Follow-up: Payment Processing Upgrades and Fixing Issues

We wanted to provide you with an important update on the recent changes to our payment gateway, ensuring transparency and open communication every step of the way. 

A step forward with upgrades 

Last week, we successfully rolled out a significant upgrade to our payment gateway integration. Our primary goal was to rectify longstanding payment processing issues, such as transactions failing, remaining in a pending state, or returning ambiguous statuses. Additionally, we wanted to enhance the transaction speed in the tasting room, ensuring a seamless experience for all.

We are delighted to announce: 

• POS transaction times have been significantly reduced by 50%, ensuring a smoother experience for your patrons. 
• The issues responsible for pending transactions and incorrect statuses have been successfully rectified. 

With the recent rollout, we encountered several payment issues that might have caused disruptions to your operations, and we sincerely apologize. Rest assured, we have successfully addressed all major issues related to this upgrade and are committed to delivering even smoother experiences with our future updates. 

Currently, one known issue appears sporadically with manually entered cards. We are actively working on this issue and will provide updates as we have them on the Status Page.

Stay updated & engaged 

While we do expect occasional, infrequent bugs, your feedback is invaluable to us in resolving them swiftly. If you encounter any payment issues or have questions, please use the 'Ask a question' feature in the admin panel's bottom right chat bubble. Alternatively, you can always email us at support@winedirect.com.

Thank you for your continued support and trust in WineDirect. We are here for you. 

Payment Update: Zeamster & VivoPay EMV Device Issues

Update 10/13/2023: Please read our latest blog post about the recent payment processing upgrades and bug fixes.

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Following our latest Zeamster enhancement deployment, we've identified some functionality concerns for VivoPay EMV devices and Zeamster Gateway users. We understand the potential disruption and inconvenience this might cause, and we sincerely apologize.

Our team is working diligently to rectify the situation. While we are eager to resolve this promptly, our main priority is ensuring any updates' stability and reliability. Therefore, we won’t rush any solutions that might introduce new defects. To expedite the process, we've redirected resources, and our team is working through the weekend to provide a resolution as soon as possible.

Here are updates on the current payment issues:

VivoPay EMV Device Issues

If you currently use a VivoPay EMV device, you may have noticed two issues recently:

1. Only manual credit card entry will be possible.
2. Any club order made with VivoPay before October 4, 2023, cannot be refunded or canceled.

Important Note: Do not use the Dip or Swipe payment method with the VivoPay card reader until the issue is resolved

Both issues are actively being worked on, and we will push for an update as soon as it is completed and tested. ETA for the fix is Monday, October 9 - Wednesday, October 11. 

Zeamster - Refunding Issue

We have identified an issue preventing clients from processing refunds on club orders originally processed before October 4. Good News! We have pushed an update to fix the refund issue today (Friday, October 6th, 2023). We will update the status page with the latest updates.

If you need to process refunds ASAP: 

WineDirect Payments will process these refunds for you in bulk. Please download and fill out the spreadsheet below, then email it to payments@winedirect.com.

▶ Refunds Needed Spreadsheet

Important Note: If you manually issue a payment through the gateway, the refund amount will not be reflected in WineDirect for reporting purposes. As a workaround, you can use the "Order History Importer" tool to import the refund order so that it appears in WD reporting. For information on how to use the tool, please read more here.

We appreciate your understanding and patience as we navigate this challenge. We will send a follow-up email with updates next week. For real-time updates, you can visit the status page. For any additional concerns or questions, please use the 'Ask a question' feature on the bottom right chat bubble on the admin panel or email support@winedirect.com.

New: Strong Cyber Weekend Results for 2022

The post-Thanksgiving weekend is such a key time for wineries, with everyone pulling together to reach their sales goals while providing a great experience for consumers. Despite challenging market conditions, your hard work paid off. While sales declined compared to last years' post pandemic spending sprees, same-store sales across all DTC channels increased +6% compared to 2020 and a strong +20% compared to pre-pandemic 2019. 

 

WineDirect Platform Stability: Black Friday Through Cyber Monday

Our Classic platform performance also continued to be a standout - our continuing commitment to enhancing our architecture has resulted in lightning-fast transaction speed and stability, even in the face of extremely high demand.

These enhancements are just the beginning of what's in store as we count down the days until All-New WineDirect is available for all wineries in early 2023. We are incredibly grateful to have you join us for this next step forward. 🥂 

All-New WineDirect: FAQs

As we start off September, we want to take a moment to update you on the latest developments with our All-New WineDirect platform.

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 research, we are upgrading and scaling up the team so we are properly resourced to meet the challenge of building an All-New WineDirect.

For example, we’ve hired a new VP of Engineering, Dan Mills, who has 15+ years’ experience building teams and has successfully been through several SaaS replatforming projects. We are continuing to add other senior Engineering and Product team members to our existing team who will be fully focused on building the All-New WineDirect. We have also restructured our team to allow the majority to focus 100% on replatforming, while another group takes care of our existing platform.

We’ll provide another update later this year, but in the meantime, here are some FAQs and answers that will provide more information.

1. What is WineDirect building? 

We are building the All-New WineDirect Ecommerce Platform an all-in-one platform with support for Ecommerce, Wine Club, Retail (POS), and omni-channel sales with beautiful store experiences, fast check out, powerful analytics, marketing automation and customization through flexible APIs and third-party apps.

2. What features will be included in the new platform? 

The major core functionality of the WineDirect platform will be included in the All-New Platform.  Rebuilding the platform also provides the opportunity to evaluate what is most impactful for our clients and what is no longer necessary. One thing is guaranteed, while the All-New platform will be familiar, it will be a tremendous upgrade across the board.   

3. Why should I be excited about this change?

There are so many reasons to be excited about the All New WineDirect, including:

• Flexible, website design tools that support exciting features including 1:1 personalization of content, product customer benefits such as pricing.
• A content management system (CMS)  you update and A/B test changes on your own; with no programming knowledge required.
• Intuitive and flexible, WineClub, User Choice Clubs and Subscriptions.
• Fast, customer-focused and reliable POS.
• Dashboards and reporting that provides intelligence into trends, status and health of your DTC business.
• One of a kind omni-channel sales opportunities to help you find and attract new clients.
• Improved and expanded capabilities for Webservices to connect with external systems and third-party applications.

4. What new APIs will be available on the All-New WineDirect and what will happen to existing APIs?

New APIs will support a backwards compatibility with SOAP for existing APIs (so existing APIs will still function) and more robust REST services and GraphQL will also be supported.

5. I want to integrate current WD APIs with third party tools. Should I wait for new APIs or should I spend money to integrate current systems?

This really depends on the specifics of your situation. If you are looking at something that will help to grow your business right now, you may want to pursue it. Because the All-New WineDirect won’t be generally available for at least a year, you may want to act now for time-sensitive integrations that will increase your ROI in the short-term. 

6. Should I wait to redesign my website, or can I do it now? Can I still use WineDirect templates?

If you are in need of a new website immediately, WordPress is a great option as it has a lot of flexibility and will integrate seamlessly with the All-New WineDirect. You can also continue to use the current WineDirect templates and we will transition accordingly when the time comes.

7. How will we transition to the All-New WineDirect Platform?

As of now, we are planning to roll out in 3 phases, built around the major sales channels: 

Phase 1: Ecommerce Only 
Phase 2: Ecommerce + Wine Club 
Phase 3: Ecommerce + Wine Club + POS

When the time comes, WineDirect will ensure that your transition to the new platform is seamless, with all your data and key configuration remaining intact.

There won’t be incremental costs to migrate to the new platform. Winery clients may choose to build a new site using the many tools available, which may require use of an WineDirect certified designer, which will be a separate engagement.

8. What is the timing for Canada and Australia?

The rollout of the All-New WineDirect will be based on what services a winery client is using, not where they are located, so wineries in Canada and Australia will most likely be on the same timeline as their counterparts in the U.S.

9. What should I do to prepare for the transition? 

Nothing! A member of our team will reach out when we are ready to get you started and answer any specific questions you may have.

10. What is expected as an Early Adopter for the All-New WineDirect? 

The Early Adopter Program gives you access to new products and features before they're released. Joining the program is a commitment - we need you to test feature functionality and provide feedback to our team. You’ll play an important role in ensuring the features we roll out will help you and other wineries like you. Signing up to be an Early Adopter does not guarantee access to the Early Adopters group, but we will do our best to involve all interested clients. 

As an All-New WineDirect Early Adopter, you’ll be called on to help test specific sections based on tools you’re already actively using. This project is complex, with a lot of turning wheels, so please be patient while we create a detailed project plan for upcoming features that will be ready to test. We will reach out when your winery meets the criteria – at that time you can choose to participate or not.

11. When is the timeline for me to be an Early Adopter?

Because of the different phases and the complexity of the project, there will be several chances to test and give feedback on the new tools over the next year. We will let you know when your opportunity to test comes closer.

Your timeline for being an Early Adopter participant completely depends on your current feature set. If you are a full-stack WineDirect customer using ecommerce, wine club and POS, your environment is complex. It will take us time to ensure that the All-New WineDirect can match the complexity of your DTC tools. We are creating new business logic and workflows from scratch, and we want to ensure it flows beautifully.

12. Have you stopped development on the current WineDirect platform?

Absolutely not. Although most of our team is laser-focused on planning for the All-New WineDirect and enhanced wine club tools, we also have a dedicated team working exclusively on the current platform. In addition to updating features, we are keeping performance, availability and security top-of-mind. We have proactively upgraded all of our databases to improve performance, became PCI DSS Level 1 compliant,  and increased fraud protection by adding reCAPTCHA Enterprise security heading into the busy holiday shopping season.

13. Still want more information?

Watch this video discussing the latest developments in the All-New WineDirect.