About the Company
Sommsation is an online marketplace that is modernizing the way people share experiences over wine by connecting independent wineries, wine experts, and wine enthusiasts.
They provide users direct access to world-class sommeliers and allows users to get hard-to-find domestic wines delivered from the winery right to their door. Sommsation also offers unique virtual tasting experiences and facilitates turnkey event planning for businesses and personal events.
The Problem
Sommsation approached Remedy in 2021 soon after their founding. Initially, they wanted Remedy’s help building out an internal platform that automated the process of interfacing with wineries for partnerships.
However, after a few months of gathering data, the teams decided to pivot. Instead of the internal tool, Remedy began work on their custom external-facing website.
The Solution
At the beginning of the partnership, Remedy’s three-person team worked autonomously on the internal platform. However, when the focus shifted to the external platform, the Remedy team grew to 10 people and began working as a fully integrated part of Sommsation.
As a full-time extension of Sommsation’s team, all key development features were assigned to Remedy, and Remedy became integral in all product strategy discussions.
Before the partnership, Sommsation’s external platform only offered virtual tastings and blog content. For the first year of the partnership, Remedy focused on building out the online marketplace – known as the “wine shop” – to allow users to browse and check out curated wines for delivery directly from Sommsation’s site.
The Result
Once a product approach was selected, Remedy built and launched the MVP of the platform in one month. The MVP included the “wine shop” and a custom checkout feature. The platform also complied with U.S. legal regulations for online alcohol sales.
Following the launch of the MVP, Remedy continued to make improvements to the marketplace. As Sommsation iterated their brand, Remedy redesigned the UI/UX of the website accordingly. Remedy also:
streamlined the platform’s content management abilities
designed different blog options that could be managed from the content stack
released new features, including checkout promo codes and online gift cards.
The Ongoing Partnership
As Sommsation grows, Remedy currently works to expand the marketplace’s functionalities. This includes upgrading the website’s custom checkout functionalities, allowing Sommsation to expand product offerings to include food and beverage products that complement wine from their various sellers.
Remedy is also helping to build a new custom checkout feature that will allow users to purchase these various products in one transaction while automating the complicated internal money flow
Beyond the technical partnership, Remedy and Sommsation collaborate on events. To kick off cohort 2 of Remedy’s scout program, Sommsation led the community through a virtual wine tasting. Sommsation collaborated with Remedy on a “Toast to the Community” NYC tech event, speaking on industry innovation in front of 80+ founders, investors, and operators.