MT. PLEASANT, SC — Lisa Allen, founder of Atlanta-based Wine Insite set out to make the wine selection process as enjoyable as the wine itself. How? By installing a relational database application on a touch screen kiosk that sits in a retailer’s wine department.
After successful trials with eatZi’s Market & Bakery in Atlanta, and Marshall Field’s in Chicago, Wine Insite piloted the kiosk solution at BI-LO.
The kiosk contains information about each wine in the store including: price, varietal/grape, origin, style and food/cheese pairing. Customers enter their criteria by touching the appropriate buttons such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia, and $10 to $15. The kiosk searches the store’s inventory and presents results. An additional screen displays wine tasting notes, available ratings/reviews, a picture of the bottle or label, and additional food/cheese pairing ideas – all of which can be printed from the kiosk.
The BI-LO management team is committed to installing kiosks in three additional stores in the Charleston/Mt. Pleasant area later this month. The partners for the Wine Insite pilot program at BI-LO include Agilysys and IBM, which supplied the kiosks and assisted with the installation, and The Moyer Group, which programmed and customized the software.
