This is what Claudio Lenotti, owner of Cantine Lenotti, confirmed to us. Cantine Lenotti is a historic winery established back in 1906 in Bardolino, on the shores of Lake Garda: a hilly area that boasts a privileged microclimate and a large number of vineyards and olive groves.
To understand how this company, already solid in international trade through distributors, chose to adopt Direct From Italy‘s solutions to strategically expand the online direct sales channel and further consolidate its market position, we interviewed Claudio.
Here is how Cantine Lenotti elevated its offering by combining its experience with targeted innovation.
The strategic choice: boosting direct D2C export
Cantine Lenotti has been successfully operating internationally for a long time thanks to its consolidated network of importers and distributors. However, managing direct international sales to individual private customers (D2C) represented a complex growth opportunity that was not fully exploited.
Although the company was always available to accommodate requests, it lacked the specific tools to efficiently organize international transactions directly to final consumers. Previously, Cantine Lenotti handled these requests by diverting them to local distributors; a process which, while maintaining service, limited scalability and autonomy in the D2C channel.
Integration and growth
Claudio told us about his experience with our service, currently used in e-commerce to allow all customers – both loyal and brand newcomers – to enjoy their wines at home in complete relaxation.
With a view to efficiency and control, the Lenotti team has also recently integrated our system for the point of sale. This strategic approach makes it possible to process online requests in real-time directly from the winery and the point of sale, demonstrating their attention to a optimized operational flow.
Market Coverage and Winning Coexistence
Claudio explained that, thanks to the use of D2C Customs, Cantine Lenotti’s commercial offer and, above all, its distribution coverage have become complete, independently reaching those who were previously excluded from the direct channel.
It is essential to underline how the adoption of the tool occurred without altering the relationships with existing importers and how the team maintained its modus operandi, but by reaching a new D2C sales channel. This was managed with rigor, implementing specific technological solutions for to recognize and manage the buyer’s market of origin in a differentiated way
A constantly growing direct relationship
The result of this strategic move is a significant impact on customer satisfaction, as Claudio testifies:
“We are much more open towards those (especially English and American people) who visit us at the winery and who previously, in the absence of distribution with a reference importer, were unfortunately disappointed by the fact that they could not buy our wines online.”
Claudio, in fact, emphasized the importance of promoting the online service: by actively informing customers, the platform not only becomes more competitive and attractive, but also ensures that the quality of Lenotti’s product is accessible everywhere, strengthening the direct link between the historic company and the buyer.
