The study noted that metropolitan area, liquor sales volume (a proxy for total sales volume), and cuisine type accounted for more than half of the variation observed in wine sales. The average Chicago and Miami restaurant in the study sold approximately twice as much wine as the California and Las Vegas restaurants. Surprisingly, the New York metropolitan area restaurants in the study averaged half the wine sales of those in California and a quarter of the wine sales of those in Chicago or Miami. Steak houses, seafood restaurants, and American restaurants sold approximately 25% more wine than Italian and French restaurants. Asian restaurants sold only a third of the wine sold in the average steak house in the survey.

These results have significant implications for wineries. Most important, wineries can use these results to target their sales efforts towards restaurants that sell the most wine. This will make the sales process more efficient. Wineries can also evaluate the effectiveness of the restaurant menu in selling wine, based on the results of the survey. Additionally, wineries can use this information to evaluate the effectiveness of their broker and distributor partners, as well as their direct sales force.

Using this type of information effectively can help wineries succeed in today’s challenging economic environment. With the growth of the internet, a tremendous volume of information is available at no cost to wineries that know how to find and separate relevant data from irrelevant information. The wineries that survive and ultimately thrive will successfully create small advantages in their business strategy using this type of information and then execute relentlessly and with discipline against their strategies. These wineries will be positioned to maximize their sales and profits when the business climate improves.

NAPA, CA (PRWEB) 05/20/09 — eWinery Solutions and WineCircle Consulting announced a new partnership to help wineries build wine sales and wine distribution. Wineries can now take advantage of WineCircle Consulting’s success building wine sales in conjunction with eWinery Solutions’ web services and direct-to-consumer marketing tools. This unique partnership offers wineries new, cost-effective strategies and tactics to grow direct sales and channel sales.

Led by Peter Grossman, former Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Manager at Beverages and More! (Bevmo!), WineCircle Consulting provides analytics, product plans, team assessments, and channel sales support for wineries seeking to sell more wine, further extend their brand(s) into retail distribution, and achieve sustainable sales growth.

“Many wineries offer high quality wines but cannot get to first base with retail and wholesale buyers,” explained Grossman. “WineCircle is uniquely positioned to help wineries work within the system and leverage their resources.” WineCircle works closely with clients to identify opportunities and deliver the right product offerings to retail and wholesale buyers.

According to Grossman, even in a down economy, retail buyers are always looking for the right products to replace slow sellers in their stores, and wholesale buyers are looking for products that will be supported at retail. “WineCircle helps wineries understand product mix and pricing strategies that meet these buyers’ criteria.”

eWinery Solutions offers innovative Web Content Management, CRM, eCommerce, Wine Club, and Internet Marketing solutions to wineries and third party marketers. eWinery Solutions attributes their success to hard work, essential insight into the global wine industry, creative web development and marketing techniques, and an adherence to the core values of innovation, passion, excellence, and mutual effort.

“Our focus combines expert wine industry knowledge with leading technology and service providers to help clients meet their business goals,” said eWinery COO, Ron Sharman. “WineCircle Consulting has the experience and expertise to help our clients achieve their channel sales objectives.”

About WineCircle Consulting
WineCircle Consulting is a marketing consultancy that improves wine sales for its clients as it develops product, pricing, distribution, personnel, and outsourcing strategies that achieve sustainable sales growth. The WineCircle Consulting team includes retail sales expert Peter Grossman, channel sales specialist Mike Sullivan, a wide-ranging Advisory Board and a network of marketing, sales, operations, financial and business planning professionals that can be deployed depending on the scope of the project and the needs of the client. For more information, please visit www.winecircleconsulting.com

About eWinery Solutions
eWinery Solutions provides a comprehensive consumer-direct solution for the wine industry. The company’s state-of-the-art ecommerce platform provides all of the tools necessary to help wine retailers sell more wine online. Website content, products and member information can be easily managed from any computer, anywhere, at any time through an easy-to-use online editor. For more information, please visit www.eWinerySolutions.com

eWinery Solutions Contact:
Ron Sharman
Chief Operating Officer
Tel: 707-227-1609
Email: rscharman@ewinerysolutions.com

WineCircle Consulting Contact:
Mike Sullivan
Executive Vice President
Tel: 925-348-9300
Email: msullivan@winecircle.com