8Wines

Discover how we built the platform from scratch, helping 8Wines deliver a tailored and exceptional wine-shopping experience to wine connoisseurs in over 40 countries.

Client’s location

Czech Republic

Tallium team

UI/UX Designer
Frontend Developers
Backend Developers
DevOps Engineers
QA Engineer

Timeline

2015-present

About

8Wines is an e-commerce platform founded by two friends — one with knowledge of wine and the other with a background in technology. They noticed that existing e-commerce websites for premium wines could improve user experience and customer service. So, they decided to step in and launch 8Wines.

Challenges

We had to build an e-commerce platform for high-quality wines. The platform had to offer a smooth user experience, helping users select and order wines that perfectly match their preferences while also allowing them to discover new and exquisite tastes.

Project overview

The MVP was launched in 2015. It was a simple e-store built with the purpose of testing the market and measuring the effectiveness of different marketing strategies. Over time, 8Wines scaled up, adding a subscription service, eight localized domains, and a vast wine selection with thousands of items sourced directly from 700+ partner wineries.

Project overview

MVP Stage

8Wines sells premium wines worldwide from a central European hub. The MVP targeted Europe with wine ratings and filters to guide selections. Originally built on Magento (now Adobe Commerce), the store later upgraded from Magento 1 to 2 for better performance and security.

Tailored User Content & Filtering

The platform's filtering options include the average wine score, wine type (red, white, sparkling, rose), style (boutique, collectible, organic, orange, sweet, kosher), country, region, price, and mentions by renowned wine critics.

Wine score

Each wine comes with a detailed description and a score based on the traditional 100-point scale. All wines are rated 90+, signaling exceptional quality and serving as the platform's distinctive feature.

Recommended wines

Under the description, users see a list of wines from the same region with a similar score, enabling them to make an informed buying decision.

Growth stage

Once 8Wines got its first customers, the team decided to scale the platform to allow people from more countries to order wine from the website.

Fulfilment automation

Localization

AI-powered subscription service

#01

Fulfilment automation

8Wines delivers hundreds of wines daily to 40+ countries via a fully automated system integrated with DHL and UPS, enabling same-day dispatch and 1-3-day delivery across most of Europe with breakage insurance.

#02

Localization

8Wines operates eight separate domains in six languages: English, Czech, German, French, Italian, Polish and Dutch. Each domain displays currency, VAT rates, and promotional offers tailored to the user’s location.

#03

AI-powered subscription service

Users build their first 6-bottle box by selecting wine types and price ranges. They then set personal taste preferences, choose delivery frequency, and pick a start date. An AI-powered engine recommends wines tailored to their profile, with instant swaps available.

Why 8Wines is leaving bare-metal behind

As 8Wines grows, we’re moving away from our bare-metal server at OVH, which has faced reliability issues — including downtime due to a fire at the OVH data center in France. To avoid future disruptions, we’re transitioning to the cloud.

Choosing the right cloud: AWS vs. Oracle

We’re evaluating AWS and Oracle Cloud. Oracle stands out with HeatWave — a high-performance managed database service that significantly boosts Adobe Commerce’s performance.

Scaling smarter with Oracle Cloud & HeatWave

Migrating to Oracle Cloud will improve platform performance, reliability, and scalability — setting up 8Wines for continued global growth.

Project outcome

As a result of this project, we’ve helped transform 8Wines into a scalable e-commerce platform with superior user experience and growing profits.

Scalable platform with great UX

Thanks to the team’s continuous efforts in developing and enhancing the platform, 8Wines has increased returning customer revenue from 32% to 51% in just 2 years.

Growing customer loyalty

Thanks to the team’s continuous efforts in developing and enhancing the platform, 8Wines has increased returning customer revenue from 32% to 51% in just 2 years.

#1 premium wine seller in Europe according to FT

The Financial Times has recognized 8Wines in their list of the 1000 fastest-growing businesses in Europe, ranking it #1 in the Czech Republic and #1 premium wine seller in Europe.

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