WineDirect to Commerce7: 19% Growth in Club Customization, 50% Less Support, and the End of "Batch Day"

TL;DR: Faced with manual bottlenecks on WineDirect, Hill Family Estate migrated to Commerce7 to empower their members. The results were immediate: a 19% increase in customized club shipments and a 50% reduction in support volume. Most importantly, the team reclaimed 4-5 hours of manual labour per club run by allowing their customers to customize their orders online and move to fully automated background processing.

Founded by third-generation farmer Doug Hill, Hill Family Estate is a family-run operation in Napa Valley that blends deep vineyard expertise with approachable hospitality. Their winery and tasting room experiences are known for being family-friendly, intimate, and deeply rooted in the land they have farmed for decades. For Allison Negrón, DTC Manager at Hill Family Estate, the goal is always to provide a seamless, personalized experience that reflects these core values.

As the business evolved, the team recognized that their legacy technology required a significant amount of manual effort to maintain. While they remained deeply connected to their members, the administrative overhead of their previous platform, WineDirect, was beginning to pull focus away from strategic initiatives. They needed a more intuitive system to help them scale their operations without compromising the intimate touch their brand is known for.

A Strategic Pivot Toward Scalability

Hill Family Estate chose Commerce7 because they needed a solution that could handle modern DTC complexities while ensuring a smooth transition for their 2,000 members. Rather than viewing migration as a disruption, the team saw it as an opportunity to implement a more professional, automated way to work.

A critical component of this success was a collaborative, team-based approach to the transition. Hill Family Estate partnered with the team at Vinbound Marketing, who managed the heavy lifting of the technical migration. By working closely with Vinbound on a customized migration plan, the winery ensured that their complex data and unique business needs were aligned with the new system.

This effort was bolstered by the high-touch support provided by Commerce7’s onboarding team. "Our onboarding specialist was wonderful," Allison said. "She was very knowledgeable and made the process feel manageable." Leveraging the expertise of both Vinbound and Commerce7 allowed Hill Family Estate to remain focused on their daily operations, ensuring that the migration was an additive experience for both the staff and their customers.

Reclaiming the “Batch Day”

Before migrating to Commerce7, club processing was a high-stress, manual ritual. Under their previous system, the team had to manually oversee every club run to account for complex shipping requirements and compliance rules, often processing orders state-by-state.

"We used to come in at 8:00 AM and start running the club, and we wouldn’t be done until about 1:00 PM," Allison recalled. "Then we’d still have to go through all the quarantines, clear those, and coordinate with our shipper. Now, we just come into work and the club runs itself!”

By moving to Commerce7, Hill Family Estate effectively retired the manual batch. The system handles shipping and compliance complexities automatically in the background, saving the team 4 to 5 hours of manual administrative labor per club run. This shift from manual processing to automated oversight allowed the team to reclaim their time and focus on high-value member engagement.

Club Member Empowerment: Driving 19% More Customizations and 50% Less Support

The most significant impact of the migration was the shift toward member self-service. By implementing User Choice with a Minimum Dollar Spend, Hill Family Estate gave members the freedom to tailor their own shipments: swapping bottles and adding extras directly through the website.

"When members feel in control of their own experience, the friction of administrative support disappears," Allison noted. This empowerment led to a 50% decrease in support volume during the club season.

This improved digital experience did more than just save time; it drove deeper engagement. By providing a modern, easy-to-use interface, Hill Family Estate saw a 19% increase in the number of club members who chose to customize their shipments versus taking the standard release. This shift towards personalized orders ensures that members receive the wines they love most, fostering long-term loyalty and satisfaction.

Operational Agility: Ship It Now and Instant Updates

A standout feature in Hill Family Estate’s new toolkit is Ship It Now. By sending out club notification emails two weeks in advance, the winery allows members to trigger their shipments immediately. This has created a triple-win:

Customer Delight: Members receive their wine faster, and on their own terms.
Accelerated Revenue: The winery begins seeing club revenue hit the books two weeks earlier than before.
Risk Mitigation: Processing early “Ship It Now” orders gives the team a “sneak peek” into potential shipping or inventory errors before the entire club processes.

The practical simplicity of Commerce7 is also visible in the day-to-day management of the online shop. Allison highlighted that in their previous setup, updating a product required manual entries across several disparate systems. With Commerce7, product management is instantaneous. Toggling a product to "Off" takes less than a second and removes it from the site immediately, allowing the team to manage inventory in real-time.

A Partnership Built for the Future

With the time reclaimed from manual processing, Hill Family Estate is now leaning into a future focused on innovation. They are currently exploring the implementation of subscription models and more creative bundling strategies during club windows. These are strategic initiatives that were once difficult to manage but are now part of a natural progression toward a more flexible, modern way of selling.

As Allison Negrón reflects on the transformation, the value of the switch is clear. "Time is money," she explained. "When you see your staff expending so much energy in areas that could be freed up to drive revenue in other places, that’s very valuable."

Today, the team at Hill Family Estate is no longer just managing a database; they are nurturing a thriving community. With the support of a system built for the future, they are ready to continue their legacy of excellence for generations to come.