(TDB) - The idea of the internet being solely a medium for selling products is as out-dated as a dial-up connection. Now the potential lies in the web shoring up areas of the industry where efficiency is everything.

IN AN interview with the drinks business almost three years ago, Liv-ex director James Miles made a notable observation. Speaking about the need to reduce costs in a wine trade which was weathering the worst of the recession, he said that the online medium should be considered not just as a tool for shifting stock, but making savings. “The focus of the last 10 years has been on using the web to sell stuff but less focused on how it can be used to make the wine trade more efficient,” he said, adding: “Our view is that the next five years is going to be a lot more about the back office and there are going to be fundamental changes. It may not be as glamorous but in many ways it is more important.”

But what was Miles alluding to? How exactly can the web make the wine trade more efficient, and consequently save it cash? Well, one important development is the increasing use of the net for immediate access to sales and stock information, aiding the salesman in deal- making on the move. Another is the increased availability of real-time data to improve the accuracy of stock control. And a further benefit is the integration of computer systems, and improvement in
data exchange online, which together are reducing the need for the most costly element in wine trading: labour.

Dealing firstly with the latter opportunity, managing director of Vintner Systems Nick Gabb observes the emergence of greater efficiency savings due to the net and new technology: “Everything at the minute is down to getting systems to talk to each other so you can take out the human element.” Continuing, he says: “A three person company can be reduced to a two person one with a good computer system,” while had adds, half joking: “Soon we will be able to sit back and computers can run the world, although someone still has to drink the product.”