Coming off a year in which online alcohol sales doubled, the country’s largest direct-to-consumer (D2C) wine merchant has teamed up with a leading eCommerce platform provider to enable scores of vintners an increased ability to sell and promote their products.
In announcing their new partnership, WineDirect and BigCommerce said their upcoming integration will bring modern, flexible eCommerce access to over 2,000 different wine brands around the world and take digital selling practices to the next level.
“Despite the rise in online alcohol sales over the last year, wineries have been slower than other industries to adopt [D2C],” Russell Klein, chief commercial officer for BigCommerce told PYMNTS via email, “but competition for consumer attention is increasingly fierce and to stay top-of-mind, wineries need to leverage every tool at their disposal.”
Klein said the partnership will provide wineries with the world-class eCommerce functionality they need to reach more customers directly, while providing the businesses with the functionality, security and speed needed to jumpstart their digital transformations, particularly in the aftermath of COVID.
Trailing 12 Vs. Next Three Years
While the digital shift caused by the pandemic saw a spike in all forms of eCommerce over the past 12 months in the face of shuttered retail stores and other health-related restrictions, studies show that the surge in first-time online alcohol purchasers will not only stick, but accelerate in the years to come.
According to the two companies’ joint release, within a segment that doubled in 2020, 44 percent of online alcohol sales came from first-time buyers last year, and the broader business is projected to grow 600 percent over the next three years, topping $40 billion in sales by 2024.
This shift in consumer buying behavior was clearly a factor in Uber’s decision last year to pay $1.1 billion to acquire alcohol delivery service platform Drizly. Although that transaction is aimed at serving more impulsive consumers in 1,400 cities who are willing to pay a premium to get last-minute purchases brought to their doors, the other side of the online alcohol business is much more methodical and subscription-based.
Wine Sales Are Up
As for WineDirect specifically, the company said its D2C wine sales topped $2 billion last year and are continuing to grow in the first quarter of 2021.
“As the [D2C] channel becomes increasingly important for wineries, we want to support our winery partners even further by providing the best ecommerce tools available not only in the wine industry, but to rival the best across all industries,” Jim Agger, senior vice president of eCommerce at WineDirect, said in a statement.
With BigCommerce handling the digital side of the deal via the creation of attractive online storefronts, fast checkout, powerful analytics and flexible APIs that connect with third-party apps, WineDirect can focus on working with wineries to develop new sales and services.
The new platform is set for a partial roll out in the fall in time for the holiday season, ahead of a full migration beginning early 2022.
What do the movies “Blade Runner,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Back to the Future Part II” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” all have in common?
These science fiction movies, each depicting various versions of a future full of fantastic technologies, all take place in the year 2025 or earlier.
Though some of the high-tech gadgets and futuristic innovations seen in these films, such as hoverboards and flying cars, haven’t quite materialized in everyday life, they have sparked imagination and set the stage for the very real innovations. As the dozens of groundbreaking products and wacky gadgets that debuted at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week reveal, the future is certainly now.
CES, after all, rarely disappoints when it comes to providing a first-look at some truly strange gadgets that might just represent the ultimate showcase of tomorrow’s technology.
From artificial intelligence (AI) being embedded into everything and smarter than ever home devices, to autonomous robotic companions and wearable tech that both bends and blends reality, many of the inventions that once seemed out of reach in Hollywood films are now being unveiled on the convention floor.
See also: The Five Not-So-Obvious Things That Will Change the Digital Economy in 2025
It’s becoming clear that today’s technological advancements are increasingly bridging the gap between what was once imagined and what’s now becoming real.
For example, smart home robots are no longer a futuristic fantasy — they are being positioned as potentially indispensable components of modern households.
CES 2025 saw the debut of the Roborock Saros Z70, a robot vacuum with a telescopic, five-axis arm. Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons” has nothing on this little gadget, which its maker describes as “a mechanical arm that sees and thinks,” and is able to pick up and put away items like socks, shoes, tissues and more.
For more serious household tasks, the SwitchBot Multitasking Household Robot K20+ Pro was also unveiled at CES 2025. “Whether it’s delivering objects, vacuuming, monitoring pets, purifying the air, providing home security, or even mobilizing smart tablets, the K20+ Pro juggles household management with ease … from delivering food and drinks to carrying small packages,” said a company release.
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The K20+ Pro’s core is designed for customization and flexibility, serving as a modular foundation that allows users to create, adapt, and personalize the robot for a wide variety of innovative applications, and can connect with third-party smart devices like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, ensuring integration into any smart home ecosystem.
Elsewhere, TCL premiered its “AI Me” (Amy) concept companion robot, complete with animated eyes, autonomous movement and an AI-powered camera on its head; while Dreame showcased its X50 Ultra robot vacuum that has legs to avoid obstacles.
As smart home technology continues to evolve, the integration of robots designed to assist in daily activities could significantly alter how we interact with our homes, manage tasks and even shape the future of work.
TomBot, for example, debuted an emotional robotic lap dog, Jennie, an AI robot therapy dog designed to keep seniors company. On the more playful side of things, Tokyo robotics startup Yukai Engineering introduced the Nékojita FuFu, a portable cat-shaped robot that can blow air to cool hot food or drinks.
It wasn’t solely robotics for use at home being showcased at CES. John Deere used the Las Vegas event to reveal its own autonomous agricultural products. The fully autonomous machines were on display from Jan. 7 to 10, and were a bit bigger in size, if equivalently less cute, than the TomBot puppies.
Read more: Google Reportedly Bringing Gemini AI to TV Sets
Behind the strangely futuristic convenience of a robot picking up your laundry and taking out the trash while it vacuums and interfaces with the rest of your household appliances lies a much larger story: the rise of the smart economy.
As CES 2025 showed, augmented reality (AR) glasses are the eye candy of the smart economy. A host of futuristic specs were unveiled, capable of a range of tasks that turn the wearer into a high-tech superhero.
Halliday showcased “the world’s first proactive AI glasses with invisible display,” while freshly debuted Loomos.AI glasses offer a ChatGPT-4o integrated AI assistant.
But other appendages remain up for grabs, and innovative products from smart rings to apps like WowMouse, which allows smartwatch wearers to control devices using just their gestures and fingers, are vying for market share in ways that aim to make daily life more convenient, efficient and secure.