Image: WINEDEPOT CEO Dean Taylor.

Pioneering direct-to-trade platform WINEDEPOT MARKET launched to customers in Melbourne this week, with the aim of transforming wine purchasing for venues and retail outlets across the city.

Melbourne is the second capital city that WINEDEPOT MARKET has been rolled-out in, after going live to Sydney customers in late May.

CEO Dean Taylor said the platform was functioning well and that local customers were responding extremely positively to the proposition.

“The evolution of the wine distribution model in Australia is long overdue,” Taylor said.

“Technology has brought vast changes in the way we produce wine and sell to consumers, but in the middle, supply chains and wholesaling are still plagued by inefficiency.”

According to Taylor, WINEDEPOT is already working with over 400 brands, with the number of products on the platform growing daily, and early customer recruitment in both cities had been strong.

“The chance to move more of their wine purchasing to a single platform, with a single invoice and single credit account, has been highly attractive to venues and retailers,” he said.

“Customers are trialling the platform and finding a large range of products they already purchase, all in one place, along with a selection of new and interesting wines from some of Australia’s top producers.”

Taylor said that WINEDEPOT MARKET was designed to enable participants across the industry – from winemakers to distributors to consumer outlets – to outsource logistics and concentrate on the aspects of their business that delivered most value.

“We identified the need for a comprehensive direct-to-trade platform in the local wine market years ago, and launching in our second major city shows we’re closing in on that goal,” he said.

“It’s a significant milestone for the platform and the wine trade more broadly.”

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