Introduction

Australian and New Zealand wineries have customers who buy big online. They also have a problem: On average, only 1 in 10 first-time buyers comes back for a second order.

The reach is there. The relationship isn’t.

Customers here order by the case, and the ones who come back are worth far more over time. The first order is a great start. The second is where the relationship begins.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

1. The Relationship Gap

Only 10.5% of first-time web buyers place a second order within 12 months. Nearly 9 in 10 buy once and never come back.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

That’s the biggest lever in this data. Acquisition gets most of the attention, but the value sits in the second order, and most first-time buyers aren’t making it there.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

When customers do come back, it takes them about two months: the median time between a first and second order is 60 days. That gives wineries a concrete window to plan their follow-up around.

Actionable Insights

• Reach out before day 60. A planned touchpoint in the first 30 to 45 days keeps the first purchase fresh and gives you a chance to bring the customer back before the window closes.

• Follow up after every first order. A simple thank-you paired with a recommendation gives customers a reason to return.

• Lead with the wine, not a discount. A replenishment reminder, a note about what they bought, or an early look at the next release gives customers something to come back for without making price the whole conversation.

2. What a Repeat Customer Is Worth

The second order matters because of everything that follows it.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

Turning one buyer into a six-order customer is worth as much as acquiring eight new ones. That’s partly frequency, but it’s also basket size: from the third order on, repeat customers spend more each time, about 30% more per order by the sixth. Retention doesn’t just add orders. It grows them.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

Here, loyalty shows up in order size too. Club members spend $308 per web order versus $222 for non-members, and past visitors spend $278 versus $239 for customers who’ve never visited. Your most connected customers don’t just buy more often. They spend more each time.

Your cellar door feeds that relationship: 12.5% of AU/NZ web sales happen within 12 months of a cellar door visit. The visit isn’t just a hospitality event. It’s the start of a web relationship, and a more valuable one per order.

Actionable Insights

• Protect the club and visitor premium. Members and past visitors already spend more per web order. Consistent post-visit and post-signup follow-up makes sure you keep that value instead of leaving it on the table.

• Follow up after every visit. With 12.5% of web sales happening within a year of a visit, at a higher order value than average, a post-visit email sequence deserves a place in your ecommerce plan.

• Use the spend curve to make the case. A nearly 8x gap between a one-order and six-order customer is the strongest argument in this report for investing in win-back and loyalty programs.

3. A Bigger Basket in Every Channel

The spending premium isn’t limited to the web. Median order values in AU/NZ run higher than US/Canada across every channel a winery sells through.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

Web orders carry a median value of $190 in AU/NZ versus $138 in US/Canada (+38%). POS follows the same pattern at $54.40 versus $40.40 (+35%), as does Club at $232 versus $198.85 (+17%). The standout is Inbound: a median AU/NZ inbound order is worth $91.35, more than 2.6x the US/Canada figure of $34.98. Whether it’s phone orders, concierge-style service, or something specific to how AU/NZ wineries run the channel, inbound is producing a much bigger basket here than anywhere else.

Actionable Insights

• Set your own benchmarks. Minimum orders, promo tiers, or free-shipping thresholds borrowed from US/Canada numbers likely underprice what your customers are already willing to spend.

• Take a closer look at inbound. A 2.5x premium is too large to ignore. Understand what’s driving it before deciding how much to invest in the channel.

• Push bigger units everywhere. Your customers already buy in larger quantities across channels, so case-size nudges and larger-format offers have room to work at POS and inbound, not just online.

4. When and What They Buy

Online orders cluster around specific days, months, and basket sizes.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

Thursday is the busiest day for web orders, with Friday close behind. Monday is consistently the slowest.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

November is the peak month, bringing in 13.6% of annual web revenue on its own. Add June and December, and the top three months drive 33.8% of the year – more than a third of revenue landing in a quarter of the calendar.

Based on Commerce7 platform data from September 2025 to August 2026.

AU/NZ customers buy by the case even more decisively than other markets. Half-case and full-case orders make up 51.8% of all web orders, and orders over 12 bottles account for another 12.5%, well ahead of every size in between.

Actionable Insights

• Plan around the peak. With three months carrying more than a third of revenue, concentrate your marketing efforts around those periods instead of spreading them evenly across the year.

• Time campaigns around buying behaviour. Thursday is the busiest day for web orders, with Friday close behind. Those are useful days to test for time-sensitive campaigns.

• Sell the case, and go bigger. With more than half of orders already at 6 or 12 bottles and a sizeable over-12 segment, bundles and larger-case offers have more room to work here than in other markets.

The Bottom Line

In Australia and New Zealand, the relationship pays off more visibly than anywhere else we looked. Repeat customers are worth nearly 8x a single-order buyer, club members and past visitors spend more per order, and customers buy bigger across every channel.

The gap is the second order. Nearly 9 in 10 first-time buyers never return, and the ones who do take a median of 60 days. A planned follow-up in that window, backed by pricing and thresholds built for how your customers actually spend, is the highest-leverage move in this data.

See where your winery stands.

These are the benchmarks across Australian and New Zealand wineries on Commerce7. We’ll show you how your numbers compare.

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