@martymccabe

The Growing Divide in Wine Sales

Impetus: “@TaliaBaiocchi: Costco’s Wine Buyer Doesn’t Think Wine Is Different Than Toilet Paper http://t.co/L6vwEPEx via @Eater / But seriously, she doesn’t.”

Premise: Just because a wine consumer will try (and enjoy) something different in a restaurant does not mean that they will have the inclination (and confidence) to buy that same bottle in a retail shop.

Corollary 1: Because distributors cannot logically depend on the aforementioned restaurant to buy anything vaguely resembling a brand, retail wine shops bear a disproportionate amount of the distributor’s supplier goals.

Corollary 2: With that in mind, the distributor has no incentive to show a retail wine shop buyer anything other than their biggest brands.

Corollary 3: A lack of emphasis on wine education at the retail level—especially at grocery and big box retail—makes a branded approach from the distributor the path of least resistance.

Corollary 4: Conversely, restaurant wine buyers, (a) are presenting a more diverse (and sometimes, more educated) experience, and (b) a more well-curated selection.

Facets of the wine business at stake:

1. The segregation of the “wine shop”: if grocery stores and “big box” wine shops keep dumbing down the experience with greater and greater numbers of branded wines, the “wine shop” will become the exclusive domain of the esoteric, in the absolute broadest sense of the word.

2. The rightful presence of quality brands in independent restaurants. Yellowtail may have no place on a wine list; wineries such as Antinori and Louis Jadot do.

3. An ever-expanding definition of “esotheric” and where those wines should (and shouldn’t) be sold.

4. As licenses for grocery stores increase in many states, “big box” liquor stores will almost certainly see a decrease in business from customers who attach no value to the shopping experience at a liquor store and simply consolidate their errands.

@encurtido, @sethgreenland, and social media’s influence on buying

I really enjoy reading Mark Haskell Smith.  In fact, I’ve read everything he’s written with the exception of his newest, Heart of Dankness, which I just haven’t gotten around to.  I started following him on Twitter.  He pointed out @sethgreenland’s great reviews for his new book, The Angry Buddhist.  I clicked on the review, and based on the combination of Mark’s recommendation, the good review, and the synopsis of the story, bought the book for my Kindle.  Also, because Seth’s first novel, The Bones, was cheap for the Kindle, I bought that, too.  

At this point, I felt guilty for not buying Heart of Dankness (check out Mark’s Tumblr page for the book), so I bought that, too.  Now, other than the fact that maybe I buy too many books, the point: in all likelihood, I never would have found out about Seth’s book if I didn’t follow Mark on Twitter.  I do, though, and about twenty-five dollars later, I own three books.

Twitter is free to Mark, Seth, and really, anyone else who wants to take the time and promote themselves honestly.  And yet, when it comes to social media, so many people (and companies) still don’t, “get it.”