Tech-Wine-Do

  I hate crowded shopping malls. I hate waiting in line. And I hate snobby sales assistants. I’m sure there are more than a handful who feel the same way I do, which might possibly explain why more and more people are opting to shop online instead.

Convenience is often cited as a reason for going online, be it for clothes, apparel or even tech gadgets. But according to some online wine retailers I spoke to, it is just one of the many other reasons why it is wiser – and 'safer' – to buy your wines online.

“Wine shops in Singapore are pretty small and they don’t carry a lot of labels. You usually have to visit two or three shops just to find the most suitable bottle of wine,” says Bruno Vaillant, co-owner and managing director of ewineasia.com, who feels shopping online is far more time-efficient. “You can find all sorts of technical information, the story behind each wine, who the producer is, which region and country it comes from, the percentage of alcohol, the perfect serving temperature, whether you should cellar it and for how long. And you can see the label too. All this information at a glance.”

Noel Emmanuel, founder of online wine store The Bottle Boutique (www.bottleboutique.com.sg), agrees, adding that shopping for wine online is also more price-friendly. “Shopping online allows you to deal directly with a business entity minus an intermediary. And because it is an online store, I don’t have to worry about rental and labour. This greatly helps reduce third-party costs that are eventually transferred to the wine buyer.” To illustrate, a bottle of Yalumba The Cigar 2008, Emmanuel’s favourite wine, sells for $54 on his website. But the same bottle of wine has been seen retailing for more than $80 in a wine shop.

Independent wine recommendation website TheLocalNose.com (TLN), founded by Sarah Mayo, even offers customers a chance to taste the wines before deciding on a purchase. “Each week, the Noses (TLN’s wine panel) recommend six wines based on a quality and value-for-money selection criteria. Consumers can attend TLN events to taste the recommended wines before buying directly from TLN online, or they can visit the TLN Wine Mall to buy from individual local merchants who have set up shops in the Wine Mall,” Mayo shares.

In addition to convenience and competitive pricing, browsing for wines on these online stores is a breeze. Powerful search engines enable you to search for a wine by name, or by categories according to region and country, grape variety, producer, style, or budget. No pushy sales assistant hovering near you, putting pressure on you to make a purchase. And when you eventually check out with your cart, the wines are delivered from the warehouse straight to your doorstep. Vaillant points out that this unbroken cold-storage logistics chain ensures the wines reach you in the best condition possible. This entirely eliminates the likelihood of spoilage that could happen if a bottle of wine had sat in a shop under improper storage conditions.

Some online wine shops, such as The Bottle Boutique, goes a step further to provide unparalleled customer service. “I am your personal wine concierge,” Emmanuel professes. “My mobile number is on The Bottle Boutique website. Pick up the phone, call and tell me your taste profile and budget, and I can recommend a wine most suited to you. And if you’re buying wines to host a dinner at home, I can also offer food and wine pairing suggestions and help come up a wine menu. This is a complimentary service I offer to all my customers at The Bottle Boutique.”

And for customers who look for great value and quality, Mayo assures that every recommended wine on TLN is a sound investment. “We offer consumers an independent endorsement on the wine’s quality. We are not importers, which means we have no particular interest in selling a specific wine to eliminate our stock. We merely identify wines that are good quality and good value-for-money. Some of the wines will be entry level and inexpensive while others may be more expensive and of better overall quality.  The Noses are basically letting consumers know that, for the price they are paying, the wine is a good buy.”

But online wine shopping is not entirely without drawbacks. Although it is generally very secure to shop online these days, you can’t really be sure if the site is a fraud. Most, if not all, will ask you for an email address, to which they will send unsolicited flyers and brochures. Delivery usually takes a few days, so if you’re preparing for a party, you must remember to order in advance so the wines can arrive in time. Some websites offer express delivery, usually within 24 hours of receiving your order, but you will have to bear additional cost. Typically, online stores will also charge delivery fees unless your total bill exceeds a minimal stipulated amount – usually around $200 – so your actual total bill might not be the same as the price you saw on the website. The trick, then, is to read the terms and conditions and be sure of the entire purchase amount before you click, so that you don’t get rude surprises when the bill is presented to you.

Once you are aware of what to look out for, buying wine online is a real joy, and it is an excellent way to send a gift to your friends and colleagues, especially on special occasions and celebrations. Websites including ewineasia.com and The Bottle Boutique are even able to provide personalised messages and gift cards to make your gift a tad more special. And to make shopping even more on-the-go, Vaillant has recently developed a smartphone application for ewineasia.com, and hopes to launch one for tablets soon.
For now, savour the joy, convenience and reliability of buying wine with just a click of the mouse. As Mayo puts it, wine is heavy, and so is traffic in Singapore, so let these folks do the job for you and pack you a top-rated consolidation, delivered to your doorstep.

 

written by Kenny Leong

This article was first published in the Appetite June 2011 issue.