Sovos ShipCompliant recently released the 2024 Direct-to-Consumer (DtC) Wine Shipping Report with our partner, WineBusiness Analytics. This look-back at 2023 is the most comprehensive, complete and exclusive collection of data and insights on the state of the DtC channel. While DtC wine shipments saw a decline in volume for the second year in a row, the value of the channel showed resilience, remaining steady at $4.1B.
About the data
The 2024 DtC Wine Shipping Report takes shipment data from more than 1,250 U.S. wineries’ shipments to consumers each month, totaling more than 37 million shipments over the course of 2023. In compiling this information, each shipment is edited for submission for governmental tax and reporting requirements, and all elements are validated by standardized tables. The verified data is submitted to a proprietary model built on a database of 11,500+ wineries that is updated monthly by WineBusiness Analytics.
2024 DtC report highlights
Taking a deep dive into findings from 2023 value, volume, shipments by month, average bottle price, winery region, production tiers and varietal, the 2024 DtC Wine Shipping Report shows some noteworthy shifts to the channel. Here are some notable takeaways:
- For the second year in a row, the volume of DtC wine shipments experienced a decline, by 6.5% in 2023. This is the first recorded volume decline in two consecutive years in the 14-year history of the report.
- Inflationary pressures have left their mark on the wine industry for the third year in a row, pushing the average price per bottle to $48.35, a significant 7.1% increase over 2022. Although the increase is lower than the spikes seen in the previous two years, it remains well above historical averages.
- The lower the price of the wine, the greater decline in volumes shipped through the DtC channel in 2023. The largest wineries, typically offering lower-prices wines, experienced a substantial 13.2% decrease in shipping volumes compared to 2022 numbers.
- California wineries saw a significant 14.4% drop in winery shipment volume to its customers. This decline, more than twice the size of the overall DtC channel decrease, marks the largest year-over-year drop in shipments to California customers since 2010.
- Amidst the general decline in volume and value of shipments, Washington State wineries stood out with an impression 5.5% increase in volume and 11.0% increase in the value of shipments over 2022. This outstanding performance surpassed that of any other region tracked.
What’s on the horizon?
Tune in for our free webinar on February 7, where we will dig deeper into data and takeaways from the 2024 DtC Wine Shipping Report. Register here for the live discussion hosted by Sovos ShipCompliant and WineBusiness Analytics experts.
Take Action
Download your complimentary copy of the 2024 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report for additional insights and analysis of DtC channel trends.