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Rathbone Wine Group - Modernising Iconic Wineries for the Digital DTC Era
The Challenge
The Rathbone Wine Group approached CRU with a clear mandate: transform their fragmented and outdated direct-to-consumer (DTC) setup across four winery brands into a modern, seamless, and scalable digital ecosystem.
At the time, the Group’s DTC operations were limited by manual processes, lack of CRM integration, and minimal customer engagement beyond a basic newsletter. Their existing wine club had limited reach and no real digital infrastructure behind it.
Key challenges included:
- Manual and inconsistent marketing and communication processes
- No centralised CRM or connected customer data
- Limited automation and segmentation
- No online-to-offline data sync or behavioural targeting
- Outdated wine club experience and user interface
The Group needed more than just a website refresh—they needed a full-scale digital transformation across customer engagement, marketing automation, and online sales.
CRU’s Role
CRU was engaged to lead the redesign and development of four custom websites for Rathbone Wine Group’s wineries. These websites were designed to:
- Reflect the character and story of each winery
- Offer a smooth and enjoyable user experience
- Increase conversions through improved wine club onboarding
- Showcase their beautiful cellar door destinations
Alongside website development, CRU implemented a fully integrated wine club platform (CRU Club)—personalised to each winery brand and built to scale with customer growth. Our team ensured the wine club system was tightly connected to the new CRM and marketing workflows. To support the broader transformation, CRU worked with Launchy.io to handle the CRM, automation strategy, and POS integration.
The Solution (in collaboration with Launchy.io)
Working with Launchy and KonnectIT, the team implemented a central CRM and automation engine to unify data and personalise communications throughout the customer lifecycle.
Key components of the solution:
- Lifecycle strategy tailored to winery customers
- Automated segmentation by purchase behaviour, engagement, and loyalty tier
- Real-time sync between the online wine club and POS via KonnectIT
- Targeted acquisition paths including:
- Newsletter sign-up
- Free Loyalty Members Program (online and at cellar doors)
- Paid Wine Club membership
These segments were nurtured through automated email and SMS flows, cross-brand campaigns, and tailored promotions. Launchy.io’s strategy also introduced:
- Seasonal and event-based campaigns
- Upsell and cross-sell initiatives
- Streamlined CRM-driven event management
- Consistent database hygiene and deliverability processes
- An open SMS channel for ordering and communication
Results
After 2.5 years, Rathbone Wine Group experienced a complete transformation of their DTC ecosystem, with measurable results including:
160%
Increase in Revenue
80%
Wine Club Growth
185%
Database Size Growth
14000
Loyalty Members Added (from zero)
60%
Increase in Profit
15+
Weekly Admin Hours Saved
- New revenue stream from winery events via CRM automations
- Personalised customer experiences across all channels
- Real-time data for welcoming guests based on their history and status
Conclusion
CRU’s expertise in website development and wine club systems—combined with Launchy’s lifecycle marketing and CRM integration—enabled the Rathbone Wine Group to evolve from a manual, disconnected DTC operation to a digitally connected, customer-focused growth engine.
This collaboration is a benchmark example of how aligning customer experience with digital strategy can unlock major long-term value for premium wine brands.CRU - Subscription Focused Agency
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