Data for the Three Tier System: A Case Study of Challenges and Solutions
Enolytics 101 is a weekly check-in on the people and news of the wine + data space, steered largely by questions and challenges that come our way from clients, potential clients and other players in the space.
The idea is to move the conversation forward through hands-on examples, and through straightforward Q&As with colleagues who are gaining traction week by week. That’s meant features like the recent merger of Wine Folly with the Global Wine Database, the overall implications of blending data with content, and increasing the profitability of DTC programs.
This week we’re adding a fresh perspective, this time on data for the three tier system, through the lens of Tampa-based Proof Network Ventures. Proof first came on our radar earlier this year when they acquired Drync, a private-label mobile app that delivered an ecommerce solution for beverage alcohol retailers.
Since then we’ve been learning more about Proof’s mission and strategy, as well as their vision for using technology to drive meaningful benefits and change for our industry. Here are three fundamental questions about their work, and Proof’s responses. Notice in particular the last question, on specific, real-world ways that data can be put to use on behalf of individual wineries and brands.
I’d be curious for your thoughts on these questions, and which questions you would ask the Proof team. Please let us know.
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Why is connecting different industry tiers such an important and powerful part of what you do?
Better business starts with meaningful relationships. The opaque nature of this highly regulated industry leaves far too many gaps in communication and collaboration between retailers, suppliers, and wholesalers, not to mention extreme fragmentation of data. Our business solutions connect these tiers for efficient and mutually beneficial business ventures by uniting everyone around the same goal: selling to the right customer.
What are the inherent challenges, and how are you overcoming them?
When you dedicate your business to modernizing an industry, the mission is naturally challenging. We were lucky to learn early on that rather than building a single use or value-added product to address a single issue in the beverage alcohol industry, a new paradigm was needed.
While an intuitive and feature-rich mobile ecommerce platform adds value on its own, we also feel it leaves a lot on the table for both sides. Value-add custom solutions are desirable to retailers in a vacuum, boosting digital sales requires more than just a platform. That’s why we offer quantitative marketing services, audience segmentation, as well as advertising campaign management for our retail partners on top of our tech suite. It isn’t enough to onboard people onto a platform; we’re dedicated to helping them succeed long term.
Could you describe three specific ways that you can help individual wineries or brands through the data you work with?
Depending on the hypothesis, there are a multitude of ways that consumer purchase data can help wineries and brands succeed. Here are a few of our favorites that we're currently working on with some of our brand partners:
Identify shifting trends in existing and emerging markets
Effectively manage inventory to guarantee yield optimization
Develop robust consumer profiles and model behavior from historical data
The most important thing for us is ensuring raw data can be transformed and ultimately used in meaningful ways to empower brands to make smarter and more profitable business decisions. At the end of the day, our custom audience development and consumer profiling data science initiatives are changing the way brands look at their end consumers.
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Thank you, as always, for reading –
Cathy