Dynamic Vines
Dynamic Vines is an independent wine importer in the UK that specialises in organic and biodynamic wines. Dynamic Vines works directly with producers across Europe, serving trade, retail and member customers through a carefully curated portfolio built on long-term relationships.
Challenge
Develop a single ecommerce website that operates across trade, retail sales and memberships, each with custom requirements for pricing, shipping, access and purchasing behaviour.
Trade customers needed fast, repeatable ordering with personalised pricing, and tiered accounts for trades with multiple outlets, while retail and member customers expected a more editorial, brand-led experience reflecting Dynamic Vines' focus on producers, sustainability and minimal-intervention winemaking. A frictionless checkout experience. All of this needed to integrate with Vintner ERP for product, pricing and customer data.
Goals
- Support trade, retail and member customers in one system
- Enable fast, intuitive trade ordering
- Offer memberships alongside standard product purchases
- Integrate content and commerce throughout the site
- Reduce operational complexity through ERP integration
- Integrate content and commerce throughout the site
Background
Dynamic Vines has built its business on close relationships with producers. Many of the wines they import are exclusive to them in the UK and are often in low volume, particularly within the organic and biodynamic categories.
Membership is central to how many customers engage with the business, not just as a sales model, but as an ongoing relationship through their exclusive tasting events. The site needed to support this without making the experience feel transactional.
Approach
During the discovery phase, we took the time to properly map out how trade customers order, how memberships work in practice, and what retail customers expect while collaborating with Dynamic Vines as their digital partner.
We designed the site around the idea that producers and storytelling should be present throughout the purchasing journey, not just on a separate 'About' page. At the same time, we prioritise educating customers about the products to enhance their understanding and connection.
The design and brand embrace a personal touch for customers, ensuring that they feel connected throughout their experience. The Drupal Commerce architecture we built supports trade, retail, and membership customers within one system, without forcing compromises that would degrade over time.
Solution
We built a Drupal Commerce platform using role-based access to show different customers what's relevant to them trade pricing for trade accounts, member benefits for members, retail pricing for everyone else.
Memberships are handled as products within Drupal Commerce, keeping everything in one place rather than requiring a separate subscription system. Content and commerce are properly integrated producer stories, vineyard details and tasting notes sit alongside products in the browsing and discovery experience.
We integrated with Vintner ERP so stock, pricing and customer data syncs into Drupal Commerce automatically, keeping the site accurate without manual updates.
Key Features
Trade Ordering
Repeat customers can reorder quickly using a customised, trade-secure checkout flow. Pricing is personalised to their account automatically.
Retail eCommerce
A content-led experience where customers can explore producers and wine styles before making decisions. Product pages include storytelling, not just specifications.
Membership Program
Retail members can elevate their experience with Dynamic Vines and gain a number of privileges with a simple £10 a month membership fee. This utilises the Drupal Licensing framework, which automatically handles recurring payments and allows customers to cancel at any time without incurring any software licence fee.
Vintner ERP Integration
Stock levels, product details, customer accounts and trade pricing all sync from Vintner, reducing admin and keeping data consistent across systems.
Wine Storage Accounts
Customers with wines in storage can log in and see what they've got, cutting down on support queries and giving direct visibility.
Working with Open Imaginations to develop our new website has been a great experience.
They took the time to understand exactly what we were trying to create and embraced the complex structure we required and found ways to turn it into a website that well reflects our brand.
The support team have excellent knowledge of e-commerce systems and are always happy to discuss ways to improve the different features. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Open Imaginations to anyone looking to build a new E-Commerce site.