Where is the best place for a sommelier?
A while back, when I was doing some research before launching my AI Sommelier, someone in the industry commented: “This is a terrible idea. As a sommelier, I could never recommend a wine I haven’t tasted.”
That comment stuck with me because it perfectly illustrates a common fear or misunderstanding about the role of AI in retail.
Adding an AI Sommelier to your website isn’t about replacing sommeliers. The best place for a human sommelier is still in a fancy restaurant. This is about bringing expert guidance to a space that desperately needs it: your online wine store.
The Actual Online Experience
Put yourself in the shoes of your online customer. They arrive on your site and are confronted with pages and pages of products. Yes, they can use selection tools, like region, price or grape to narrow down their choice, but that takes time, thought and effort. Who wants to spend 20 minutes using filters to narrow down the product range just to find a bottle of wine? That’s a big ask. Wouldn’t it be better if they could simply ask for what they want instead of having to trawl through your entire inventory? During the process they lose the product they’re half-interested in and have to go back and start the whole process again, often leading to that abandoned cart – a fail for the customer and for the retailer.
What if instead of that long and frustrating experience, a customer could visit your online store and have the same pleasant, helpful and encouraging experience as one who walks into your retail store?
In your shop, customers can ask your staff questions like “What’s a great gift under €50 for my dad who likes gin?” or “I love Barolo, but I can’t spend €30+ today. What can you suggest that’s close?” They get help. They get advice. They always spend more, are happier with their purchase, and they’re much more likely to come back to your store.
But when that same person shops online, they get none of that. Just a bland search bar and a list of filters. No context. No confidence. No joy.
That’s the problem I built AI Sommelier to solve. I understood the problem myself after 20 years in retail. Our AI is a smart online assistant that understands food pairings, matches customer budgets, knows your shop’s live inventory and responds instantly to your customers in natural language. In any of 16 languages, to be exact.
A Better Customer Experience
In fact, the customer’s experience with an AI Sommelier is better than in the store. Do you find that hard to believe? Then consider this. First, how many wine stores actually have a sommelier in their shop? Not many. I don’t remember ever being served by a sommelier in a shop. It’s not surprising – the average salary of a sommelier in the US in 2025 is between $50,000 and $82,000 per year, according to Glassdoor.
Then consider this: your customers can ask the AI Sommelier anything without feeling intimidated. That includes questions the average customer might suspect a real-life sommelier would sneer at them for asking.
We’ve all met this type of sommelier. There is a lot of snobbery in wine. With the AI Sommelier, there’s no embarrassment and no need for hesitation. The AI Sommelier does not judge – it just answers in plain language.
They don’t have to go to your shop during opening hours – the AI Sommelier is available 24-7 so they can get assistance anytime a questions pops into their head, and from the comfort of home.
The truth is the average customer doesn’t want a human sommelier when they visit your store – they’re much more comfortable with an AI Sommelier. In one survey, only 7 % of surveyed Australian consumers were found to be willing to seek advice from a sommelier.
Better for Everyone
And here’s the result: customers find better-matched products. They’re more confident in what they buy, and retailers increase average basket size and conversions. It’s a win-win.
The point isn’t perfection. We’re not talking about replacing humans here. The point is progress – turning passive browsing into confident buying.
And in a world where attention spans are short and competition is fierce, helping a customer choose faster and better might just be the most powerful tool that you as a retailer can offer your customers.