From wine tasting to digital innovation- the birth of the Wine Experience Club

We recently sat down with our client, Rait Maasikas, to go deeper into the story behind one of our more unusual recent projects- the Wine Experience Club.

While working on projects in fintech, energy, and other demanding sectors, our engineers occasionally encounter challenges that are a bit more fun.

The beginning: a desire for better wine experiences

The story began during wine travels and repeating pattern while visiting various wineries across Italy, France, and Spain. These visits were always accompanied by delightful experiences—tasting wines in picturesque settings, enjoying stunning views, and savoring the local culture. Naturally, this often led to a desire to bring some of these wines back home. However, the logistics was often a nightmare. Only a couple of bottles usually fit in the luggage. Due to taxes, logistics, and other barriers, ordering wine to be shipped home was either impossible or overly complicated.

Moreover, after visiting several wineries in a single day, it became difficult to remember which wines they liked the most or where they had tasted them. Conversely, wineries invested 1.5 to 3 hours in these visits per group, often without knowing who their visitors were, what they liked, or how to reach them afterward. It was a classic lose-lose situation.

The challenge: bridging the gap between wineries and wine lovers

The WE team saw an opportunity: how could wineries start making follow-up sales after that first visit? What could be achieved by applying a digital approach to this traditionally offline experience? The idea began to take shape, and Rait’s next few trips only solidified his conviction.

Rait created a static prototype in Figma and started showcasing it to wineries. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Bringing the idea to life: collaboration with Codeborne

It was time to move beyond the concept phase. Rait approached us to develop the solution. Together, we split the idea into user stories and our UI/UX team took the prototype to the next level— a clickable version that we could test in real-world settings.

The most important test came in March 2023 at one of world largest annual wine fairs, Prowine in Germany. During the event, the WE team received encouraging feedback to proto and made numerous new contacts from wineries.

By the summer of 2023, we had developed the MVP and it was ready for testing. By this time, the WE team had spoken to about 100 wineries, introducing them to the idea, and collecting input about the potential use cases.

Overcoming obstacles: reality vs. expectations

As wineries were offered to start to use the solution, the responses were mixed. Initial commitments sometimes turned into rejections, leading the WE team to elaborate even further both the sales argumentation, and the benefits for the wineries. But new interested parties emerged, willing to give the concept a try.

Over a year, the WE team visited around 200 wineries, investing almost 150 days to gather hands-on feedback and insights into how the solution could be tailored to work effectively in each setting.

The digital divide: adapting to tradition

One significant challenge was that the European wine world, steeped in tradition, was far removed from the digital age that we are so accustomed to in Estonia. While all wineries had set up some form of online shop due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rait hadn’t seen a single fully functional end-to-end e-shop among them.

What we built for MVP

The solution allowed winery visitors to

• scan a QR code at the tasting room entrance, which opened that winery’s offerings seamlessly
• register through Google or Apple accounts (that we could capture email addresses)
• revise the key facts and the likability of the wines they tasted
• to receive a personalized follow-up email 2 hours after the visit with their tasting summary and a link to make purchases.
• behind the scenes, we streamlined the logistics, enabling orders by the case of 6 bottles from various wines to simplify decision making and shipping.
• to manage shipping, the Wine Experience Club took over the logistics, including handling taxes and ensuring the service ran smoothly from start to finish. Integration with a shipping partner allowed for efficient labeling and delivery, with the wineries simply packing the orders and handing them over to couriers.

Looking ahead: data-driven decisions and continuous improvement

Rait views this as just the beginning of a long journey. The WE team constantly focuses on data analysis - what works and what doesn’t? To understand customer behavior, and identify trends. From which locations are the orders placed, what distinguishes different visitors, and how best to refine the user experience? As the majority of the customers are in the 40+ age group, our emphasis will be on improving the user experience. Simplification is key; the challenge lies not in the technical aspects but in making the experience as user-friendly and intuitive as possible.

The next flow to improve is after-sales. Personalized messages at the right time to encourage repeat purchases. And when this is done, it’s time to bring more wineries on board. Since launch, about 50 are involved, with about half actively using the platform.

Codeborne view

Rait appreciates the value Codeborne brought to the team and the project. In addition to prototyping and actual development, several things stood out.

First, the scope management. One of the biggest challenges was delivering a great customer experience on the mobile phone within a limited budget, especially for a non-tech-savvy audience. What should be digitized to still offer great end-to-end experience and what shall we leave for future developments? Together with the Codeborne team, we solved this puzzle quite efficiently.

Second, helping to discover ways to obtain valuable background data without asking the customers to enter the information. Fewer clicks and empty fields to be filled in and more time for enjoyment. However, the WE team still gets the data to make plans for the next developments and to tune the service.

What’s next?

Rait sums it up: For something to succeed you need of course a great idea, an outstanding solution, and the right timing. But for execution that is the key, you need simultaneously to be resilient in your activities, but also listen all the time a “customer voice” to ensure your offering is relevant and resultful.

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