DTC merger shakes up industry, creates US’s largest AlcBev logistics provider

Reaction continues to come in, but this merger indicates that WineDirect now takes the second place spot in the DTC standings with Copper Peak coming in third.

(Comments added in chronological order most recent first.)

“WineDirect is proud to provide our clients with best-in-class fulfillment and customer service. Enabling wineries to meet and exceed ever-rising consumer expectations around delivery speed and accuracy is something we have been focused on for years, and continues to be our top priority.”— Joe Waechter, President and CEO of WineDirect

“As a long-time API-integrated partner with Wineshipping, we at eCellar are excited about Wineshipping’s expansion, with their dashboard already contained within eCellar, giving our clients even greater real-time visibility into Wineshipping’s inventory across all warehouses, along with their direct to consumer shipments.” — Paul Thienes, eCellar, CEO/Founder

“At Commerce7 we are excited about this merger.  It creates a true market share leader in the space.  WineShipping has been heavily investing over the past few years.  They have a new forward thinking CEO,  great technology, modern APIs and we are excited to see what they do over the next few years.” — Andrew Kamphuis, Commerce 7

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News Release, April 6, 2020

Wineshipping and 24 Seven Combine To Provide Overnight Ground Delivery for Wine Industry

Napa, Calif. – Wineshipping and 24 Seven Enterprises which includes Pack n’ Ship Direct and Vin-Go, all industry leaders in direct to consumer (DTC) wine fulfillment solutions, today announced the completion of a business combination. The combined entity will be part of Wineshipping’s parent, DTC Logistics, and creates the nation’s largest alcohol beverage DTC logistics provider.

 

The new venture is a perfect fit combining complementary capabilities and expertise into a best- in-class partner providing DTC solutions to wine producers, retailers, e-commerce and wholesale companies. Through a combined national network of temperature-controlled locations in every region of the country, the new enterprise will have the capability to serve consumers with same-day delivery to major metropolitan areas and one to two-day ground delivery to all other locations.

 

Eric Lewis, who joined Wineshipping in January 2020 from recent executive positions at Amazon, Google and Casper, will continue in his role as Chief Executive Officer of DTC Logistics headquartered in Napa, CA.

 

“DTC Logistics will drive more winery and e-commerce sales with same day and overnight delivery. By offering the delivery standards that consumers have come to expect, we predict that customers will adapt their beverage alcohol buying behaviors, purchasing more products, more often,” said CEO, Eric Lewis.

 

“Today, more than 50% of most product categories are purchased online and delivered directly to the consumer. Moving from brick-and-mortar to mobile devices allows consumers to shop more frequently and easily. Consumers demand their goods faster and with more visibility. These demand shifts are driving an increased need for speed, accuracy and innovative solutions in the wine and spirits industry where less than 10% of sales are direct to consumer.

 

Wine and alcohol are poised to see a significant shift to DTC. The combined capabilities resulting from this business combination uniquely position the DTC Logistics team – and our customers – for the evolution that is happening in our market,” said Lewis.

 

“This combination of companies brings together two very talented like-minded teams that will be dedicated to delivering operational excellence and unsurpassed customer service,” said James Delaney, 24Seven Enterprises, Inc. Founder and CEO. “Our partnership provides producers

 

and retailers the ability to efficiently scale their DTC businesses. We are pleased to offer the tools we have developed to better manage inventory, accuracy, forecasting and the overall consumer experience.”

 

The board of directors of the combined company will include Charlie Baxter as Chairman, James Delaney, Jason Eckenroth, Eric Lewis as well as Rachel S. Foltz and John von Schlegell of private equity firm, Endeavor Capital.

 

About Wineshipping, LLC

 

Founded in 1998, Wineshipping LLC is the leading direct to consumer wine logistics and fulfillment company in North America. The company provides fulfillment, storage and transport services tailored specifically to the wine industry.

 

the leading direct to consumer alcohol e- commerce Third Party Logistics (3PL) company in the United States. 24 Seven Enterprises is the parent company of both Vynapse LLC dba Pack n’ Ship Direct and Vin-Go LLC.

 

About Endeavor Capital

 

Founded in 1991 Endeavor Capital invests in Western U.S. based, middle-market companies in partnership with founders, family owners and managers.

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