We get it. Selecting a wine platform is a big decision with long-term ramifications. So here are three simple yet essential questions to consider before you commit:

🍷 Is it easy to use?
It’s easy to be swayed toward a platform promising all the bells and whistles. But it’s worth asking yourself two things: Do these bells and whistles hold value for my business, and does my team have the capabilities and capacity to use them? Larger players (like Shopify) invest more in their platforms, meaning they are better designed, more intuitive, and much easier to use.

🍷 Does it suit your needs?
What exactly does your platform need to do? For instance, do you have a wine club? Do you need email marketing automation? Do you want to include a reward system for your customers? A single platform that claims to cover all of your needs is often a red flag. Platforms that offer excellent commerce performance and integrate with top-tier third-party services (for clubs, email marketing, rewards, reviews, etc.) are often a wiser choice.

🍷 Will it grow with you?
A good platform is flexible and doesn’t lock you down as you grow, change, or customise your e-commerce offering. The benefit of a flexible integration-friendly platform—as opposed to a fixed platform or one that makes external plugins hard to use—is that if you outgrow one aspect, change your direction, or want to add something new, you can simply integrate that specific service without needing to rebuild your entire website.