Australia: Cellar Door And Direct-to-consumer Survey Report

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Direct-to-consumer DTC wine sales have grown exponentially in Australia over the last decade, emulating the growth seen in countries such as the United States where DTC sales represent a significant portion of the overall market. That growth has been documented in annual reports undertaken by various industry organisations which, in turn, has provided American wineries with essential data to assist in growing this important distribution channel.

In Australia, the value of Direct-to-consumer sales is increasingly being recognised by wine businesses. The Cellar Door and Direct-to-consumer survey aims to collect data on DTC and produce a series of key benchmarks and statistics to assist wineries develop their wine tourism and DTC activities.

Information is collected and reported on:

• Annual wine production (9-litre cases)
• Total and average revenue by sales channel
• Direct-to-consumer sales
• Cellar door operations: days of opening, facilities offered, tasting styles
• Visitor numbers
• Wine and loyalty clubs: membership, structure, offers
• Customer communications and relationship management

In this report, ‘direct-to-consumer’ includes any means of selling directly to a consumer – e.g. cellar door, wine and loyalty clubs, events, winery website, phone and mail order sales.

Report summary

Key insights from the 2019 report include:

• Direct-to-consumer sales in Australia account for an average of 13 per cent of a winery’s income – with total revenue from DTC sales reaching $1 billion in Australia in 2018-19
• Cellar door accounts for over half (53%) of all DTC sales across the different winery size categories.
• There were over 17000 visitors to the cellar door per winery on average in 2018-19
• 50 per cent of wineries charge for standard wine tastings, compared with 29 per cent in 2017-18.
• Wine clubs have an average of just over 2000 members, with net growth in wine club membership being 24 per cent in 2018-19.