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MANAGEMENT WINE WISE MARKETING Selling More Than Wine Gift items are important in the tasting room mix don't believe in taking away people's opportunity to spend money, and you should have that philosophy when it comes to your tasting room. While most winery visitors are there to taste and purchase wine, they often loosen their purse strings to buy additional items for them- selves, and gifts for friends and family. These friends and family members might not be wine drink- ers, yet they still appreciate receiv- ing a small (or large!) gift chosen for them from the tasting room. If your visitors are willing to spend their money with you, make sure you offer merchandise they want to buy. And big money can be made from the sale of non-wine items. The wineries I questioned about their tasting room sales reported that between 2% and 30% of sales come from goods other than wine. You can't afford not to have them. Of course you want increased sales and profits, yet there is anoth- SHORT COURSE Selling items other than wine adds another reason for people to visit your winery. Food items are usually good sellers, and visitors love to buy local foods. Determine the non-wine items you want to sell and reward your staff for selling them. Do your research so you can make an educated guess as to what may or may not sell in the tasting room. WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM er reason why thoughtfully selected gift items can be good for the tast- ing room: differentiation. Offering merchandise that neighboring tast- ing rooms don't can make visits to your winery more memorable and encourage repeat business. For example, in addition to wine accessories and wine-related gifts, Laura Neese, owner of Wenwood Farm Winery in Bland, Mo., also sells local antiques and artwork. Although she said that only the wine-related items sell well, she added, "The artwork and antiques make for a great market- ing presence." Not only are they visually interesting, they also imbue the tasting room with local color and flavor. WHAT'S HOT? John Tyler Winery in Healds- burg, Calif., and several other U.S. wineries mentioned that marble coasters are top-selling items in their tasting rooms. At Vineyard & Winery Manage- ment's Winery DIY seminar in May, two panel members in one session said that Capabunga, a reusable silicone cap that reseals a wine bottle was very popular at their wineries. The caps are available plain or with your logo on them; they're a nice little impulse-buy item, not expensive and easy to carry or pack in a suitcase. Corkcicle is another popular item being sold across the country. Cork- Elizabeth Slater is the owner of In Short Direct Marketing, a direct marketing com- pany that works with individual wineries and winery associations. sicle is a cork attached to what looks like an icicle. Freeze the liquid- filled Corkcicle and slide it into the opened bottle to keep the wine at the desired temperature. Wine aera- tors are still largely a novelty and selling briskly, according to the win- eries I contacted. Anything with a logo (except for polo shirts, which are rarely big sel lers) is a hot item. One winery staffer who wished to remain anonymous said, "I have found over the years that you need to brand-logo items. People want something that is a memory of the trip and the specific location they vis- ited." Jams, jellies, honey and other local foods usually sell well. Picnic supplies to be con- sumed that day and pre-pack- aged foods that can be taken home are popular. Be sure to offer samples of your edible items whenever possible; sampling boosts sales. Jenny Loges, tasting room manager at Elevation Ten winery in Clarksburg, Calif., noted, "Our Wine Wafers and Wine-A-Ritas are the best-selling items, but only when we have samples of both out in the tasting room." Some wineries are ramping up their food options for visitors, with A popular seller in many tast- ing rooms, the Corkcicle helps keep wines nicely chilled. SEPT - OCT 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 21 ELIZABETH SLATER