How Do Webhooks Work With VineSpring?

We’ve talked a lot about webhooks recently, but we realize that wineries don’t spend their days building software and the concept of webhooks might be a bit foreign. So, we asked VineSpring’s Senior Developer, Matthew Fay, to share what webhooks are and their many benefits. In this article, he will walk readers through real-life examples of how wineries and breweries can use webhooks with VineSpring to drive personalization to create a better customer experience.

Webhooks Explained

Webhooks are an efficient way to connect VineSpring to your other systems, providing real-time data updates. When a significant event happens, such as the creation of a customer or an update to an order, VineSpring can automatically send your other systems the new data. Those systems can then take actions according to your business needs. Example systems include CRMs like Zoho or Salesforce, web-based services like Zapier, or internal systems.

Essentially, webhooks allow VineSpring to communicate and relay information to your other systems automatically. Not only does this eliminate tedious data entry and constant cross-checking across systems, but it also creates a better experience for the customer. 

How Do Webhooks Create a Better Customer Experience?

Using webhooks with VineSpring has quite a few meaningful benefits such as:

• Connect to your other systems.

• Easily integrate VineSpring into your additional applications and databases.

• Gain flexibility. VineSpring customers can connect their VineSpring data to an incredible number of other systems. Additionally, admins can configure which types of webhooks get sent where.

• Get real-time data. Get data updates in real-time, as they happen. As written in A Focus on the Hub-and-Spoke Model

• Respond to customers faster. Systems can pass and receive data as soon as it gets collected, allowing for quicker reactions to customer behavior and data changes.

• Efficiency for all. Webhooks are very efficient for everybody involved. They allow you to get real-time data without frequent polling.

• Integrate reliably. When sending out data, VineSpring will retry every 25 seconds 10 times until a successful status code is received.

• Make things more simple. VineSpring makes setting up webhooks easy, and you only have to set them up once.

Some Examples of How Webhooks Work With Other Systems

When your systems communicate with each other, you’re removing the risk of human error and oversight as well as the tedious man-hours required to manually update your systems. Webhooks with VineSpring personalize your process and systems. 

Consider the following examples of how VineSpring could connect to a system:

1) CRM:

Say a new customer places an order on your VineSpring-hosted storefront. The customer and order information is sent to your CRM, for example, Zoho, using webhooks. Your CRMs automation tools can be set up so that the customer is sent an email based on the products they have ordered and their location. 

This email can contain a personalized set of links or promotions based on what you know about them from their purchase. If a particular type of product is purchased, your CRM schedules a new task to remind your team to make a call to the new customer. The product that the customer ordered is included in your future allocation and your team can introduce themselves and let them know they’ll be receiving their desired wine.

2) Internal/custom system:

If your business uses a custom Cloud application for tracking customer and order metrics, webhooks can connect that system to VineSpring. Your customer system likely has an API that can accept customer and order information. When an order gets placed in VineSpring, a webhook fires and the data is sent to your Cloud application. This allows you to easily review customer actions and order metrics regularly, in a single system. Using these metrics, you can craft custom messages and offers that are more relevant to your audience and their buying habits.

3) Zapier, Google Sheets, Slack:

If you use any of these systems, you can pull in information from VineSpring. For example, when a customer signs up for one of your VIP clubs, their information can be automatically added to a Google Sheet. This sheet is later used to mail out a personalized welcome package. Additionally, a Slack message can automatically post to your Sales, Clubs, or DTC channel. This signals that a member of your team needs to reach out to say thanks and offer the customer an individualized promotion. 

4) Zapier, ShipStation:

Both of these systems can connect to VineSpring to streamline your shipping. You can configure VineSpring webhooks to send new orders to Zapier (more about Zapier here). Zapier then integrates with ShipStation so that you can use ShipStation's shipping labels and packing slips. You can then send a personalized packing slip with a thank you note. Additionally, when a ShipStation order has shipped, an SMS message can be sent to your team so they can reach out with a personalized email to your customer.

Conclusion

Using webhooks with VineSpring is a powerful way to integrate a variety of systems to build an ecosystem of applications that work together, deliver personalization, and create a better customer experience. 

Used in conjunction with an API or service like Zapier, real-time data can be inserted into any process or operation, efficiently. We are genuinely happy to see the power of our webhooks being leveraged by our customers to make their lives easier and improve their customer’s experience. 

Our core values of making it simple, better, and together live in all of our products, and we strive to deliver value for our customers.

If you'd like to see VineSpring with webhooks in action, fill out the form below and we can give you a tour!