Shopify: add wine pairing advice to your wine shop in ten minutes

Shopify is the platform of choice for many wine stores: fast to launch, plenty of apps, little maintenance. What is missing is the advice you do give in the shop. With the SommelierX app you put that advice on your product pages in ten minutes. Here is the full route, including the pitfalls we saw at the first installs.

Before you start

• Access to your store's Shopify admin (owner or staff with app permissions).
• A theme with theme app blocks. All Online Store 2.0 themes (Dawn and newer) have them; older themes need one line of code.
• Product titles that describe the wine: at least producer or name, grape or region, and preferably the vintage.

Step 1: install the app

Search the Shopify App Store for "SommelierX Wine Pairing" and click install. The app only asks for read access to your products; customer data is not read. After installing, the settings screen opens inside your own admin.

Step 2: connect your catalogue

Click "Import wine catalogue". The app reads your products through the Admin API and links each wine to one of SommelierX's calculated wine styles. Wines that are not recognised straight away go to a list the SommelierX team works through for you.

Step 3: put the widget on your product page

Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize, open a product page and add the SommelierX wine pairing block under the product information. Choose the mode:

• Product (wine → dish): shows the dishes this bottle pairs with. The mode for product pages.
• Search (dish → wine): the visitor types a dish and sees which wines from your store fit. Good on the homepage or a dedicated "Wine for your dish" page.
• Builder and By taste for other ways to explore your range.

Colour, light or dark and language follow your theme; adjust them in the app. Save and open a product page: the dishes are there.

Step 4: check the storefront

Open three product pages in a private window: a red, a white and a sparkling wine. Do all three show dishes with a score? Then the link is complete. If a bottle shows nothing, it is not linked yet; that changes once the team has reviewed it.

What it costs

The first two months are free, with every widget. Then choose Starter (€9) or Growth (€29 per month, excl. VAT), cancel monthly. Billing runs through Shopify, on your regular Shopify invoice.

Measuring what it does

The app shows per month how often the widget was displayed, how often visitors searched and how often a recommended wine was clicked. Put that next to your Shopify report on conversion per product page and you will see within a month what the advice does. More in our article on wine e-commerce conversion.

Frequently asked questions

Does the app work with every Shopify theme?

With all Online Store 2.0 themes via theme app blocks. On an older theme you paste one line of code into the product template; the app shows you the line.

Does the app read customer data?

No. It only asks for read access to your products. Orders, customers and payments are not read.

Can I show the widget in another language?

Yes. The widget follows your storefront language and is available in English, Dutch, German and French.