Vivino is offering Australian wine producers 50% discount to list on the platform as the Aussie wine industry has been hit hard in the last year and “deserves a break.”

SYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vivino, the world's most downloaded wine app and largest online wine marketplace has launched commercial operations in Australia. James Fildes is Vivino’s General Manager of Australia and will lead the business in one of the world’s most dynamic wine-producing regions.

“It’s been a tough couple of years for winemakers and merchants in this market, but we’ve seen remarkable resilience in the domestic economy,” said James Fildes, Vivino General Manager, Australia. “This industry deserves a break, and Vivino can help Aussie winemakers by showing our users more of their wine, based on each individual’s unique taste and price preferences. Our data is unmatched.”

Mr. Fildes most recently headed up the online wine marketplace Bidvino in Hong Kong. His experience with one of the world’s premium distribution hubs for fine wine leaves him well prepared to grow Vivino’s presence in Australia and to help the Australian wine industry connect with Vivino’s 800,000 users in the country. Australian winemakers have been hit hard by bushfires, floods, and most recently, a drop in international sales. Australia produces over a billion litres of wine annually, and over 80% of that production is exported.

Based on the Sydney, New South Wales, Vivino Australia is offering all Australian wineries, both existing and new partners of Vivino, a 50% reduction on marketplace commissions for the entirety of 2021. Mr. Fildes said the platform had proven its model internationally and could quickly provide new revenue streams for local wine producers.

“We have over 800,000 Australian users and over 51 million users globally,” he said. “We know exactly what each user likes to drink, and that enables us to introduce new brands to them that we know they’ll love.”

“Australians are great consumers of Australian wine, and Vivino will help introduce them to the right wine,” said Vivino’s founder, Heini Zachariassen. “We are fortunate to have an energetic connoisseur and expert wine merchant leading our business in this market. Australian winemakers and wine grape growers could not have better advocates than James Fildes, Vivino, and our growing global community of over 50 million wine enthusiasts.”

Vivino also provides Australian producers with important data via our Merchant Dashboard showing how consumers interact with their brands. The insights will enable more Australian winemakers and brands to better identify their most valuable customers and prospects and drive sales.

This week, Mr. Fildes published an open letter to Australian wine producers inviting them to engage with Vivino and see what it could offer them.

“It’s tremendously exciting to be at the centre of this industry in Australia. There is so much fabulous wine here, and I can’t wait to work with local producers to sell even more of it,” Fildes said.

Wineries interested in working with Vivino can contact Mr. Fildes directly at james.fildes@vivino.com.

About Vivino

Vivino empowers people everywhere to enjoy wine to the fullest. Vivino is the world's largest online wine marketplace and most downloaded wine app, powered by a community of millions. Vivino’s unique wine shopping experience uses community data to suggest personalized wine recommendations, make wine discovery, and purchase fun, accessible, and effortless for wine drinkers of every level of expertise. The Vivino app is available for download on Android and Apple devices.

Contacts

Media Contact: Courtney Quattrini Vice President of Global Communications, Vivino +1(415)710-7527 courtney@vivino.com