Philly's own ClassicWines.com, one of the Internet's most popular wine portals, has reached a significant milestone: over 250,000 wines available online. Designed to meet consumer's increasing demand for unique and rare wines, the company is in the forefront of the wine industry's online evolution.
Fueling this dramatic expansion of online inventory is the company's proprietary WineRAC system which pulls product data from wine producers and merchants and offers consumers tools to find, explore, and purchase wines either from merchants or (thanks to the landmark 2005 supreme court case) directly from wineries.
"Ecommerce for wine is growing every day," explained Mark Shay, CEO of ClassicWines.com. "More and more wineries and specialty wine retailers are realizing that selling online is the wave of the future. With sophisticated tax compliance software and certified over-21-year-old delivery, wine selling is joining the Internet revolution and we are providing the marketplace for consumers to find and compare online buying options."
"WineRAC stands for wine retrieval and active classification," explained Mark Spangler, VP of ClassicWines.com. "The system uses multiple methods of retrieval to obtain as much data as possible from wineries and online retailers, and processes it for publishing."
One of the methods Spangler is referring to is 'feed processing.' Feeds are formatted lists of information posted online (utilizing RSS and XML) or through an excel spreadsheet, providing orderly access to data regarding region, varietal, price, and other statistics for every product in a retailer's inventory. Feeds can be constantly updated and are accessed dynamically. Once a feed is established, both the client and ClassicWines.com can go 'hands off' and allow WineRAC to process autonomously.
WineRAC also utilizes a technique called 'crawling.' "If a client decides that feeds aren't possible for them, we can work with them to crawl their site," explained Spangler. "This is where data is lifted straight off of the live webpage and filtered into WineRAC."
A unique feature of the WineRAC system is its integration of client listings in conjunction with product listings. By recognizing product association with retailers, WineRAC can assign a pricing record underneath each product. "Our price comparison system really stands out," stated Spangler. "When browsing for a particular wine bottle, online consumers can also view a list of retailers who carry that bottle, and at what price they list it. Shoppers can then click through to the desired retailer (usually the one with the lowest price), and purchase it from their online store. It's free enterprise at its best!"
Consumers can access the ClassicWines.com search engine at http://www.ClassicWines.com. For wineries and retailers, feed data processing is available at no cost. Details are available on Classic Wines Advertising.
