Navigating Change: An Invitation to Explore Bottle360

By Katherine Adams, President of Bottle360

The recent acquisition of WineDirect DTC SaaS by Commerce7 has created uncertainty for wineries relying on these platforms for their Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sales and wine club management. As the industry adjusts to this consolidation, I want to personally invite wineries to consider Bottle360—a stable, cost-effective, and winery-focused alternative.

Why the Acquisition Matters

When one business acquires another, especially a direct competitor, customers often face significant changes, including higher costs, reduced feature sets, or even forced migration to a new platform. Additionally, restructuring within the acquiring company to combine workforces can disrupt service levels for both new and existing clients, further impacting day-to-day operations. WineDirect users, who have long relied on the platform’s DTC sales and fulfillment tools, may now encounter challenges such as:

• Increased Costs: Consolidation frequently leads to revised pricing models that can strain winery budgets.
• Feature Redundancy or Loss: Certain features of WineDirect may be phased out as Commerce7 integrates its own solutions.
• Forced Migration: According to Commerce7, now owned by FullSteam, all WineDirect Customers will be required to switch to Commerce7’s platform, a process that can be time-consuming and disruptive.
• Service Disruptions: Integrating teams and systems often leads to growing pains, which can result in slower support response times and operational hiccups.
• Fulfillment Separation: A benefit of WineDirect has been its integrated fulfillment services, allowing wineries to manage both sales and logistics under one roof. However, fulfillment services are not part of what Commerce7 is purchasing.
• Limited Payment Options: Both platforms rely on specific credit card processing solutions, often resulting in higher fees for wineries.

Why Bottle360 is Worth Your Consideration

WineDirect and Commerce7 both provide tools for DTC wine sales and wine club management. WineDirect offers a DTC platform with fulfillment services, basic wine club management, and reporting capabilities, while Commerce7 focuses on creating personalized customer journeys with a mobile-friendly design and customer insights. Both platforms, however, have limited options for tasting room point-of-sale, club processing, and credit card processing, which can lead to higher fees and limited functionality.

Bottle360 includes all the features you would expect—integrated DTC sales tools, customizable wine club or subscription management, advanced reporting, and personalized customer journeys—but also provides significant advantages. We are committed to offering a more cost-effective and flexible solution. Bottle360 provides freedom of choice on credit card processing options to help wineries save on transaction fees, along with transparent pricing and dedicated live 24/7 customer support. While Bottle360 does not offer fulfillment services, we can integrate with the fulfillment partner of your choice, ensuring flexibility and continuity for your operations. Additionally, Bottle360 is integrated with a winery-specific reservation system that respects the confidential customer lists that wineries have worked hard to cultivate.

Weekly updates and releases are often driven by the priorities wineries tell us they want and need, with the emphasis on supporting this important industry and the artisans behind the final product in the glass. By making transitions smooth and simple, Bottle360 is changing the industry for wineries. The helpful approach to moving a winery’s sales data, customers, club members, notes, and more, as well as matching the existing website look and feel, enables wineries to overcome the fear of making a change to a different DTC platform. Bottle360 handles the data migration for wineries and it is included in the onboarding process.

Now is the Time to Consider Bottle360

The uncertainty surrounding the WineDirect and Commerce7 merger makes this the ideal moment to explore a platform that puts your winery first. By transitioning to Bottle360, you can:

• Lower your operating costs with affordable pricing and flexible credit card processing options.
• Avoid disruptions caused by forced platform migrations or feature changes.
• Minimize the risk of service disruptions tied to workforce restructuring.
• Gain access to a stable, innovative solution that’s designed specifically for wineries like yours.
• Benefit from Bottle360’s affordable setup/migration services, which make it accessible even for wineries with limited budgets. We provide full-service setup or seamless data migration from other systems, ensuring a smooth transition without added stress.

Let’s Shape Your Winery’s Future Together

At Bottle360, we empower you to thrive in an evolving market. If you’ve been considering a change or simply want to explore a platform that offers more value, I’d love to personally invite you to learn more about Bottle360. Let’s discuss how we can work together to support your winery’s success.

Explore Bottle360 and discover the difference we can make for your winery.

For further details about the Commerce7 and WineDirect acquisition, read the full article on WineBusiness.com here.