Vinissimus: El e-commerce de vinos que durante el confinamiento incrementó un 193% sus ventas online

During the confinement, all companies have had to face, in one way or another, serious changes and internal restructuring. Many e-commerce companies have also seen their sales multiply. This is the case of Vinissimus, a wine e-commerce company, leader in its sector, which experienced a notable increase in demand during those days.

We continue with Vinissimus our series of posts to e-commerce managers in times of pandemic.

Genís Fornés, Marketing Director of Vinissimus, tells us how they faced the crisis, what measures they adopted and what their expectations are regarding the evolution of e-commerce.

Vinissimus in figures

Vinissimus is a leading European online wine shop with more than 15 years of experience in the sector. They offer a catalogue of more than 16,000 products, one of the largest on the Internet. They currently have 5 online shops and warehouses in three countries: Spain, Italy and France.

how did you react to the announcement of the closure?

As an online business, Vinissimus was not as affected as other sectors by the closure. However, in the first few days, the general confusion meant that consumer confidence in e-commerce also diminished. We chose to remind our customers that we took a series of extraordinary security measures, even beyond those recommended, to protect them and our employees and minimise the risk of exposure. We also emphasised that we were still operating relatively normally, even though there could be delays due to the saturation of the transport companies.

did you have any stock problems?

We had no stock problems during the lock-in, as orders from our suppliers arrived on time. This was partly because the online channel was one of the few that remained active after the announcement of the lock-in and the closure of shops and catering, which are their other main sources of income. Unfortunately, they did suffer considerably from the consequences of the pandemic.

how did you have to adapt your logistical organisation to the new situation?

The beginning of the confinement posed a logistical challenge, because after the first days of uncertainty, consumers turned to online shopping. The extraordinary measures we took to minimise the risk of exposure, such as splitting work shifts to reduce contact between workers, did not help to meet the high demand. In order not to sacrifice service to our customers or reduce security measures, we decided to invest in the development of improvements in computer systems that would allow us to streamline the entire logistics process. Time has shown that this was a very wise decision, which not only benefited us in this extraordinary situation but will also help us in the future.

On the transport side, how did you experience the situation?

During the first days of confinement there was a certain saturation of courier companies, which had an impact on customers. To alleviate the uncertainty, we decided to add messages warning of possible delays in delivery time, and we increased the delivery standards of our e-commerce, which are usually very fast, by a few days so as not to generate frustration among our customers.

how did you communicate with your customers about delivery?

We wanted to remind customers that our employees did everything possible to minimise the risk of exposure also when dealing with the carriers. The different companies, which are the ones that have face-to-face contact with the customer at the time of delivery, made various communications to remind them of the security measures at the time of delivery.

In this new situation, what are the challenges for your business and, more generally, for the world of e-commerce?

As far as Vinissimus is concerned, we are an established e-commerce business, but we do not want to stop surprising our customers. For other businesses, in the short and medium term, it is to be expected that the value of online assets will increase and that others will mutate to adapt to the growing demand for this type of service. Although we are optimistic about the increase in e-commerce use demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic, some economic circles are predicting a major impact on the global economy, so we must buckle up and be more alert than ever to be able to react to the new challenges that may arise.

how has the pandemic crisis situation affected Vinissimus’ turnover? We understand that the online wine sector has been one of the beneficiaries, is that right?

Indeed, during this coronavirus crisis and especially during the period of confinement, the online shops dedicated to the sale of wine experienced a considerable increase in demand. At Vinissimus.com, the Spanish website, we recorded a 193% increase in online sales, as shown in the image. Red wine continues to be the star, and during the confinement we consumed more than twice as much. This was noticeable in the increase in orders, with 155% more, seeing a 120% increase in turnover.

in terms of packaging, how did you deal with this moment and how do you value the collaboration and reactivity of the RAJA® Sales Team during this crisis as a supplier?

During this time we took exceptional safety measures to minimise the risk of exposure to our employees and customers. These measures affected the warehouse and office team, but had no direct impact on the consumer. During this period the RAJA® Sales Team was up to the task, reacting swiftly with their packaging offer and allowing us to meet the significant increase in demand, so we value it very positively.

do you think the online consumer has changed, or will change in the post-pandemic phase?

The confinement probably only reinforced the role of online commerce. We know that a large part of the increase in orders was due not only to the increased consumption of those customers who were already shopping online, but also to a large extent to new customers who found the internet a safer and more convenient way to shop. In the post pandemic stage we expect to see a part of those customers return to the way they shop before the virus arrived. But many will include online shopping as an option they did not consider before. That is why many traditional businesses are making the transition to digital in these turbulent times.
On the other hand, delivery conditions have long been fundamental for us. It is impossible to ignore the fact that Amazon has set a new standard in online commerce and customers no longer expect less. It was common to wait a week for a product to arrive at home and today, for customers who buy online, we have to waita week for the product to be delivered.

Thank you very much Genís, for sharing your Vinissimus experience with us

If you want to read more testimonials about the confinement, here is the Tradeinn post:

• Tradeinn: The e-commerce that despite the COVID-19 has been on Black Friday for 3 months
• more to come!