Modern wineries are becoming inundated with massive amounts of data coming from multiple directions. A dynamic Paarl-based data analytics company is helping South African wine businesses become more streamlined and efficient in using that information.
For Jaco Fourie, what began has a side-hustle putting his agile data skills to good use has turned into a viable business proposition. After the havoc wreaked by Covid, Jaco began looking for avenues to apply his skills in data analytics. After eight years conducting market analysis for global wine powerhouse Concha y Toro from its Africa and Middle East branch, Jaco had considerable experience converting complex data streams into actionable sales and business intelligence.
Jaco grew up in wine country as a native of Robertson. His wife, Angela, is also an industry trailblazer practicing in strategic brand management with a focus on high end consumer experiences.
The couple recently settled in Paarl to be at the centre of the wine industry. Together, they not only share a deep understanding of the wine consumer’s journey, but also of the relevant business considerations that are always in play – they’re “one part commercial, one part creative,” as Angela describes it.
These complementary skills and combined experience have culminated in the establishment of Jaco’s new data and business intelligence company, called Vinalytics.
Crunching the data
The pandemic forced many wineries to do more business online and tap new markets and channels. This also means more data coming in faster than ever. Vinalytics knows how to make this constant influx digestible for users. “We’re able to present a comprehensive overview of a whole business on a single platform, from the tasting room and restaurant to the e-shop, loyalty club and other direct-to-consumer channels.”
Through Vinalytics, Jaco wants to unlock the potential of this data to provide actionable business intelligence when and where it’s needed. “It’s not just about the data,” Jaco explains. “Because of my commercial experience, I know where and what to look for in terms of sales, promotion, and distribution in local and international markets.”
Forget about all those long email chains and folders filled with outdated PDFs and PowerPoint presentations that make decision-making slow and cumbersome. The cloud-based platform can be accessed from multiple locations simultaneously, and the dashboard can be customised to suit different requirements, whether it’s for sales representatives, winery owners, shareholders, viticultural teams, research teams, wine making teams or anyone who works directly with the brand.
Bring facts to the table
It’s one thing being able to measure one’s own products and performance, but a data-driven awareness of where your business and products are positioned within the context of the wider wine industry is strategic gold.
“If you’re running a product promotion, you’re able to quickly access to see the top 20 clients – not only by total sales, but also by metrics such as frequency and spend. The ability to take a ‘deep dive’ into the data opens up new possibilities, like identifying candidates for loyalty clubs or subsequent promotions.”
Vinalytics unlocks the power of the internal data streams a winery has available, while anticipating the next step. Jaco is able to integrate check-out data from multiple reporting interfaces on all alcohol sold at participating retailers. “I’ve consolidated the live market data and made it accessible through the Vinalytics platform, allowing producers to benchmark their wines against similar products on the system.
The platform also provides comparable data on active promotions, revealing industry best practices and identifying underperforming campaigns.
Jaco emphasises the importance of capturing quality data, especially for smaller producers. “Good data allows me to perform a stock analysis, which makes it possible to predict cycles in the market and be proactive about putting in orders and providing stock. This is often lacking in the South African wine industry, and it’s an area where my system can really add value.”
Agile decision-making
Having timely and comprehensive overview of sales data at your fingertips is especially valuable when seeing prospective buyers. Jaco can create presentations to empower them during negotiations and decision-making. “Base your decisions on data, not gut feel,” says Jaco. “It’s the difference between perception and reality.”
“The advantage isn’t just commercial. It also extends to viticulture and winemaking, allowing decisions about plantings and wine style will be based on real-world trends and forecasted demand. Data analysis empowers wineries to tailor their product mix to the market environment.”
Jaco wants to bring agility back into the wine value chain. Vinalytics takes the guesswork out of stock placement and facings and gets winery data moving. “Knowing where products are moving fast or selling out, or perhaps not even listed, empowers wineries to adjust their strategy and manage their stock more intelligently.”
Vinalytics aims to be a force multiplier for maximising the latent potential of data in the wine industry. Wineries and wine businesses find themselves in a digital sweet spot – with incoming data through exports, tasting rooms, restaurants, distributors, agents, online stores and loyalty clubs – but often struggle to get this data working for them. Vinalytics offers a single platform for consolidating the variety of different data streams and translating them into clear, actionable insights.
For more information about Vinalytics, contact jaco@vinalytics.co.za / 076 592 2833
