About the report

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine sales have grown exponentially in Australia over the last decade, emulating the growth seen in countries such as the United States where DTC sales represent a significant portion of the overall market. That growth has been documented in annual reports undertaken by various industry organisations which, in turn, has provided American wineries with essential data to assist in growing this important distribution channel.

In Australia, the value of Direct-to-consumer sales is increasingly being recognised by wine businesses. The Wine Direct-to-consumer survey aims to collect data on DTC and produce a series of key benchmarks and statistics to assist wineries develop their wine tourism and DTC activities.

Information is collected and reported on:

• Total wine sales revenue and volume by channel
• Direct-to-consumer sales value and volume
• Cellar door operations: days of opening, facilities offered, tasting styles
• Visitor numbers
• Wine and loyalty clubs: membership, structure, offers
• Online and database-generated sales
• Use of software to support business operations
• Customer communications and relationship management

In this report, ‘direct-to-consumer’ includes any means of selling directly to a consumer – e.g. cellar door, wine and loyalty clubs, events, winery website, phone and mail order sales.

Report summary

Key insights from the 2021 report include:

• Direct-to-consumer sales in Australia accounted for an average of 18 per cent of a winery’s income – with DTC share increasing as winery production size decreases
• DTC outperformed other wine sales channels in 2020-21, with 17 per cent overall value growth.
• Cellar door was the largest channel, with 44 per cent share of DTC sales revenue
• Online sales grew by 23 per cent in value in 2020-21 but average value declined
• Visitor numbers declined by 4 per cent across the year, as a result of continuing domestic COVID-19 restrictions and international border closures
• Wineries made several changes to their businesses as a result of COVID-19, particularly around seated tastings, bookings and investment in websites.

About the survey

The inaugural Cellar door and direct-to-consumer (DTC) survey was conducted by Wine Australia in August 2018 as part of the Australian Government’s $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package. The survey has been repeated in subsequent years in collaboration with Wine Business Solutions.

Over 2000 wineries in Australia are surveyed each year. Wineries in South Africa and New Zealand are also surveyed by Wine Business Solutions using the same questionnaire, allowing international benchmarks to be developed and compared.

Click here to watch a webinar summarising the results and presenting insights and comparisons with wineries in South Africa and New Zealand.