(Wine-Searcher) - Internet big guns are changing wine's retail landscape, Liza B. Zimmerman discovers.

Most traditional wine operators have tried to build effective online marketing platforms, but few have had the technical skills and understanding of the complicated US compliance laws to do so successfully.

So when big guns Amazon and Ebay entered the wine sales business – in 2012 and April of 2016 respectively – many retailers welcomed their presence as another way to sell wine. Wine options on Ebay and Amazon focus on everything from older, large-format bottles to inexpensive jug wine. Ebay even helps drive brick-and-mortar sales by offering in-store pickups that can introduce customers to new vendors.

The sales format also gives consumers access to direct purchases from wineries, a sales format that continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Alyssa Steele, the divisional merchandising manager for home and garden at Ebay, quoted figures from the Boulder-based Shipcompliant showing direct-to-consumer sales increased 66 percent from 2010 to 2015, with 4.3 million cases valued at nearly $2 billion shipped directly from wineries to consumers last year. 

Amazon has also been working directly with wine producers since the site launched in November 2012, according to a spokesman for the Seattle-based company. He added that the relationship between wine producers and Amazon was similar to the business model used for all other entities that the retail giant does business with in terms of requiring them to verify their licenses.

Familiar retailers already have the consumers' trust in a scam-filled market. They also offer an extra level of convenience to shoppers who like to purchase many products at once. For early adapters, and wine geeks, they also allow great online searchability for competitive pricing and unusual products