Sure, they’re your competition on some level. But ignoring them isn’t going to make the go away. Here’s why you should embrace the apps and online tools that help your customers find wines they’ll love. [level-members]
The reason is simple: they’re going to use them anyway! So don’t pretend that’s not a part of the market, that you’re not competing with those folks. Do your best to help your best customers use the tools they’re going to use anyway.
That might mean offering guidance on which apps are best – there are a lot of them to choose from. Or it might mean actually using an app like WineRing, which purports to tell you whether you’ll like a wine before you buy it, and very publicly tracking what it gets right and what it gets wrong.
That can be a fun exercise and a pretty nifty marketing trick. Just be sure you aren’t openly disdainful of the app – you’ll hardly be viewed as an unbiased reviewer to begin with, but your followers and fans should get the feeling that you’re giving things a fair shake.
Other apps you might consider talking about include Banquet, Delectable, Omnipair, Vivino and WineSearcher. [/level-members]