We are well into the discovery stage of this important project – doing the deep research necessary to fully scope the work to ensure that the All-New WineDirect platform will be everything our customers want it to be, and more.
In addition to crucial research, we have scaled up the team, so we are properly resourced to meet the challenge of building the All-New WineDirect in the coming months.
I recently met with Jim Agger, SVP Ecommerce to get a quick update on the newest developments with the All-New WineDirect platform. Watch the video below to get the latest.
Corinna: Can you give us a refresher, what is the All New WineDirect?
Jim: We are completely rebuilding our platform. All new architecture, all new infrastructure, all new code that will enable the next generation of DTC tools and services for wineries.
Along the way we will bring best of breed partners together, like BigCommerce who brings world-class CMS, website design tools, shopping cart and third-party ecommerce integrations to the All-New WineDirect platform.
Over the next few months, you will hear more announcements as we build out our partner ecosystem.
Corinna: Can you talk about the recent milestones we have hit?
Jim: Behind the scenes we have been scaling the product and engineering team, which will end up around 50 professionals working on this project.
We have finalized the architecture, design and started building the foundational components of the All-New WineDirect platform, which has us on track to release our ecommerce-only functionality in mid- 2022.
It's important to mention that we haven’t stopped working on the existing WD Platform. The past few months we really focused on stability and system performance and you could see that in action during the busiest Cyber Weekend across the WineDirect platform to date.
We have also completed the first phase of a rebuild of our wine club tools, which will be in public beta in January 2022. This will be the first look at some of the design and automation you will experience in the All-New WineDirect.
Corinna: One question we get a lot is “what do I need to do now”? How will the switchover happen from our current platform to the All-New WineDirect?
Part of being The Winery's Champion is supporting you every step of the way. There isn't anything you need to do now. The key is that once it's time, we have a strategic plan in place to onboard folks who meet the technical criteria. We will support you in this endeavour and will support you to make it as simple as possible.
Corinna: What improvements can folks look forward to in the All-New WineDirect platform?
Jim: One thing that won't change is the all-in-one nature of our system, which never sacrifices the 360 degree view of your customers.
We will have the best, most flexible wine club and a consumer-focused Point of Sale system that is simple, reliable and elevates the consumer experience.
With the new platform you can look forward to more marketing automation, better visibility across your entire business, the most flexible and highly converting webstore available, and a roster of integrated partners to help sell in new and exciting ways.
In short, we are committed to using our experience, scale and unique vantage point in new ways to help our clients succeed by providing software, automation and services to attract, delight, nurture and retain consumers across multiple channels.
We take being the winery’s champion seriously, therefore, we will continue to have the industry’s best onboarding, training and support experience. We understand that you are in the hospitality business, and as such, require a higher level of service that a typical software company provides. Stay tuned as we continue work on this key initiative - we are so excited for what's to come!