The Wine Collector

I'm actually of the opposite mind here, which is to say I favor sales on wine and not free shipping, but with some caveats. For a super-large company like Amazon that can't afford to think with the level of granularity necessary to effectively use individual SKU sales, it only makes sense to promote all brands with a broad sweeping promotion.

Smaller online wine vendors can, and should, be more proactive with the stock, just like brick and mortar wine shops. They should be buying with bot good deal pricing and good deal promotion in mind. In the end it's a zero sum game, but I don't think smaller vendors should eschew the benefits of a good promotion because for them every SKU counts and for Amazon, huge blocks of products count.

As with anything else, it's a tradeoff. In this case, it's between California consumers (and those near a good wine store) vs. those who can't get the good wine locally. In my experience with wine.woot, I love having the flat-rate shipping, and the wine costs themselves are often below retail. However, some people, particularly those in California, sometimes find the wine.woot for cheaper locally. I think it makes sense, both in terms of diversification of market and increasing the number of potential consumers, to offer free, heavily-discounted, or flat-rate shipping so that those who aren't in California also have access to great wine without driving hours or scouring every wine store in a 50-mile radius on a monthly basis.

I should add that flat-rate shipping is also an incentive for people to buy more wine, as they're paying the flat rate regardless of quantity. This also is, in effect, a net discount for the consumers who purchase larger quantities, subsidized by the smaller-quantity purchasers.

I actually think a customer loyalty program would a great idea. The more often you purchase, the lower your rates become. It could be tied to dollar value of cumulative purchases over time or something. I suppose Amazon Prime is effectively this - but you buy into the loyalty program.

But then for me it is more about convenience. I work long hours, with a 1.5 hour commute (starting my own wine-related business). In order to get home in time to see my kids, I have a hard time getting to the wine store. Of course I live in PA - among the worst offenders in limiting customer liquor rights - so this entire conversation is bit hypothetical for me anyway.