The digital event, run by AI-driven drinks software provider Preferabli, focused on how fast-emerging technology is transforming the way wine is sold, considering the benefits to both retail and hospitality businesses.
AI-driven personalisation is offering commercial benefits to the e-commerce wine sector, through reducing decision friction, increasing customer confidence, improving product discovery, and strengthening long-term loyalty.
But artificial intelligence is also being used on restaurant floor, where the webinar showed that its impact is less about automation and more about precision.
According to panellist and Napa Valley hospitality professional Rachel Wilson, the technology is already changing how wine is sold – essentially by focusing on getting the right glass into the right guest’s hand.
“I think it’s pretty simple,” said Wilson, who is currently general manager of the Napa Valley Marriott. “Personalisation is just about finding the right product for the guest. It’s what do they personally want? What are they going to enjoy?”
While that may sound straightforward, it is having a commercial impact.
Selling better is selling more
Rather than pushing higher-priced bottles, AI-driven recommendations are increasing revenue by improving satisfaction, according to Wilson. When guests enjoy what they’re drinking, she recorded, the commercial outcome follows naturally.
“When you’re drinking something you like, then, of course, you’re going to sell more of it,” she said. “Selling better is selling more.”
In practice, that means longer dwell times, more orders, and a more relaxed, social experience – without overt upselling.
Changing tastes in real time
One of the reasons AI is taking hold is the speed at which consumer preferences are shifting – even in traditional wine destinations like Napa Valley.
“Don’t think of this as something that you accomplish and then you’re over with,” Wilson said. “Inventory is constantly changing; variables are constantly changing; what’s the top seller is constantly changing.”
She pointed to a striking recent trend: “We’ve been selling a lot more non-alcoholic wine. We’ve seen our mocktails skyrocket in sales… really just in the last two years.”
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