Online shop
Bottles, mixed packs, gift sets and gift cards with card payments, local delivery and click and collect.
Meadery software: online shop, pre-orders & mead club
Meaderies: small batches, sold before they're bottled. Brew more, chase less.
A new batch gets announced on Instagram, orders roll in by DM and text and you spend the next week chasing bank transfers and working out who gets the last dozen bottles. We build online shops with batch pre-orders for meaderies, plus the mead club, tastings and stockist side that sits behind it. Then we host it and look after it.
Looking for a meadery online shop that handles pre-orders properly?
Mead is made in small batches and some of them take months to come good. That makes selling it awkward. You don't know how a batch will sell until it's bottled, the popular melomel is gone in a day and the dry traditional sits on the shelf. Meanwhile orders are spread across DMs, market sales, the cellar door and a few bottle shops, with nothing keeping count.
Wollopit builds custom meadery software around how you actually make and sell. Every batch gets its own pre-order page capped to what's in the tank, so you know what's sold before you bottle. Age checks are built in. Customers who've never tried mead get guides that help them choose. Your market Square, online shop and stockists all share one stock count. We connect the tools you already like and look after the lot on our own servers.
01The problems
What we hear from meaderies
Does your meadery have these problems? Here's how we'd fix them.
Most meaderies we talk to make something genuinely special and sell it through a patchwork of DMs, market stalls and a spreadsheet. It holds together until a new batch drops.
- The problemOrders arrive by DMA new batch goes up on Instagram and orders come in through DMs, comments and texts. Then you chase bank transfers for a week.How we fix itAn online shop where every release has its own page, card payments go through at checkout and orders land in one list.
- The problemBatches sell unevenlyThe berry melomel is gone in a day while the dry traditional sits on the shelf for months.How we fix itPre-orders per batch capped to what's in the tank, so you know what's sold before bottling and can plan the next brew around real demand.
- The problemAge checks keep you up at nightYou're selling alcohol online and hoping the courier checks ID at the door.How we fix itDate of birth confirmation at checkout, adult signature on delivery and order records ready if your licence ever gets checked.
- The problemNobody knows what mead isHalf your customers think it's all sickly sweet and the other half think it's something from a Viking movie.How we fix itTasting notes, a sweetness scale, food pairings and a 'start here' guide on every bottle page so new drinkers buy with confidence.
- The problemPeople can't find you after the marketThey loved it at the Saturday market, then can't find a single bottle shop that stocks it.How we fix itA stockist finder map on your website that updates itself from your trade orders.
- The problemTastings booked by phoneGroups ring during bottling, the booking goes on a sticky note and two parties turn up at the same time.How we fix itOnline tasting bookings with time slots, group sizes, deposits and SMS reminders.
- The problemMarket stock never matches the shopYou sell a case at the market on Square, the website still shows it in stock and an online order comes through for bottles you don't have.How we fix itSquare at the market and the online shop share one stock count, so you never sell a bottle twice.
- The problemMead club on a spreadsheetMembers listed in a spreadsheet, cards charged one at a time and someone always misses their release.How we fix itMead club subscriptions that bill themselves, with member-first release windows and pickup or delivery choices.
- The problemBatch records in a notebookWhich beekeeper's honey went into which batch, gravity readings and when it's ready to bottle all live in one notebook.How we fix itBatch records that link honey lots, readings and bottling dates, with finished stock flowing straight into the shop.
- The problemPacking glass by handWriting labels, weighing boxes and copying tracking numbers into emails one order at a time.How we fix itShipping labels from Australia Post or Sendle printed straight from the order, with tracking emailed to the customer automatically.
02What we build
Solutions
What we build for meaderies. Usually all talking to each other.
Pick the one that's hurting most or join the whole lot up. Everything is built around how your team works, not the other way round.
Batch pre-orders
Each batch capped to its yield, pre-orders closed when it's full and customers charged or notified when it's bottled.
Age checks & safe delivery
Date of birth confirmation at checkout, adult signature delivery options and order records kept for your licence.
Mead guides & tasting notes
Sweetness scales, honey varietals, styles explained and food pairings that help new drinkers pick a bottle.
Stockist finder
A map of bottle shops, restaurants and markets that stock you, updated from your trade orders.
Tasting bookings
Cellar door tastings and group sessions with time slots, deposits, add-ons and reminders.
Mead club
Quarterly or seasonal packs with automatic billing, card retries and member-first release windows.
Market stock sync
Square at the stall and the online shop share one stock count, so weekend sales update the website.
Trade portal
Bottle shops and restaurants reorder at their own pricing, with invoices going straight into Xero or MYOB.
Batch & honey records
Honey lots by beekeeper and varietal, gravity logs, ageing dates and bottling runs in one place.
Shipping & labels
Australia Post and Sendle labels printed from the order, fragile packing notes and tracking emails sent for you.
A website that pours
Hand-built, quick on mobile, with current releases, tastings and stockists, built to rank for 'mead near me'.
03The systems
The big ones
Your whole meadery, on one system.
These are the systems meaderies ask us about most. Each one works on its own and they get properly useful when they're joined up.
Online shop & pre-orders
Sell the batch before it hits the bottle.
Every batch gets its own release page with tasting notes, yield and a pre-order cap. Customers pay or reserve up front, the batch closes itself when it's full and everyone gets told when it's bottled and on its way.
- Release page for every batch
- Pre-orders capped to batch yield
- Pay now or reserve and pay later
- Auto-close when the batch is full
- Waitlist for sold-out batches
- Bottled and shipped notifications
- Mixed packs and gift sets
- Age check at checkout
- Click and collect or delivery
- Gift cards for Christmas rush
Batches & honey
From the beekeeper to the bottle, written down.
Log the honey that came in, which batch it went into and every reading along the way. When a batch is bottled the finished stock lands in the shop, the market stall and the trade portal at once.
- Honey lots by beekeeper and varietal
- Batch recipes and yeast notes
- Gravity and temperature logs
- Ageing and bottling dates
- Bottling runs into finished stock
- Lot records for traceability
- Honey stock and reorder reminders
- Volume figures for your WET return
Mead club
Regulars who never miss a release.
Club members pay automatically each season, get first crack at small batches and pick pickup or delivery. No more spreadsheet and no more charging cards one at a time.
- Seasonal or quarterly packs
- Automatic billing and card retries
- Member-first release windows
- Members swap bottles in a pack
- Member pricing online and at the stall
- Pickup or delivery choice
- Skip or pause a season
- Member emails through Klaviyo
Tastings & events
Tastings booked online, not on a sticky note.
Cellar door tastings, group sessions and festival appearances in one calendar. People book and pay online, get a reminder and you get a run sheet showing who's coming and what they're tasting.
- Tasting time slots online
- Group sizes and deposits
- Private sessions and hens' parties
- SMS and email reminders
- Market and festival calendar on your site
- Bottle sales tied to each booking
- Cancellations and rebookings
- Google Business Profile hours kept current
Stockists & trade
Bottle shops reorder. Customers find them.
Bottle shops and restaurants get a portal with their own pricing and order history. Every trade account shows on your stockist finder, so people who tried you at the market know where to buy next.
- Trade accounts with their own pricing
- Two-tap reorders
- Invoices into Xero or MYOB
- New release alerts for stockists
- Stockist map on your website
- Search by suburb or postcode
- Sell sheets and tasting notes for staff
- Shared stock with shop and market
04How it changes
Before and after
A new batch, wolloped.
Here's how a new release could change. Every meadery is different, so we map yours first.
Before
- Post the new batch on Instagram
- Orders arrive by DM, comment and text
- Copy everyone into a spreadsheet
- Chase bank transfers for a week
- Batch oversold by two dozen bottles
- Write every shipping label by hand
After
- Pre-orders open on the release page
- Mead club members get first look
- Customers pay online with an age check
- Batch closes itself when it's full
- Bottled stock allocated to every order
- Labels print and tracking emails go out
05Services
Everything under one roof
Software, websites and systems for meaderies.
Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading what you've got, it's one team from the first sketch to the support call.
Custom software for meaderies
Built around how your meadery actually runs: online shop, batch pre-orders and the admin in between, in one system you own.
Websites for meaderies
Fast, hand-built websites that rank for the searches your customers make and turn visits into enquiries, bookings or orders.
Meadery system upgrades
Running on spreadsheets, old software or a platform you've outgrown? We move your data across and upgrade in stages so the business never stops.
Apps and portals for meaderies
Age checks & safe delivery and mead guides & tasting notes: customer and staff portals that work on any phone without an app store.
Integrations and automation
We connect Shopify, WooCommerce and Square so information moves on its own and nobody retypes it.
Hosting, support and care
Managed hosting, updates, backups and security for your meadery, looked after by the people who built it.
06Integrations
Connections
Plays nicely with what you already use.
We connect to the tools you rely on, work alongside platforms you're happy with or replace the ones holding you back.
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- Square
- Xero
- MYOB
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Afterpay
- Australia Post
- Sendle
- StarTrack
- Klaviyo
- Mailchimp
- Google Business Profile
- Humanitix
- Eventbrite
07How we work
The process
Some people dip their toe in. We turn up in a rebreather.
We get properly below the surface of your meadery: the systems, the busy days and the jobs everyone hates. Then we fix the bits that matter most first.
- 01
Think
We sit down in the meadery, at the market stall and at the kitchen table where the orders get sorted, then work out what's slowing you down.
- 02
Archi-tech
We plan it before writing code: your batches, pre-orders, age checks, club members, stockists, hosting and cost.
- 03
Build
Real engineering, shown to you early and often. Usually the pre-order shop first, so your next batch sells properly.
- 04
Look after
We host it, maintain it and keep improving it. When something breaks you call the people who built it.
08Questions
FAQ
Things meaderies ask us.
Something else on your mind? Ring 0423 011 252 and ask the people who'd build it.
Can pre-orders be capped to batch size?
Yes. Each batch has a limit and pre-orders close when it's reached. Anyone who misses out can join a waitlist in case the yield comes in higher than expected.
How do age checks work for online mead sales?
Customers confirm their date of birth at checkout and you can require an adult signature on delivery. Orders are recorded so you have the details on hand for your liquor licence.
We already use Shopify. Do we have to switch?
No. If Shopify or WooCommerce is doing its job, we build around it and add batch pre-orders, the mead club, tastings and stockist finder. If it's holding you back we'll show you what replacing it involves before anything changes.
Can our market sales and online shop share stock?
Yes. We connect Square at your stall to the online shop so a weekend of market sales updates what's available on the website.
Can the stockist finder update itself?
Yes. When a bottle shop or restaurant orders through the trade portal they can appear on the map automatically. You can still add or hide stockists by hand.
Can we run a mead club with automatic billing?
Yes. Members are charged each season, failed cards are retried and members get first access to small batches before they go public.
How much does a meadery system cost?
It depends on what you need, so we quote up front once we understand it. No surprise invoices, no lock-in and you own what we build.
How long does it take?
Smaller jobs like a pre-order shop or tasting bookings can be quick. Bigger systems are planned in stages so you get the first win early instead of waiting for everything at once.
Who looks after it once it's built?
We do. We host it on our own managed servers and keep it updated and secure. When you need something you ring the people who built it.
We already have systems. Can you upgrade them instead of starting again?
Usually, yes. Most meaderies we work with keep what's working and upgrade the rest in stages. We move your data across, connect the old and new while we switch and retire the old system only when the new one is proven.
Contact
Got a meadery problem? Consider it wolloped.
Tell us what's slow, broken, manual or missing. You don't need a spec, just describe what's going on.