Cheers, everyone!
When guests visit your winery, they expect to be overly satisfied with the service they receive and the items they (hopefully) purchase. Their experience should be carefully crafted and leave visitors feeling appreciated.
By conducting winery and vineyard market research, you can do just that — and as a result, increase visitors, improve brand awareness, and boost revenue.
In this ultimate guide, we provide a birds-eye-view of winery and vineyard market research, benefits of winery market research, market research options for vineyards, how to conduct market research as a winery, and more.
Article Contents 📋
Want to jump to a specific topic within our ultimate guide to winery and vineyard market research? Click the subtitles below to navigate to a specific section.
- Benefits of Winery and Vineyard Market Research
- Conducting Market Research for Wineries
- Market Research Options for Vineyards and Wineries
- Winery Market Research Survey Question Examples
- Finding the Best Winery and Vineyard Market Research Firm
- Cost of Market Research for the Wine Industry
- Case Study #1: Wine Consumer and Wholesaler Survey
- Case Study #2: Winery Measures Brand Awareness and Perception
- Case Study #3: Winery Redesigns Website with UX Research
The goal of every winery or vineyard market research study is unique. Keep that in mind when reading through this blog post. Essentially anything and everything can be customized to the unique needs of a specific winery or wine brand.
Benefits of Winery and Vineyard Market Research
So, what defined winery and vineyard market research anyway?
What is winery and vineyard market research?
Market research describes the process of collecting wineries and wine brands utilizing data-driven, actionable insights in order to attract, engage, and delight your target consumers.
Marketing research can boost factors such as brand awareness, guest satisfaction, customer loyalty, and in-person or online sales.
Now let's take a more definitive look at the top benefits of winery and vineyard market research.
Measure brand awareness and perception 📣
Market research is a great way to measure brand awareness and perception levels.
The research can be designed to reach customers and potential customers within a specific target market (i.e., within a particular range of miles of the winery/vineyard, DMA, MSA, state).
Understand factors of choice regarding wineries and wines 🎯
This is an important topic we often see covered in winery and vineyard market research.
Questions can be asked to better understand why customers and/or potential customers choose to visit and make a purchase.
Measure purchasing habits and behaviors 💳
It can also be helpful to understand purchasing behavior among the target audience.
This can include wine purchasing habits in general, purchasing habits from the winery itself, and purchasing habits for the competition.
Customized data to meet the needs of a winery or vineyard 📊
Awareness, decision-making, and purchasing habits tell part of the customer story for a winery or vineyard.
It is important to remember that the research is customized to each winery or vineyard’s specific needs.
Perhaps you want to know…
- How much is being spent on wine within a specific time frame?
- Which customers or purchase more from the competition?
- How does the customer journey for your winery or vineyard compare to the competition?
There are several market research methodologies available to reach your unique goals and objectives.
Conducting Market Research for Wineries
The Drive Research team thoroughly enjoys the wine industry market research projects we work on.
Generally speaking, wineries, vineyards, and breweries partner with our market research company to execute a streamlined research process and discover strategies to accelerate success.
We offer end-to-end project management services to save your team time and resources. Throughout the process, our research team walks your organization through each step serving as a true consultant.
The only responsibilities of our clients are being clear on expectations and objectives, reviewing research surveys and guides, and offering feedback on draft deliverables and reports. Then, we’ll manage the rest.
What is the process for conducting market research?
The most common steps in a winery market research study include the proposal, kickoff meeting, survey drafting, fieldwork, reporting, and debrief meeting.
Each research study is different. How to conduct an online survey is different from hosting a focus group. However, most commonly our projects consist of the following stages below.
Step #1: Proposal 📄
The market research process begins with a proposal. A market research proposal defines the goals and objectives of the research, reviews the market research process from start to finish, and states the cost of the project.
Although each study we conduct with wineries and wine trails is customized based on the objectives of the client, there are several core components we suggest as part of the process.
Oftentimes, our winery and vineyard market research company recommends a hybrid approach, combining qualitative and quantitative research. Doing so provides a comprehensive and actionable data-driven strategy.
For example, the suggested components recommended for a recent study included:
- In-depth interviews (IDIs) with best-in-class wineries across the world.
- Online surveys divided by visitors to different wine regions in the market area.
- Follow-up online focus groups with segmented audiences.
- Mobile ethnography with visitors to wineries.
- Toolkit and strategy recommendations based on fact-driven and data-driven insights uncovered in the market research.
Are you ready to draft a market research request for proposal (RFP)? Use our free downloadable template to get started.
Step #2: Kickoff meeting 🏈
Once the proposal is finalized and signed off, the winery and market research team will hold a kickoff meeting to discuss research goals, potential questions, and project next steps. These meetings typically take 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete.
Before the kickoff meeting, the research team will share an agenda to keep the discussion focused on the goals and objectives of the project and what to expect during the process.
A kickoff meeting outlines components such as
- Responsibilities and expectations
- Market research process
- Potential questions for the survey or focus group
- Project timeline
- Next steps
Within 24 hours of completing the kickoff, Drive Research prepares a living project work plan that details deliverables, responsible parties, and completion dates.
This work plan will be updated each week and shared throughout the project. The work plan ensures teams remain on track.
Lastly, our market research firm requests any prior data on visitors to wineries in the region, if available.
Step #3: Research design 🎨
Once the kickoff meeting is complete, the market research team will develop a survey draft, interview guide, or moderator guide based on the goals and objectives of the research.
Depending on the project, this process may take a day or two, or it may take up to a week to complete the draft.
All of these deadlines should be made clear during the kickoff meeting to ensure expectations are met.
Step #4: Fieldwork ⚙️
Once the survey or guide draft is finalized, fieldwork begins.
If the project includes a survey, the process typically consists of a soft launch followed by a full launch.
What is a soft launch?
The soft launch includes gathering a few responses (~20 to 50 survey responses) to ensure the respondents comprehend the survey as intended.
After the results of the soft launch are complete, the full launch of fieldwork begins. Survey fieldwork can last a few days or a few weeks depending on the target audience, length of the survey, incentives, and other factors.
If the project includes interviews or focus groups, the first step is to recruit participants.
This process typically takes a few weeks to complete and consists of an extensive process to ensure the participants are a good fit for the study.
For more information, read about our qualitative recruiting services.
Step #5: Analysis and reporting 📈
After fieldwork ends, the market research team will review and analyze the data collected to create a market research report.
The report may include a raw data export, discussion, high-level findings by email, infographic, a condensed topline report, or a complete comprehensive report.
After learning about the goals and objectives of the research, a market research company specializing in wineries should make a recommendation about which report format is ideal.
We cover this topic more in-depth in our blog post: Topline or Comprehensive Market Research Report: What's the Difference?
Step #6: Debrief meeting 🤝
When the report is delivered, the final step is to hold a debrief meeting to discuss the results. This typically takes about an hour to complete and includes time to address any questions.
Our winery and vineyard market research firm prides itself on adding a consultative element to each study. We do more than just deliver results.
Our team of certified market research professionals uses this meeting to explain how your winery can use the data to drive business, sales, and marketing strategies forward.
Market Research Options for Wineries
With an abundance of market research methodologies for wineries and vineyards to choose from, it can be overwhelming.
What makes the most sense for your establishment? What research study is most closely aligned for the objectives and goals you’ve set forth for your winery?
Our winery and vineyard market research company can help! We chose our top research studies that would be beneficial to those in your industry.
Common objectives we hear from our winery, vineyard, and brewery clients include:
- Gain a better understanding of target consumers and customers.
- Find data-driven strategies to increase sales and winery visits.
- Understanding awareness, perception, and satisfaction among target consumers.
- Measuring purchasing habits and factors of choice.
- Identifying what marketing messaging and platforms are most beneficial.
- Comparing key performance indicators to competitors.
Here's an inside look at what market research studies are most valuable to the wine industry.
Option #1: Winery or vineyard intercept surveys 💬
Wondering why visitors came to the winery and what drew them in? Or, wondering how much visitors spent at your winery versus others?
Winery intercept surveys are ideal for gathering in-the-moment feedback.
What is a winery intercept survey?
This type of market research involves a team of professional market research interviewers on-site. Interviewers approach guests and ask pre-determined questions about their experience. These surveys are short and easy to administer knowing the goal is to gather important feedback from visitors quickly.
Asking guests to share their opinions and experience at your winery as it is happening assures all feedback is accurate, which in the end leads to a higher quality of data. It is far superior to sending a satisfaction survey to customers days, weeks, or even months after their visit.
With this much time passing by from their visit, guests have trouble remembering specific aspects of their time at your winery.
Collecting immediate data and feedback will also help your winery be more proactive in making any critical changes as they are brought to your attention.
Best practices for intercept surveys include:
- Depending on the size of the winery, 1 to 5 or more professional market research interviewers may be needed.
- Interviewers should be located near the exits of the winery and approach guests as they leave the winery.
- To reach a variety of audiences, on-site interview days and times should vary. Doing so helps capture differences and similarities between visitors.
Questions asked in a winery intercept survey can range from sources of awareness for the winery, other wineries visited, satisfaction with the winery and other wineries visited, likelihood to recommend, the amount spent at the winery/other wineries visited, demographics, and more.
Option #2: Visitor surveys 🍷
Chances are most wineries have lists of customer and visitor email addresses. Sitting on one of these lists?
Wineries can put this customer database to use by developing a survey and addressing several objectives like awareness, preferences, purchase habits, satisfaction, likelihood to recommend, and more.
Our full-service market research company often recommends online surveys for our winery and vineyard clients as they are one of the most cost-effective research studies. Plus, they are easy to implement since contacts have already been gathered.
Knowing the survey is most likely reaching customers, questions typically focus on gathering opinions of the winery and competitors the survey respondent is aware of.
It is a great methodology for addressing questions such as satisfaction, number of visits per year, likelihood to recommend, and more.
With that being said, questions asked in a customer email survey can address more specific experiences based on the goal of conducting market research.
For example, if a winery wanted to learn more about the customer’s journey to their site, the survey would gain feedback such as:
- How far customers traveled
- Methods of transportation
- Where customers stopped prior to your winery
Because online surveys are usually shorter and take less time for a customer to complete, a market research company specializing in wineries can provide feedback in as little as two weeks.
Option #3: Brand equity studies 🗺️
It is always important to collect feedback from non-customers. This is typically an untapped market for wineries and vineyards; however, this audience can provide invaluable insight.
There may be a disconnect between your establishment and a target audience that you are not privy to.
Here is where brand equity studies shine.
What is a brand equity study?
In addition to surveying customers, brand equity surveys also gather feedback from prospective visitors. A survey is sent randomly to a target audience of general consumers within specific geographic areas. For example, it may target those aged 21 and older who live within 30 miles of the winery.
Since this survey randomly reaches customers and non-customers, awareness and perception of the winery and competitors are key questions.
Unlike research conducted solely with customers, the findings from a brand equity study will point to overall awareness and perception of the winery among the entire target market.
So why is this audience important?
It is necessary to understand what is most important to audiences similar to your customers (i.e., preference of wine, amount of money they would spend on wine, and how far they would travel to a winery).
These findings will help fill any gaps in the market and better position your winery as someone’s top choice when choosing where to visit.
Option #4: Mobile ethnography 📱
Mobile ethnography is an innovative market research technique that combines traditional ethnography with mobile research.
Ethnography in market research involves observing consumers in a natural environment, allowing clients to gain a reliable understanding of their behavior, values, and beliefs.
This methodology helps a market research team capture feedback in real-time, while customers are visiting the winery, brewery, or shopping for wine at a store.
Here is a quick synopsis of how a mobile ethnography project would work at a winery:
- Participants document their on-site experience when participating in a visit to a winery or wine region.
- The participant captures a photo(s) or video(s) of the experience through mobile diaries.
- The engagement takes less than 20 minutes to complete over the course of a trip.
- Drive Research reconnects with the participants after their on-site experience.
- Participants provide more general insights discussing what they like and what they think can be improved, comparing their experience that day to other winery experiences, and more.
The engagement can also be used to identify and test key marketing messages and collateral that resonate with the target audience for the toolkit.
Option #5: Research interviews 🗣️
If you are looking for more in-depth feedback and results, consider conducting follow-up research interviews with respondents from an online survey.
The interview can be hosted in-person at a focus group facility, over the phone, or via video conferencing technology. On average the length of interviews ranges from 30 to 90 minutes.
During the research study, trained interviewers follow a guide of pre-approved questions to ask participants.
However, the major benefit here is that interviewers can ask follow-up questions or for more context if the participant is not providing enough detail. This is not a luxury market research companies have with online surveys.
Similar to other methodologies, questions asked in the research interviews are customized based on your goals and objectives.
For example, if your objective is to market your winery as a tourist attraction, one-on-one interviews gather in-depth feedback to help...
- Determine tourism and winery marketing best practices.
- Understand which strategies have worked best to increase visitation for other local attractions.
- Identify where most tourists are traveling from.
Option #6: Online discussion boards 💻
Similar to research interviews, online discussion boards allow wineries and vineyards to dive deeper into motivations and associations.
Online discussion boards are interactive and held on a software platform or website where moderators can interact with participants while sharing comments, videos, and pictures about their customer experience (CX).
The process is very interactive, iterative, and thorough. They are a very innovative way to conduct qualitative market research.
Group discussion boards create major benefits for wineries and market research firms including:
- Savings on travel costs
- Savings on time
- Savings on stipends
- Visibility of feedback through multiple client logins
- Savings on facility costs
Winery Market Research Survey Question Examples
No two studies are the same, and Drive Research writes custom surveys based on the client’s objectives.
For this reason, the section below will be broken up into sample questions based on common audiences our winery and vineyard market research clients choose to survey.
Questions for Visitors
- How likely would you be to recommend [insert winery/vineyard] to a friend or colleague? Select one.
- Explain why you rated [insert winery/vineyard] as [insert rating]. Enter your response below.
- Why did you come to [insert winery/vineyard] today? Select all that apply.
- Which of the following did you or will you visit today? Select all that apply.
- How many of the following wineries/vineyards do you plan to visit today? Enter a response for each.
- Did/Do you plan to purchase any wine, beer, liquor, or cider at…? Select one.
- How satisfied were you with the following? Select one rating for each.
- Do you plan on purchasing any [insert winery/vineyard] wine in the next 3 months? Select one.
- How many people were in your tasting group today? Enter quantity.
- Which of the following best describes your age? Select one.
- What is your ZIP Code of residence? Enter your response below.
Questions for Non-Visitors
- Which of the following wineries are you aware of? Select all that apply.
- Based on your knowledge, what is your perception of the following wineries? Select one for each.
- Why did you rate your perception of [insert winery/vineyard] as [insert rating]? Enter your response below.
- When you see or hear [insert winery/vineyard], which of the following emotions/feelings do you have? Select all that apply.
- Where have you seen advertising for [insert winery/vineyard] in the past 3 months? Select all that apply.
- Which of the following wines have you tried? Select all that apply.
- How do you prefer to buy wine? Select all that apply.
- Why haven’t you been to [insert winery/vineyard]? Select all that apply.
- What type of wine do you prefer? Select all that apply.
- Which of the following best describes your age? Select one.
- What gender do you identify most with? Select one.
- What is your ZIP Code of residence? Enter your response below.
Questions for Wholesalers
- How does your store sort its wine selection? Select all that apply.
- Approximately how long has your store sold [insert winery/vineyard] wines? Select one.
- How many [insert winery/vineyard] wines does your store currently stock? Select one.
- How are [insert winery/vineyard] wines performing in your store? Select one.
- How are [insert region] wines performing in your store? Select one.
- How often do customers ask for [insert winery/vineyard] wines by name? Select one.
- How often does your staff suggest [insert winery/vineyard] wines? Select one.
- How much do you agree with the following statements about [insert winery/vineyard]? Select a rating for each.
- How would you rate the service of the [insert winery/vineyard] winery representative? Select one.
- How satisfied are you with the service of [insert winery/vineyard] compared to your other suppliers (i.e., wineries)? Select one.
- How often does the [insert winery/vineyard] winery representative call on your account? Select one.
- How would you rate the service of the [insert winery/vineyard] distributor? Select one.
- Do you have any suggestions on how [insert winery/vineyard] can improve the services provided to you?
Finding the Best Winery and Vineyard Market Research Firm
Are you trying to find the best winery and vineyard market research company? Before signing any proposals, below are four factors to consider!
Factor #1: Expertise with wine industry market research 🤓
Finding a market research company specializing in wineries can make for a more well-rounded approach and impactful results.
In addition, industry knowledge gives wineries an inside track to best practices within the market.
When searching for a market research company specializing in wineries, be sure to ask about the team’s experience in the industry and see if they can provide any case studies about past projects.
Factor #2: Recent relevant research methodology experience 🏫
If a company has experience with wine market research, it doesn’t necessarily mean that company is an excellent fit for every winery or vineyard market research study.
Various methodologies could be used, so it’s essential to make sure the market research company you work with is well versed in the methodologies needed to meet the goals and objectives for your establishment.
When reaching out to a market research company specializing in wineries, be sure to discuss prior research the team has completed that is relevant to the goals and objectives of your winery or vineyard.
This could include online surveys, on-site surveys, customer interviews, website research, and more.
Factor #3: Takes a consultative approach 🦸
A great winery and vineyard market research company offers expert recommendations for the approach, the survey design, and how to use the findings.
Look for a firm that is more than just a task taker, but one that can offer new ideas and out-of-the-box thinking.
This includes market research teams that...
- Walk you through the pros and cons of different methodologies and how that applies to your goals and objectives.
- Discussing how survey questions can be designed and formatted in a way to keep respondents engaged and gather higher quality data.
- Sharing insights into how your team can use the results to get a leg up against the competition.
In short, find a team that brings value to the table, not just data.
Factor #4: No “one size fits all” process 🚫📏
Customization is one of the most important pieces of market research.
Don’t get me wrong; certain best practices come into play with most market research studies, but the appropriate approach and methodology used for the study must be the best fit for your winery or vineyard.
A great wine market research company will walk you through the details to explore how specific approaches and methodologies are a better fit for your particular winery or vineyard.
Factor #5: Dedicated project managers 🧑💼
Last but not least, most winery and vineyard staff want to be walked through the market research process.
The best way to do this is to keep the line of communication clear and simple by using a dedicated project manager for your study.
The project manager acts as a liaison between your team and the research team. It is best to have a single point of contact to rely on from project start to project finish.
Cost of Wine Industry Market Research
While the cost of wine industry market research depends on various factors, let’s discuss a few aspects that are most likely to impact the price.
Safe to say, it’s hard to provide a clear-cut answer to what the cost of wine market research is.
This section will discuss 5 key factors that determine project scope.
Cost Factor #1: Type of methodology 💡
It’s usually a safe bet that a focus group project will be more expensive than an online survey project.
In the middle of that range are intercept surveys and in-depth interviews.
Of course, the amount of focus groups, surveys, and interviews is also a significant cost factor.
However, a big caveat to that range is how extensive the project is and how specific the desired audience is. We’ll explore more of these factors next!
Cost Factor #2: Survey audience 🧔👧
What makes a more significant factor in cost is how difficult an audience is to reach.
It can be surprising to learn that asking a few survey questions to a customer email list or even a national audience is pretty inexpensive.
Moreover, it is easier to survey a general population of consumers rather than consumers who live within a specific ZIP code and only drink Merlot on Wednesdays. (We’re a little facetious here.)
When reaching out to a market research company specializing in wineries, chat with the team to figure out the best way to target your desired audience in a way that fits your budget.
Cost Factor #3: Length of survey 📏
The length of the survey, interview, or focus group impacts time for reporting, but the most significant effect stems from how many respondents complete the research.
For example, it takes much less time to complete a shorter survey, interview, or focus group than a longer one. And, respondents are more likely to be interested in and fully complete shorter surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
As the length of time needed for respondents to complete the research increases, the cost of accessing qualified participants increases, ultimately, this also increases project costs.
Cost Factor #4: Incentives 💸
Offering incentives for market research is a best practice and can increase the participation rate in the study.
However, rewards for focus groups and in-depth interview participation are more expensive than incentives for surveys.
On average, here are a few cost breakdowns of rewards for different methodologies:
- Participating in a 2-hour focus group can range between $75 to $150 for each participant.
- Participating in a 30-minute in-depth interview can run between $50 to $100 for each participant.
- Responding to a survey can range from offering a raffle for $100 to $250.
It's safe to say incentives for interviews and focus groups can add up quickly. But keep in mind higher rewards can equal lower market research costs.
Cost Factor #5: Choice of reporting 🗂️
Reporting needs also impact the price of wine market research, and there are a few different options.
From lowest to highest cost, reporting options include a raw data file, online data portals, a topline report, and a comprehensive report.
A few add ons that can be explored include banner files, significance testing, infographics, and debriefs.
For more context, the raw data file and online data portals are quick and inexpensive ways to simply get the data. Whereas, a topline or comprehensive report is where a team will analyze the results and interpret the findings.
What is the difference between a topline and a comprehensive report?
The topline report is a 4 to 5-page bullet-point style deliverable with only the key insights to tell a quick story. In contrast, the comprehensive report includes detailed sections from each step of the market research such as an executive summary, recommendations and action items, and an infographic.
Case Study #1: Wine Consumer and Wholesaler Survey
A recent study was conducted with wine consumers and wholesalers for a specific winery in the Finger Lakes region.
The goal of the study was to get feedback from consumers who drink the wine and wholesalers who sell the wine in order to meet the research objectives.
This survey took a two-pronged approach, meaning separate surveys were created for the consumer and wholesaler audience.
Challenges of the winery
An advertising agency and winery hired Drive Research to conduct wine industry market research.
The objectives of the wine market research included understanding the general consumer and wholesaler audiences for the vineyard client as well as other secondary objectives.
Results will be compared to similar studies conducted about 8 years ago to understand how key performance indicators (KPIs) have changed for the client.
The market research will help optimize operations, marketing, and strategies for the clients.
Recommended approach
Drive Research recommended using a combination of two separate online surveys including:
- An emailed online survey to consumer contacts.
- A mailed paper invitation with an online link and a telephone follow-up to wholesalers.
When used in combination, these address all primary and secondary objectives for the client.
Fieldwork for the consumer survey began on June 1 and lasted until June 30. The survey consisted of 26 questions and took respondents 7 minutes to complete. A total of 309 responses were collected.
Fieldwork for the wholesaler survey began on July 18 and lasted until August 21. The survey consisted of 19 questions and took respondents 8 minutes to complete. A total of 40 responses were collected.
Results
The results of the study remain confidential with the clients, but several questions based on the key objectives of the study were answered.
The list below covers some example primary and secondary objectives addressed in the key findings for both the consumer survey and wholesaler survey.
Consumer survey questions answered:
- What is the perception of the wines?
- What are consumers’ purchasing habits of wines?
- What do consumers think about the vineyard?
- Who is a typical consumer of wines?
Wholesaler survey questions answered:
- How are the other wines performing in stores?
- What is the perception of wines and other wines among wholesalers?
- What is the perception of the representative service?
After the study was completed, several deliverables were passed to the client.
The report was delivered in a PDF format along with question-by-question results and a raw data file for both surveys. The report including an executive summary with recommendations.
Case Study #2: Winery Measures Brand Awareness and Perception
Challenges of the winery
A vineyard partnered with Advance Media New York and Drive Research on a market research study.
The market research objectives included understanding the awareness, purchasing habits, and perceptions of its brand and branded wines.
The investment in market research provided the client with definitive, measurable, and actionable feedback.
This data helped guide the next steps with marketing its wines through improved messaging, customer and non-customer characteristics, and other strategic benefits.
Recommended approach
To address the objectives at hand, Drive Research recommended a two-pronged market research approach.
The first approach was an online survey to the general community (customers and non-customers) with an option to participate in follow-up market research.
The online survey was conducted as the first wave of the market research project.
It was used to gather insight on key objectives from the general population and targeted market areas including awareness, image, and perceptions. This was an introductory and high-level overview of the market for the client.
The online survey addressed the key objectives of the study, including questions recommended by our survey team based on past brand equity market research experience as well as customized questions for the needs of the client.
Screening criteria consisted of:
- Respondents were 21 years of age or older
- Wine drinkers
The online survey was blinded and was not branded as the client to ensure anonymity across all channels.
This survey was administered via paid social media advertisements to a random reach and geo-targeted online panel to individuals that resided within a specific hour radius around the winery.
These combined methods ensured the randomness of sampling.
The survey lasted an average of 3 to 5 minutes and included 18 questions. Fieldwork lasted from September 26 to October 4. A total of 250 responses were collected (higher than the goal of 200 responses).
The second was an intercept survey with visitors to the winery to collect in-the-moment feedback.
The second approach was on-site interviews with patrons to the winery. This was conducted over a 2-day period at the winery.
A Drive Research interviewer surveyed customers as they exited the location. This type of in-the-moment feedback is unparalleled for accuracy in purchasing habits, attitudes, and wine tour travel behaviors.
The on-site interviews inquired on specifics of the winery itself (on-site purchases, reasons for attending, travel patterns, ZIP code of residence, rating the experience, other wine tasting locations traveled to that day).
The research was conducted over 2 days.
Dates were chosen during the peak season for the client and were expected to reach a mix of wine drinkers.
One interviewer was staffed at the exit for a total of 10 hours over the 2-day period.
The survey lasted an average of 3 minutes and included 15 questions. A total of 58 responses were collected (higher than the goal of 50 responses).
Results
Although the results remain confidential with the client, the market research set out to answer several key objectives for the client.
The 113-page report included an executive summary of key themes, recommendations, an infographic, non-customer personas, and a question-by-question breakdown of results.
Drive Research answered the following questions for the client:
- Are residents in the target market aware of the client's brands?
- What is the perception of the client?
- Have respondents seen or heard the client in the past 3 months? Where?
- What are the purchasing preferences for wine in the market?
- What types of wines are most preferred in the market?
- What vineyards in the Finger Lakes do visitors travel to?
- Do visitors like the experience at the winery? Why or why not?
- What is a typical day like for visitors to Finger Lakes vineyards, breweries, and distilleries?
- What does the sales experience at the winery look like for visitors?
Case Study #3: Winery Redesigns Website with UX Research
Every day, organizations are taking action to improve their websites in order to present their brand, products, and services in the most flattering light.
Rather than just a nice design, it is also critical for a website to be user-friendly with fast load times, easy navigation, and a straightforward call to action.
If you are looking to create or redesign your current website, it is important to conduct user experience research to best meet the expectations of website visitors.
It takes the guesswork out of how customers and prospects use your website and instead provides fact-based evidence to drive marketing decisions.
In fact, a prior project our website market research company completed produced a 665% return on investment (ROI)!
Learn more about the objectives, approach, and outcomes for this Finger Lakes winery website market research study!
Plus watch the winery's testimonial of working with our market research company.
Challenges of the winery
eCommerce stores want to make it as easy as possible for customers to move from a website landing page to checkout. Unfortunately, what web developers think customers want is not what customers need.
This is why website market research is powerful. Gather data to inform business leaders rather than guessing at what customers want.
A winery in the Finger Lakes region hired Drive Research to conduct a survey with consumers who visit winery websites to learn more about usage and expectations.
The objectives of the market research study included gaining a better understanding of the follower areas:
- Visit intentions
- Shopping experience needs
- Goals for site visits
- User paths
The data and findings will help drive the redesign of the website for the brand.
Recommended approach
To collect the best feedback to guide the redesign of the winery website, Drive Research recommended a three-phased market research approach.
The combination of quantitative and qualitative market research for this project offered measurable and exploratory insights on the website experience.
The 3 phases of the wine industry market research included:
- Online survey to a national target audience
- Online survey to contacts who are part of the brand's email database
- User experience in-depth interviews (UXIDIs) with site users
Approach for the online survey to the national target audience
There were several criteria necessary for respondents of the national survey to meet in order to participate.
All survey respondents were over the age of 21, drank wine at least weekly, and purchased wine at least every 3 months.
The survey took an average of 9 minutes to complete and included 31 questions. Fieldwork for this survey lasted 10 days and earned a total of 422 responses.
Approach for the online survey to brand's email database
The survey sent to contacts who were part of the brand's email database took users an average of 6 minutes to complete and included 32 questions.
The survey received 1,234 responses. The fieldwork for this survey lasted 18 days.
Approach for user experience in-depth interviews (UXIDIs)
For the in-depth interviews, Drive Research managed recruitment, scheduling, and moderating. Fieldwork for the interviews began on August 21 and lasted until August 28, 2019.
The interview guide consisted of 28 questions and took an average of 35 minutes to complete. A total of 8 interviews were conducted.
Respondents were screened to ensure a mix of age groups, genders, household incomes, and states of residence. In addition, all participants were familiar with the brand's website.
Learn more about user experience (UX) market research, such as what it is and how it works!
Results
The report remains confidential with the winery.
The wine industry market research report included background and methodology, executive summary of themes, an infographic, respondent personas, recommendations and action items, and next steps for market research.
The appendix included a detailed question-by-question breakdown of both surveys, profiles of the UXIDI participants, and final copies of the surveys and interview documents.
The market research answered the following research objectives:
- What are common wine purchasing habits?
- How common is it to purchase wine from a winery website?
- What are online wine shopping experience needs?
- What are current online wine shopping habits?
- How satisfied are online wine purchasers?
- What information is most important on a winery website?
- How do users get to winery websites?
- What is the user path when visiting the website?
- How does the website compare?
- How would users improve the website?
Contact Our Winery and Vineyard Market Research Company
Drive Research is a national market research company located in Central New York. Our team works with wineries and wine trails across the country to implement a variety of market research programs. These studies fuel marketing and increase revenue for the wineries and vineyards.
Ready to receive a quote or proposal from our third-party market research company specializing in wineries? No problem.
Contact us through any of the four channels below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Emily Taylor
As a Senior Research Analyst, Emily is approaching a decade of experience in the market research industry and loves to challenge the status quo. She is a certified VoC professional with a passion for storytelling.
Learn more about Emily, here.
