Digital Marketplace

Drawing upon the commercial expertise of BNZ, and digital marketing and technical capability of Zeald, the initiative will build a bespoke digital marketplace to sell Central Otago Wines domestically and internationally. This new marketplace will provide a new sales channel that can integrate with wineries' existing sales infrastructure, while helping to open untapped markets and unlock the potential of digital technology.

Central Otago Winegrowers (COWA) General Manager, Jake Tipler says the pilot project brings some much needed good news to the wine region, "after a rocky couple of years due to Covid". He says it has "excellent potential" to boost direct-to-consumer sales nationally and internationally, "which can help grow brand recognition and profit margins and ensure the long viability of our wineries".

Catherine Douglas, Sales and Marketing Manager for Carrick Winery, says the boutique wine brand is excited about having access to strong digital expertise and the opportunity to scale through collaboration. "This initiative will allow us to achieve what we may not have been able to achieve on our own."

Starting with a two-and-a-half-year pilot programme, the Digital Clusters Initiative will partner with three business groups to build them into digitally-advanced "clusters" to show what's possible when state-of-the-art e-commerce and digital collaboration tools are put at the heart of Kiwi business communities. The next stage of the project will see Zeald working with COWA to produce a marketing and branding plan for the marketplace, while onboarding each of the wineries and loading up their products. The marketplace is scheduled to launch in September.