Offering tastings in your bottle shop is more than a hospitality gesture—it’s a smart sales tool. Tastings introduce customers to new wines, drive sales of premium products, and encourage loyalty and community. But how do you ensure your tasting program is both engaging and profitable?
Whether your tastings are free or paid, hosted or self-serve, it's important to understand your margins, minimise wastage, and how to use tools like enomatic to make your offering scalable and sustainable.
Tastings That Sell
In-store tastings help you:
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Promote under-the-radar or premium wines
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Increase average spend
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Reduce customer hesitation and decision fatigue
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Create memorable experiences that encourage repeat visits
Many bottle shops report a 2–5x sales lift for wines that are sampled in-store.
The Case for Paid Tastings
Paid tastings—especially those that feel casual and self-directed—can create real value for your customers and your bottom line. A typical format might be:
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$10 for 3 x 30ml samples
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Available any day of the week
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Self-serve, with wines stored in an enomatic dispenser
Offering a self-pour experience with Enomatic reduces the need for staff to manage the tasting—freeing them up to focus on customer service and sales. It also makes the experience more approachable, especially for customers who may feel shy or uncertain asking for a taste.
In saying that, you can also ensure there is plenty of hands-on staff assistance; it doesn't need to be all machine or all staff!
ROI Example: What Can You Earn?
Let’s run the numbers on a self-serve Enomatic tasting station in your shop.
Assumptions:
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8 wines in the Enomatic dispenser
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Tasting 3 x 30ml samples (90ml total)
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Flat rate $10 per tasting
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70 customers per week do a tasting
That’s:
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$700 per week in tasting revenue
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Minimal staff time required (self-serve)
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No wastage (thanks to enomatic's preservation system)
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90–100% gross profit margin on tasting pours
👉 Over 12 months, that adds up to $36,400 in revenue, with most of it pure profit.
Even better? If just 20% of tasters purchase one of the sampled wines, you’ve got a second income stream with almost no additional effort.
Why Enomatic?
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Self-serve tasting experience = lower labour costs + better customer engagement
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Precise 30ml pours = no over-pouring or product loss
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Wine preservation for up to 4 weeks = no wastage, even for premium wines
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Daily availability = no need to staff tastings to drive trial and sales
Download Our Free Guide: Make the Most of Your Enomatic in Your Bottle Shop
Want to maximise your tasting station’s success? Download our free guide to discover:
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Smart ways to set up tastings that drive sales
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Tips for reducing labour while improving customer experience
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Ideas to increase repeat purchases and product discovery
