WineTrader, the division of wine.co.za selling bulk South African wine via the internet, has seen its business boom since it was first launched in November last year, thanks largely to the ease of communications on the internet and the personal service provided by the company’s staff in the form of Gert Bormans and Rita Rossouw.To date they have signed up eighty-nine local wine producers to sell their bulk wine to the market, while the number of local and international buyers has expanded to 143 from fifty-six a year ago.August 2001, the latest month for which firm data is available, saw 1.07 million liters of wine change hands at a value of R5.91 million rand - a record month for the company. Monthly sales prior to this had averaged about 355,000 liters at a value of R1.43 million.Rossouw says the reason for the upsurge in trading in August is that this is when she joined the company on a full-time basis, and was thus better able to promote the business. Previously she had devoted only a small portion of her time to WineTrader, being almost fully employed by Cape Wine Shippers.‘You can see what a difference it made in August when we went all out,’ she said. As a result, average monthly sales are likely to show a substantial rise from August.According to Rossouw, the most popular wine varietals in 2001 have proven to be Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, dry red and dry white blends such as Chenin/Chardonnay or Chenin/Sauvignon Blanc.WineTrader is a high volume, low margin business, as one would expect. It charges a flat 2% commission on every sale. ‘We make a lot of sales and manage to get to the ‘bigger sum’ at the end of each month,’ observes Rossouw. ‘This helps the industry to move more wine.’She says one of the major factors in the group’s success, besides providing a much-needed centralized service for the entire industry, has been the ease of disseminating information over the internet to such a wide audience. The low commission is also attractive from both the buyers’ and sellers’ points of view.‘All of the information necessary for the buyers and sellers is there on the system - including the minimum, maximum and average prices. On receiving a request from a buyer (local or international) via the internet site, WineTrader simply sends it out in one short sentence to all the wine producers within a few minutes. Less than an hour later calls start to come in and a possible sale can be generated.’Once a purchase has been decided upon, WineTrader follows it up with excellent personal service to ensure timely and accurate delivery. This helps to counteract the impersonal nature of the internet and encourage repeat business. The company also has developed close relationships with each of the South African wine producers, working with them to ensure that their wines are receiving maximum attention. It updates the wine buyers about the products available through regular direct e-mails.With a very low cost base - only three full-time staff and systems help from wine.co.za - and no other South African competition on the internet, WineTrader has established an excellent market niche. The company has no plans to expand into bottled wines, intending to maintain its focus on bulk wine only, Rossouw assures.For a live update on wine prices go to www.winetrader.co.za and click on ‘trading floor’.By: Lynn BolinEmail: lynn@inet.co.za