in Sonoma County at 30% for par- ticipating wineries. The acquisi- tion rate averaged 10%, with rates somewhat lower in the East (8%) and higher in Sonoma County (14%). The attrition rate averaged 4.5%, with a somewhat lower rate in the East (3%) and the highest rate in California (5%). The average tenure was typically 25 months across all regions, with little variation. Wineries that provided data for the survey received advance copies of the full report, including regional breakouts. Non-participants can purchase the report from Bennett Valley Group. E-mail ross@bennett- valleygroup.com for details. Ross Goodwin is managing part- ner of Bennett Valley Group, a con- sulting firm with offices in Northern California and Ontario, Canada. The company conducts surveys for win- eries, as well as high-technology and professional services firms. BY ROSS GOODWIN TASTING ROOM & WINE CLUB SURVEY PROVIDES BENCHMARKS OVERALL SALES GROWTH REPORTED AT 13% ACROSS NORTH AMERICA o m p comp 9 8 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a r - A p r 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m