Project: Evaluation of Virginia Wineries Web Sites Gustavo Ferreira

Project: Evaluation of Virginia Wineries Web Sites
Gustavo Ferreira, PhD, MBA Assistant Professor and Extension Economist at the
Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics at Virginia Tech
J. Paulo Canle Ferreira, MBA Senior Consultant in agribusiness at MAWAM
Solutions
Introduction
Main US wine industry challenges:


Worldwide oversupply of wine mainly from large domestic wine makers (i.e.
California) and emerging wine producing countries (i.e. Australia, South Africa,
Chile, etc.).
Difficult to influence distributors to market their products and to secure retail shelf
space.
Consequently: Virginia wineries need to develop innovative and competitive marketing
strategies.
Virginia wineries web site analysis
There sites of 184 Virginia wineries were analyzed. The selected wineries were
identified using the directory posted at the Virginia Wine website in 2012. The data base
was reviewed and updated while the analysis was conducted.
This analysis attempts to: (1) assess the wineries’ overall online marketing strategy;
(2) identify the Web site features that enhance the value of your business; (3) and
propose potential improvements to existing current Web site.
A four dimensions framework was developed and included:




General features of a Web site (4 features)
Wine tourism (14 features)
Direct marketing (10 features)
Educational (5 features)
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Each dimension of comprised of a series of website features. Furthermore, each winery
receives a score equal to one every time its Web site includes one of the suggested
features and a zero otherwise. A final score is then computed for each of the fours
dimensions.
Pecentage Share of Features Present in Virginia Web Sites
Virginia Industry Average
General Features of Web Site
Wine Tourism
Direct Marketing
Educational
92%
55%
44%
53%
Literature
• Evaluation of Virginia Wineries Web Sites. Cooperative Extension Farm Business
Management Newsletter, October - November Issue – 2012
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/AAEC/AAEC-26/AAEC-26_PDF.pdf
• Ferreira, G. and Joao Ferreira. 2013. “Virginia Wineries’ Web Sites: An Evaluation.”
Journal of Business Administration Online (Under review).
Wineries individual analysis
We contacted 101 wineries located in the Shenandoah Valley, Central Virginia, Blue
Ridge, Southern Virginia, Heart of Appalachia, and Rural Retreat via email and
telephone in order to explain the project and offer consulting in web marketing.
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We got a total of 25 positive contacts, which represented close to 25% of the total
contacts.
Of these 25 positive contacts, we visited 18 wineries. During these visits, we explained
the overall project and presented a customized report for each winery that included the
results of our analysis of the winery’s website and a comparison to those same results
for the Virginia industry.
The others 7 wineries were contacted via email and phone, and they received an
electronic copy of their own report.
The names of the wineries consulted are kept confidential and only disclose after
request.
Geographic location of visited wineries
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Results and feedback
A feedback questionnaire was sent after each visit in order to measure the impact of the
project and the producers’ level of satisfaction. As showed below, the response was
very positive, with very high levels of satisfaction and interest to the 18 wineries visited
and directed consulted.
Did you consider our
meeting useful?
Strongly agree
Agree
Not sure
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Do you think the
recommendations provided
in the report were useful to
your business?
Strongly agree
Agree
Not sure
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Are you planning on using
the recommendations and
the information in the
report?
Yes
Not sure
No
Answers
%
13
1
0
0
0
93%
7%
0%
0%
0%
Answers
%
12
1
1
0
0
86%
7%
7%
0%
0%
Answers
%
13
1
0
93%
7%
0%
4
Would you be interested in
receiving this type of advice
for other topics?
Yes
No
Answers
%
14
0
100%
0%
Next projects



Expanding the website analysis to the states, such as Maryland and North
Carolina in order to make regional comparative analysis.
E-commerce price analysis by grape varieties in Virginia, Maryland and North
Carolina.
The application of Search Engine Optimization techniques.
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