I still have not replaced my old ID card with a new biometric chip ID card... Simply, I loathe the idea of queueing at the counter of gloomy police station in Vračar suburbs whose interior resembles a scene from a prison series on TV rather than a modern state institution. I'm procrasting until the moment that I really have to go there, queue for at least two hours if I get lucky and officially step into the 21st century as a stand in line at least two hours if I'm lucky and officially move in the XXI century as a chipped and registered citizen. Serbian wineries will need to undergo similar changes in the near future. Compared to the initial situation when most of the local wineries had no website, things are moving forward. Unfortunately, we still have a lot of wineries, particularly those small family cellars, which don't understand the need to present their wines to a wide circle of potential customers online.

Let's take as an example Budimir Winery that has already built good reputation of its wines on domestic and foreign markets and also successfully benefits from skillful usage of online media tools and social networks (in other words, they are well aware of the opportunities offered by Internet). However, as far as the winery's website is concerned, they are still at the beginning:

http://www.vinobudimir.com/

In order to understand better the situation where we are now, let us mention that developed wine regions such as California for example, can boast about the fact that 98% of wineries have its own website and 75% of them offer the possibility to buy wines online. On the other hand, Germany also boasts a large percentage of wineries that have their own website but the percentage of those offering online wine shop is lower (about 45%), which explains the habits of consumers in different markets. Therefore, we shouldn't find data for Serbia surprising, but the wineries should keep in mind already now that the world around us is changing at a tremendous pace and that Serbia will also join developed markets. It's high time wineries got ready for new consumer habits ...

There are significantly more wineries which have realized on time that today's wine lovers search for information about wines and wineries on the Internet and navigate to the winery with google maps. Their websites are based purely on the principle of "wine information": the website is a static collection of information/articles about the winery and the wines without interaction with website visitors, without efforts to engage and motivate visitors to visit the winery or buy wines. The website is not used as a marketing channel to increase sales of wine. To illustrate this, here is an example of a static website:

http://www.podrummilojevic.rs/index.html

This kind of website is useful for visitors who are already familiar with wines from this winery. However, it is unlikely that such a presentation will motivate someone who encounters this winery for the first time to choose its wines. Especially because it doesn't provide any information about pricing and method of purchasing/ordering wines. Fortunately, growing number of wineries have made the "leap of faith" in the style of Indiana Jones and proactively welcomed visitors to their websites. Beside basic information about the wines and the winery, their website also includes a segment that refers to the club of winery fans, then online shop or a place to order/buy wine, e-mail newsletter, and regular updates with news from the winery and press releases. The aim is to make the visitor stay in contact with information available on the website as long as possible. And to come back to the website to find new information.

The winery which was a pioneer in transforming the "wine approach" to "marketing approach" in running a website was Zvonko Bogdan Winery. The entire wine story on the winery website successfully incorporates the segment related to wine tourism, which is understandable considering that Zvonko Bogdan Winery annually welcomes more than 12,000 tourists.

http://www.vinarijazvonkobogdan.com/

Aleksandrović Winery followed the similar path after changing its visual identity (they changed the name from Aleksandrović Cellar to Aleksandrović Winery). Especially now that the Aleksandrović Wine Fan Club is functioning so loyal wine lovers are actively engaged through club activities. Their website has become a place where the latest news from Šumadija wine region can be found.

http://vinarijaaleksandrovic.rs/

Recently, Janko Cellar from Smederevo made the first steps to transform the website into marketing-centered mode. After the winery moved to a new facility in the vicinity of the Obrenović summer palace, the winery also promoted its new website:

http://www.podrumjanko.com/

An important segment of the website is an online shop and the possibility to order wines from Janko Cellar. A  remark (taking into account that Janko Cellar attracts a lot of attention beyond the borders of Serbia owing to numerous awards in international wine competitions) is that there is still no English version of the website. I have been assured that the English version of the website will be ready soon so we'll have to be patient a little longer. It's time for other wineries to understand these examples as a guideline for the future. It will also contribute to making Serbian wines more visible and more accessible to wine lovers from Serbia and beyond.  

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