Shopify has announced a partnership with DRINKS to allow merchants sell wine on their online stores. The DRINKS app, first launched for Shopify Plus merchants, is supported by real-time tax calculations and compliance solution.
Directly integrated with Shopify checkout, this feature will provide marketspace to wineries and retailers to expand their Direct to Consumer (DTC) business. The Shopify ecosystem promises these businesses a platform to “create, customize, scale, and monetize”.
The wine industry is undergoing a digital transformation where customers expect a streamlined experience no matter how they engage with brands.
Pete Jones, Market Development Lead for Wine and Spirits, Shopify
DTC Growth
“The days of substandard technology stifling DTC growth for our industry are over. DRINKS’ partnership with Shopify is a massive leap forward for tens of thousands of wineries and retailers who can now leverage DRINKS’ regulatory technology seamlessly within the world-class Shopify ecosystem,” Zac Brandenberg, Co-Founder and CEO at DRINKS, said in a statement.
The DRINKS app is available for Shopify Plus merchants operating in the US. It enables wineries manage DTC rules, calculate taxes and work under a set of regulations. The app comes with hundreds of pre-configured rules of compliance and tax rates that get updated automatically at the time of checkout.
Additional Features
One can also customise store with dynamic features to attract consumers of legal drinking age. The DRINKS app also helps merchants avoid selling non-compliant wines, showcase state-specific messages and ensure a certain limit of orders for each customer.
Wineries can also access a detailed report on sales, automatically generated on the app, for state tax filings. Besides sales, DRINKS also summarises reports on credits and returns for merchants’ use.
Shopify’s Support
“The wine industry is undergoing a digital transformation where customers expect a streamlined experience no matter how they engage with brands. For many wineries in the United States, it’s been difficult to innovate and grow online because of complex compliance and tax requirements for selling directly to consumers,” Pete Jones, Market Development Lead for Wine and Spirits at Shopify, said.
“With DRINKS joining the Shopify Plus Partner Program, and launching their app for Shopify Plus merchants, they’re removing barriers to entry for wine producers and retailers,” Jones said.
It’s a massive leap forward for tens of thousands of wineries and retailers who can now leverage DRINKS’ regulatory technology seamlessly within the world-class Shopify ecosystem.
Zac Brandenberg, CEO, DRINKS
DRINKS has an in-house retention and growth agency called Electriq to help wineries manage DTC sales. Electriq is also an agency certified by Shopify Plus, providing the Canadian e-commerce giant with services related to marketing, design, tech stack optimization and integrations.
Electriq works on the basis of customer experiences to help brands lower their costs of customer acquisition and increase a loyal customer base.
