The DRINKS Podcast: The Business of Online Alcohol
Your definitive source for digital transformation in the alcohol industry.
Hosted by Rami Jubran, Chief of Staff at DRINKS, this series explores how technology is reshaping alcohol commerce.
The alcohol business is at an inflection point. The way people discover brands, how they research what to buy, where they actually make purchases, it's all shifting. And honestly, a lot of traditional approaches just aren't working the way they used to.
Every week, we’ll talk with founders, operators, and executives who are figuring this out in real time. Some are finding real success with new strategies, others are learning expensive lessons, but they're all navigating the same fundamental challenge: how do you build a sustainable alcohol business in a digital world?
Whether you're running a winery exploring eCommerce, looking to add alcohol as a new category at a retailer, or building technology for regulated industries, these conversations give you the context you need to understand where this industry is heading.
The DRINKS Podcast: The Business of Online Alcohol
The Tech Behind the Terroir: Pete Jones on Wine, Shopify, and Digital Disruption - 026
In this episode of the Drinks.com Podcast, Brandon Amoroso sits down with Pete Jones, co-founder of Aesthete Wines and former head of wine and spirits at Shopify, now at Stripe. From growing up in Sonoma County to pioneering digital transformation in the beverage alcohol industry, Pete shares how he blended tradition with technology. The conversation dives into the challenges wineries face in modernizing operations, the massive opportunities in direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy, and how platforms like Shopify are reshaping the industry from the ground up.
Here's what you'll learn:
🛍️ What it was like to lead wine and spirits at Shopify during COVID-driven digital transformation.
⚠️ The biggest challenges facing the alcohol industry today — and the tech-forward solutions.
🤝 Why stakeholder buy-in and internal metrics are critical for digital change.
🌪️ How economic headwinds are driving a necessary evolution in alcohol e-commerce.
📬 The strategic value of building a direct-to-consumer relationship for wineries.
🧠 Lessons from lifestyle brands and what wineries can learn from them.
🌿 How consumer behavior is shifting — including the rise of non-alcoholic and cannabis alternatives.
🚫 Why first impressions of wine matter — and how bad wine turns people off forever.
Mores resources at Drinks.com