Wineries NAICS 312130

Dec 29, 2025 - AI-Assisted Online Wine Shopping

• AI is becoming a major sales accelerator for wineries as wine e-commerce grows from $13 billion in 2025 toward a projected $16 billion by 2029, Vinetur reports. With consumers overwhelmed by thousands of online wine options, AI tools, including personalized recommendations, conversational search, and digital sommeliers, reduce decision fatigue and guide shoppers toward more confident purchases, including lesser‑known winery labels. Data from early 2025 shows AI-driven traffic produces 23% lower bounce rates and 41% longer shopping sessions, giving wineries more opportunities for product discovery and upselling. Conversion gaps between AI-assisted and traditional shopping have also narrowed sharply, indicating rising consumer trust in AI recommendations. For wineries, this means greater visibility in crowded marketplaces, higher engagement with brand stories and tasting profiles, and a stronger likelihood of converting browsers into buyers even as overall wine consumption declines.
• Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) exited California at the beginning of September, leaving thousands of wineries scrambling, Meininger’s International reported in June. The departure of the nation's second-largest wine-and-spirits distributor from California means US and foreign wineries are left without a route to market in one of the most important wine markets in the world, according to Meininger’s. California law requires wineries to go through a wholesaler to sell their products to retailers and restaurants, while wineries in California are allowed limited self-distribution. The CEO of the Texas-based distributor said the decision to leave California was “driven by rising operational costs, industry headwinds, and supplier changes that made the market unsustainable.” RNDC’s departure from the Golden State means that wineries contracting with the company must now find new wholesalers in an historically depressed wine market.

• Shifting population demographics, consumer trends, and a surplus of wine grapes are among the headwinds facing the struggling wine industry, which is responding with layoffs and winery closings, The Independent reported in February. Bronco Wine Company – the California winemaker behind retailer Trader Joe’s bargain wine brand Charles Shaw (aka Two Buck Chuck) laid off 81 employees at its winery in Stanislaus County, in April, SF Gate reports. In a WARN notice the company said the layoffs were “part of a strategic restructuring plan to enhance operational efficiency and adapt to the challenging headwinds in the wine industry.” Bronco isn’t the only winery impacted by the decline in wine consumption. According to The Independent, wine makers across the world are feeling the effects, with at least three California wineries — Carlisle, Edmunds St. John, and Vinca Minor – all announcing closures.
• Producer prices for wineries stayed flat in September compared to a year ago after posting a flat previous September-versus-September annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Wineries lack of pricing power is due to weak demand and a multiyear slide in sales. Data through late 2025 indicate the US wine market is on track to see sales decline for a fifth straight year, according to Vinetur. Looking ahead, sales for the US wineries industry are forecast to grow at a 4.37% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, comparable to the growth of the overall economy, according to the Interindustry Economic Research Fund. In August, employment by breweries, wineries, and distilleries inched up 0.5% year over year, per the BLS.