The Digital Sommelier Shelf: smart wine shelf inspires – and helps customers choose

PRESS RELEASE

Category: Shop Fitting/EuroShop 2026

 

 

The Digital Sommelier Shelf:

smart wine shelf inspires – and helps customers choose

·     Supports sales in the self-service market – any time and without extra staff

·     Guaranteed up to date: call up detailed info in real time on every wine offered

·     Suitable food pairings and recipes boost cross-selling

 

Gummersbach, 16 February 2026

At EuroShop 2026, KIND4stores will unveil the next-generation wine shelf, equipped with smart functional units, which the shopfitting experts have tailored precisely to this product. The name says it all: the Digital Sommelier Shelf. This innovation for the self-service market was developed in collaboration with BLITZEN, gekartel and DWD Concepts.

“Wine is a purchase that often requires advice, but it is not usually possible to assign staff specially to advise the customer”, explains Daniel Erhardt, CEO of the KIND4Stores shopfitting group, describing the challenge for the self-service market. Customers who feel at a loss in front of the wine shelf tend to buy less, cheaper bottles or none at all. “With our Digital Sommelier Shelf, we have upgraded the classic wine shelf to a digital touchpoint. And we’re showing you how it works for the first time at EuroShop 2026”, says Erhardt. Multimedia applications should catch the attention to entice customers out of their entrenched ‘shopping list mode’. Plus, the innovative solution allows them to actively and independently call up information from different online sources on each individual wine displayed on the shelf – in real time. KIND4stores is hoping to make choosing wine an experience with its digital sommelier. “The customer is better informed and feels confident that they are making the right choice. They are much more willing to spend more on a bottle of wine, try something new, and they enjoy coming back. This way, the digital sommelier becomes a real partner that, with long-term use, can increase sales at the wine shelf”, concludes Daniel Erhardt.

 

Making choosing wine an experience

To draw you in, the Digital Sommelier Shelf attracts attention with seasonally changing content. The large-format video screen above the shelf directs the gaze, even from afar, to atmospheric images from the world of wine, stirring the emotions. Video sequences show vineyards, scenes from the grape harvest, wine tasting, cheery people at a picnic or a gourmet table, inviting you to enjoy. Separate sequences are shown for spring, summer, autumn and winter, depicting people appreciating wine in an appropriate atmosphere for each season. There is deliberately no product advertising at this stage to put people at their ease first.

The video content then switches to a specific country of origin. For France, for example, you’ll see images of familiar Paris sights, Loire Valley castles or beautiful Provence that illustrate the French savoir-vivre. In this case, only the shelves containing French wines are lit up, helpfully steering the customer gaze. Then the programme switches back to promoting seasonal wines, with all the shelf lighting back on until the next country is profiled, perhaps Italy with scenes from Rome, Milan, Naples or Sicily. Again, only the sections with Italian wines are illuminated. In the next step the customer is offered a recommendation for a specific product from the shelf.

 

The big difference: up-to-date data guaranteed

With the Digital Sommelier Shelf, customers can call up additional, more specific details of individual wines in real time on the spot, according to their fancy. All they have to do is scan their chosen bottle below the display. The screen then instantly shows detailed information on the taste, origin and many other characteristics, not to mention recommendations for suitable dishes to accompany it.

With conventional systems, it can be the case that wines that are still indicated have long been sold out, and for new wines on the shelf there is no digital information yet. The Digital Sommelier Shelf, on the other hand, always uses ‘fresh’ data, as it is provided online.

This solution, which is both convenient for customers and easy to handle for self-service operators, is made possible thanks to an exclusive collaboration with the makers of the ©Vivino app. The wine specialists in the background guarantee the up-to-date database and reliable operation.

 

Whetting the appetite for more: cross-selling included

But the customer journey doesn’t end at the wine shelf. Instead, the Digital Sommelier also encourages customers to continue their shop in other sections of the self-service market. It shows images of food pairings together with suitable recipes that shoppers can download straight to their smartphone via QR code. So customers are not only tempted by the usual snacks such as cheese, crackers or olives, but also by ingredients from other categories – an excellent opportunity for cross-selling.

 

Caption: Visualising the Digital Sommelier Shelf

Picture: © BLITZEN

 

KIND4stores at EuroShop 2026: Hall 11/F55-4 (partner stand of dLv, Deutscher Ladenbau Verband)

More information: www.kind4stores.com

 

All brands and trademarks or product names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Please send us a specimen copy upon publication.

 

About KIND4stores

With over 120 years of experience in different sectors and regions, KIND4stores produces innovative concepts for modern, successful shopfitting that can be implemented ready to use throughout Europe.

KIND4stores delivers high-quality, one-stop shopfitting solutions to the European market, with customers including full-range and discount food retailers, drinks markets, health & beauty, home improvement and electronics retailers, pet shops and petrol stations.

www.kind4stores.com

 

Responsible for the content of this press release:

HARRES Metall-design GmbH

Max-Eyth-Straße 10

59581 Warstein-Belecke

Phone: +49 2902-9775-0

E-mail: info-de@KIND4stores.com

Managing directors: Nils Franke and Daniel Schwanitz

Amtsgericht (Local Court) Arnsberg HRB 6615

 

Media Relations

Phone: +49 170 8315835

E-mail: presse-ze@kind4stores.com

 

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