Online wine retailer hides labels until after purchase

Winecrasher is an online wine store whose crash pricing model lets wineries sell their inventories cheaper without making public reductions.

The proliferation of reductions and deals on wine can make it very difficult for customers to know the true value of the bottle they are buying. It also makes it hard for producers to offer competitive prices, without devaluing their brand. Now, Winecrasher is an online wine store whose Crash Pricing model could provide a solution by only revealing the bottle’s label after purchase.

We have already seen a perfume brand remove the fancy packaging of perfumes in order to encourage customers to follow their nose. Winecrasher operates in a similar way, by removing labeling until after the wine is bought. Instead, bottles are only advertised by their grape, their year and the location of the vineyard. Each listing also includes a description of the wine and a rating from an independent wine critic. The model means that the e-commerce startups can undercut other online sellers without devaluing their brand.

What other retailers could adopt this model?