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What would make people's online wine-buying experience better?

I took a break from my other projects to help my dad bring his wine business to online markets, and I want to ask your input. There is a whole lot of "high-tech" and very little "high-touch" currently going on in the wine market today. And for the few exceptions, the reverse is true. That is, it seems like wine merchants online either have complex websites that skimp on the human touch or antiquated, neglected websites that don't do a good job merchandising the product but when you call you get to talk to a human on the other end. I'm trying to find out if it's a worthwhile endeavor to try to bridge that divide. I'd be interested in getting people's top 3-4 peeves regarding their online wine buying experiences. We specialize in selling rare, vintage and top-rated wines. In other words, the top 1% of wines in the world, so our product is fairly high-ticket.

Public Comments

1. Easy search Accurate information - eg vintage, blend component abv Accurate pricing - clearly indicated cost of shipping A page giving real address/phone number/ contact name Suggest listing on www.wine-searcher.com Info on minimum order size, possible to mix case. Returns policy No flash introduction, fast loading site minimal eye candy, remember not everyone on broadband. Ability to download a text file of your winelist to study offline
2. They dont have to leave home to shop/look for one.... lol