Raley’s supermarkets is leveraging a customized version of the Hello Vino mobile application to help shoppers select the right wine and receive instant savings.

The Hello Vino app delivers information about wines as well as reviews to mobile devices. Raley’s is promoting the app, which has been customized to reflect the supermarket chain’s inventory, in its stores as a way to drive sales for its wine department.

“Raley’s is interested in getting their coupons in front of our audience and driving those users to their stores,” said Jim McNamee, vice president of marketing for Hello Vino, San Francisco.

“Raley’s is the first retailer to offer digital coupons through the app,” he said.

Wine discounts
The Hello Vino app features have been customized to Raley’s 124 retail locations throughout Northern California and Nevada.

Wine brand recommendations provided by the app reflect each individual store’s inventory using the mobile device’s location-based services.

Raley’s is also delivering digital coupons for wine to shoppers’ mobile devices via the app.

When users open the app, they see coupons for the store they are inside or nearby. Once they have entered their email address, they are presented with a coupon code on their smartphones that can be redeemed at checkout.

The offers are also being promoted on Hello Vino’s Facebook page.

Image recognition technology in the iPhone app lets shoppers snap a picture of a wine label to instantly receive tasting notes, food pairings as well as ratings from both professional critics and consumers.

Additional app features let shoppers save and rate wines for future reference.

The free mobile app for iPhone and Android smartphones will be promoted via signage around Raley’s stores.

Raley’s also has its own shopping app which is focused on the entire supermarket experience.

Hello Vino has an installed base of 700,000 app users across its iPhone and Android apps. The developer works with retailers and suppliers to integrate descriptions of wines, ratings and other information into the app.

“The wine category is so huge,” Mr. McNamee said. “The average supermarket has about 1,000 bottles of wine on the shelf — a lot of shoppers feel overwhelmed.

“That’s why we created the app, to filter down that selection to the few that matter to shopper,” he said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York