Over the years, medals and competition wins have helped in clearing wines off of retail shelves. It’s natural for customers to go ahead and pick those wines that have been ranked a good score amongst wine experts across the globe. So if you enter your wine into an acknowledged wine competition, and you manage to grab that gold medal, then your wine is definitely going to see a huge rise in visibility and sales.

Competitions have always proven to be a beneficial way for wineries and wine brands to shine through. Right now, with the current pandemic in hand, wineries and brands could use all the recognition they can get. With on-premise establishments shut down, e-commerce, deliveries, pickup, and retail is all that wineries and brands are running on. Of course, this might not be enough to gather up sales like before, but competitions can be a great help.

Entering wine competitions will not only help you win medals, but those medals will also help you sell your wines, especially in a time where you need visibility and awareness the most.

Here are a few ways in which wine competitions can help you sell your wines.

Increased Digital Presence

When your wine wins a medal in a well-known wine competition, it’s all over the internet, and right now, the internet is the most powerful source of sales. When people see that your wine is winning gold medals, and your wine has been awarded a certain stance, they are more likely to pick up your wine/order them from you.

People trust the internet. In fact, whenever someone is looking to buy something, be it a wine, or clothes, or shoes, the internet is the first place they check. So of course, when looking for a wine, they’re going to go onto the internet. Seeing good reviews and medals on your wine, by acclaimed wine competitions, will incline customers to pick up your wines.

Not only customers, but even retailers and bottle shops will start noticing your wines across the internet, and seeing that, they will also want to stock up on your wines, since they know that the medal on your wine will help their shelves clear out. Similarly, restaurants and bars would also be inclined to have an award winning wine on their lists, whether it’s for delivery, pick-up, or for the future when things start opening up again.

Increased Presence With Buyers/Distributors

Wine competitions like USA Wine Ratings are usually judged by industry experts such as wine buyers, distributors, or those who are involved in the daily buying and selling of wines to both consumers and retailers. So a wine competition is a great platform for you to place your wines in front of these industry experts.

Think about it this way, your wine is being tasted by industry experts, maybe those buyers whom you can’t even reach easily. Now, they’re tasting your wines and they like them, and they want to stock them, so of course, they’ll end up reaching out to you.

In fact, for those of you who are entering wines in competitions and winning medals, you can always check out the list of judges and reach out to them later on as well. Send in a free bottle of your wine, remind them that your wine was judged, add your medal to it, and see if you can get onto their lists. It’s a great way to increase sales and make sure your wines are being seen.

Enter Your Wines Into USA Wine Ratings

Working Towards Your Competitors To Increase Sales

Wine competitions are a great way to know where you stand in the market. It’s always a plus to know what your competitors are up to, and wine competitions are a great way to do so.

Through wine competitions, you will know who your competitors are, if people are buying from them, and if they’re ranked higher than you or not.

With the current situation in hand, you will be able to see your competition, and you will be able to see what they’re doing. Are they delivering? What wines are they selling? Are they offering extra services? Knowing who is winning will help you get all this information. With this information, you can strategize your marketing, production, and approach to make sure you’re getting your sales too. Through this, you will be able to check out how your competitors are working through times and what they’re doing to sell more, which in turn will help you sell as well, especially during these times when you need to focus on selling through retail and DTC channels.

Another plus point is that you will also be able to see the gap in the market. Competitions will help you see what the market needs right now, how the market wants it, and that’s one way in which you can position your strategy to work around the current demands of the market.

In the end, it’s all about supply and demand, and visibility - which is exactly what wine competitions offer you.