Business Central September 2020

| 81 Volume 5 | Issue 3 The Urban Winery is located in the former National Tobacco Company building, an art deco icon of Napier in Ahuriri. • Wine and craft beer tastings Wednesday-Sunday • Winebar and retail wine shop, featuringHawke’s Bay boutiquewineries • Home of NZ ’s only specialist chardonnay producer • L ive music – L unch menu – Tapas menu Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for updates. National Tobacco Company building 3 Ossian Street, Ahuriri, Napier | Phone 06-650 3353 for bookings theurbanwinery.co.nz RETAIL » Advintage Wines Advintage Wines has evolved to become a major player on the national stage. Sue Russell CL E A RV I EW E S TAT E Te Awanga | Hawkes’ Bay Winery | Restaurant | Cellar Door a legendary winery supporting a legendary retailer www.clearviewestate.co.nz (06) 875 01 50 194 Clifton Rd | Te Awanga Hawke’s Bay | New Zealand Ara wines are crafted on the edge of the earth; the essence of Pure Marlborough. J ohn Macpherson (Mac) has an infectious pas- sion for the wine industry in New Zealand and in the capacity and future of his online busi- ness Advintage Wines, based in Havelock North. “We’re in a great business, just going about mak- ing people happy,” is how Mac sums it up. Established in 1999 Mac made the decision to pretty much go online right from Day 1 and says in those formative years he and the team pioneered E-Commerce as a sensible and practical way for the public to buy quality wine. Given initial caution on the part of customers back then to share information like credit card details Mac had to work hard developing quite sophisticated marketing strategies. Today his large customer base of ‘entry-level’ through to highly discerning enjoyers of wine ben- efit from a sophisticated range of purchase options. “We make it as easy as possible to provide customers with exactly the type of wine they are interested in and we focus on the $10 to $20 per bottle sector but offer far superior wines in the price range than, say, supermarkets do.” Through what Mac describes as ‘sheer bloody- mindedness’ Advintage Wines has evolved to become a major player on the national stage. One of the factors contributing to this success has been to deliberately down-play the use of so- phisticated, and often misunderstood, ‘wine-speak’, instead describing the vintages and varietals the company sells in simple down-to-earth language, his customers can readily relate to. Other factors also set Advintage Wines apart, as Mac explains: “We were the first company to ag- gressively market wine and bring a heavy discount model and a sales mentality to the industry.” That out of the box thinking really set Advintage Wines on the successful course it has maintained. “We’re certainly classed as a fine-wine store, however our decision to focus on the price market we have is the difference in terms of the value for money our customers experience.” Dealing with the volumes Mac and the team put through the store requires an absolute understand- ing that what you are offering is what customers will enjoy drinking. Mac says Covid bought on a manic buying spree and a significant number of new customers and Mac says its highly gratifying to see that now that lockdown period is behind us, he has retained a large number of these new purchasers. “They see the benefit and don’t want to go back to buying wine from venues they once did.” Breaking down the barriers The wines on offer are a mix of locally produced vintages and overseas sourced and Advintage Wines specialise in assisting buyers with wine op- tions to purchase. “We can produce pre-mixed cases across all price points and often I’ll be asked to decide for a customer who may, for instance, be wanting to try a European wine at a specific price. “This is where our years of experience and understanding of wine production and quality really comes into play.” Advintage Wines has a wine-club and Mac says the decision to suggest particular wines to club members is a responsibility he and his staff take quite personally. “We imagine it’s our $180, for instance, being spent on a selection of wines. If we wouldn’t be happy with what’s offered to us then it doesn’t get selected to supply to our customers.” To cope with demand, the physical size of the shop is large, enabling a constant supply of good quantities across a wide range of wines on offer. “We’re all about breaking down barriers for those new to purchasing wine online. “Simple language, lots of choice and lots of sup- port that are the corner-stones of our company.”