E-wine: criticism and resources. A comparative analysis

The phenomenon of high land parcelling visible in the Italian wine sector (that obviously reflects, as well, on the ability of the companies themselves to ‘communicate‘ their supply and subsequently make it available on the market) as well as the tendential reduction in wine consumption, that is characterising the traditional leader countries of its production, especially Italy and France, are causing companies in this area that are already ‘weak’ due to their ‘small’ size, to look for more land space in zones that have not traditionally been involved in wine production but in which an increase in the demand of this product is occurring. It thus seems inevitable for the companies in this sector, in particular for the small ones, to turn to a new channel of distribution, that of e-commerce, which can potentially combine both the needs of acquiring visibility in international markets and a reduction in expense. The search for visibility of a brand on the web, instead, causes high degrees of complexity from the growing variety and variability of the e-commerce phenomenon. The reduction of complexity of the e-wine phenomenon from the consumer’s point of view and the satisfying of information needs as well, prior to purchase characterise the category of ‘connoisseur products” to which wine belongs, can be pursued through the careful management of the virtual store (Internet site). In this study, using the model known in literature as 2QCV2Q which has been suitably adapted to the sector under examination, we have tried to provide an “evaluation” of some e-wines websites in order to establish their “theoretical selling potential”.