British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has unveiled an AI-powered Wine Finder, designed to enhance the wine shopping experience for its customers. The tool is accessible via the retailer’s online platform and in twenty stores across the UK, where dedicated QR codes facilitate its use.
The M&S Wine Finder provides personalised wine recommendations based on individual preferences, leveraging the proprietary AI solution developed by Preferabli. In addition to delivering accurate, consistent, and impartial content for all adult beverages in M&S’ inventory, the tool also incorporates advanced discovery and AI personalisation features.
The Preferabli solution is flexible as it can operate independently or be integrated seamlessly with a retailer’s existing IT infrastructure. The platform is capable of processing various data streams, including inventories as well as search and purchase histories.
Providing sommelier-like guidance
At M&S, customers can access the web-based experience directly, eliminating the need for a separate app download. However, Wine Finder has also been integrated into the retailer’s Food app, enabling users to conveniently add selected wines to their digital shopping list and check real-time availability across more than 500 UK locations.
Wine Finder engages users by asking a series of questions regarding their taste preferences before generating tailored recommendations. This includes preferred flavour profiles and specific wine types. Additionally, the tool’s discovery feature suggests wines with similar tasting profiles to those previously enjoyed by the customer, but from different grape varieties and regions. Overall, the M&S Wine Finder offers a diverse selection of over 400 wines, encompassing red, white, rosé, and sparkling options.
Bringing wine offer to a broader customer base
M&S aims to streamline the wine selection process, citing research that indicates nearly a quarter of shoppers spend more than ten minutes deliberating in the wine aisle. By offering swift, personalised recommendations, the retailer seeks to make wine selection more efficient and accessible to a broader customer base.
“We know wine can be a difficult category to shop and it’s important that we find new ways to support our customers when shopping our incredible range in store”, said Caroline Thompson-Hill, Head of Beers, Wine and Spirits at M&S Food: “By utilising AI, the Wine Finder tool helps encourage customers to try different regions, grapes and bottles they’ve not considered before. By suggesting wines to try, we’ll help customers make decisions in stores and hopefully find some new favourites.”
Extensive database
Preferabli’s proprietary database contains extensive attributes for millions of registered products, developed in collaboration with the world’s largest group of Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers. As a result, the company is confident in its ability to accommodate the range of any retailer. Preferabli previously established a similar partnership with the US retailer Albertsons, supporting its direct-to-consumer wine shipping platform, Vine & Cellar Reserve, in California.
