Wine.com reports just over US$60M in revenue for fiscal 2011, a 25% year-over-year increase; online wine retailer credits iPad sales for over 7% of revenue

Nevin Barich

SAN FRANCISCO , October 11, 2011 (PRNewswire) – Wine.com, the leading online wine retailer, today reported financial results for the second quarter of its fiscal 2012, ended September 30, 2011.

Revenue for the trailing twelve-month period, October 2010 through September 2011, totaled just over $60 million, a 25 percent increase over the prior twelve-month period. Second quarter revenue increased 25% over the same quarter last year. Growth for the first half of fiscal 2012 was 23%.

"Our focus is on innovation – fresh ideas that improve the customer experience," said Rich Bergsund, Wine.com CEO. "Sometimes it's little things, like letting someone know when the gift they sent has been received, or alerting a customer when the next vintage of their favorite wine is released. Other times it's big ideas, like buying wine through your mobile device."

Wine.com iPad sales are over 7% of revenue and gaining. Sales through the iPad have a significantly higher average order value than website sales, up to 25% higher. Wine.com's free iPad app presents users a completely new way of buying and learning about wine.

Wine.com offers a combination of selection, value, service and information that is impossible to find in a brick & mortar store.

* Selection: Wine.com has six times the wine selection of the average grocery store and three times the selection of the average wine store (source: Nielsen).
* Value: Wine.com offers the world's largest list of wines rated 90 points or more, selling for $20 or less. Wine.com is the only wine retailer to offer free, unlimited delivery for a $49 annual membership fee.
* Service: Wine.com is the only wine retailer that lets customers choose their delivery date, especially important due to the adult signature requirement on alcoholic beverages. Customers can also store their wine for free for up to 6 months, a feature requested by wine collectors.
* Information: With a focus on de-mystifying the wine selection process, Wine.com cites current and historical wine ratings from 11 wine publications, notes from the winemaker, reviews from other customers, maps of the winery locations on Google earth, and mails bottle tags with every order to help with cellar organization.

"With only 1% of the wine market online thus far we believe we have a great opportunity ahead of us," continued Bergsund. "More and more consumers are giving us a try and Wine.com is earning their repeat business. They're telling their friends and we're seeing strong growth as a result."

About Wine.com

Wine.com is the nation's #1 online wine retailer, according to Internet Retailer magazine's annual ranking of websites by revenue, offering thousands of wines, wine gifts, gift baskets and monthly wine clubs. Wine.com's mission is to be the ultimate resource for wine enthusiasts, whether shopping for themselves or sending a gift. Wine.com offers a combination of selection, value, service and information that is impossible to find in a brick and mortar store. Wine.com is the world's most visited wine website, according to comScore Media Metrix and also runs the wine flash sales site, WineShopper. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.wine.com, its blog at http://blog.wine.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/winecom and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wine_com. Visit WineShopper at www.facebook.com/wineshopper and http://twitter.com/wine_shopper

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