Together with Nexum and GK, Hawesko Group is introducing AI-powered wine recommendations to the online shops of Hawesko, Vino and Tesdorf. The retail group specialising in premium wines, champagnes and spirits aims to help customers find the right wine more quickly and manage digital sales channels cost-effectively.
At the heart of the project is GK Air Personalisation. The AI-powered solution derives intelligent product recommendations from the product range, purchasing behaviour and preferences, and tailors suggestions throughout the digital customer journey. “With GK Air, Hawesko can strategically manage personalisation across digital channels and link it to business objectives,” says Jens Scholz, CEO of GK AIR: “For retailers, it is crucial that AI not only generates more relevant recommendations, but also intelligently combines the product range, customer behaviour and business targets.”
The consultancy Nexum is supporting Hawesko Group with its specialist expertise in integrating the solution into online shops and translating the technology into concrete use cases. The service provider is tasked with integrating personalisation in such a way that it helps customers whilst simultaneously generating measurable added value for the retail group.
Data drives advice
The recommendations are not intended to be limited to the online shop alone. In future, Hawesko Group will be able to link campaigns and newsletter more closely with individual product recommendations, so that customers receive suggestions following a campaign interaction that are tailored to the occasion, their previous behaviour and their interests. Business metrics such as conversion rate, basket value and margin are also factored into the optimisation process.
According to the companies, a targeted A/B test has demonstrated the commercial potential of the technology. Compared with a manually curated product range strategy, the AI-supported optimisation achieved a margin per bottle that was up to twelve per cent higher.
Wine advice goes digital
Looking ahead, the personalisation logic is set to enable further digital advisory scenarios. The companies envisage a digital wine adviser that asks customers about the occasion, their taste preferences, wine colour, grape variety or budget, and uses this information to generate personalised product recommendations.
