Computer Kiosks Help Consumer's Pick Wines

Discovery Wines, a new wine shop in New York, is among the first to use new computer kiosks that help wine consumers choose and evaluate wine. The system takes the price scanning kiosks that are popping up in retail one step further.

A wine buyer can pick a bottle off a shelf and scan the label to get more detailed information about that wine. Alternatively, the customer can start at the kiosk and enter in characteristics they are looking for in a wine (food pairing, color, etc.) and get a list of recommendations for wines available in the store.

I see two problems. First, most fine wine does not have a UPC code on the back. This puts a big burden on the merchant who must generate their own unique UPC codes. Second, if most of the information available on the kiosk is just a distributors or wine makers marketing materials, it is of limited value.