Swedish App for Wine Lovers Gets an Upgrade

About a year ago Vinvin.se, the Swedish wine site shared by the food magazine Allt om Mat and the afternoon daily Expressen, launched what has become a very popular iPhone application. The app allows users to search through all the wines of Sweden's state liquor store, Systembolaget, and see reviews from Allt om Mat's wine experts, who do a yearly comparison of all the wines available at the store. Furthermore, you can see whether the wines are in stock at each individual store and where the nearest store via a map. 

Since the launch, the app has been downloaded by over 45,000 people - to put the number into perspective, there have been 350,000 iPhones sold in Sweden (according to prylfeber.se). Now, Bonnier Tidskrifter is launching a beta app - Carolina Werner, product manager for the food and wine segment at Digital Media/Bonnier Tidskrifter, explains.

"Until now the Vinvin app has been free, which it will continue to be for those wanting to try it out," says Werner. "But if you want updates for all the new wines as they come in and are tested by our wine experts, it costs SEK 45 per year. The user will then also have access to all the news that Systembolaget releases. The news is pushed to subscribers' iPhones."

Along with the new releases, the upgrade allows users to rank the wines themselves and write their own notes. Furthermore, the map and availability functions have been improved.

This is the first time that a Bonnier company is charging for an app. "It's exciting," says Werner. "There have been a lot of apps developed in Bonnier companies but up until now only free apps have been launched. With hindsight, I'm glad the vinvin app was free for downloading the past year. It's given us a widely spread target group. It's also been incredibly important for us that potential users can test the app for free before they decide to pay for it now that we are making further developments.

"A third - some 15,000 - of those who have downloaded the app open and use it every week. This means that the service is important for the user, which we also believe is key for charging for apps at AppStore today. Our experience is also that those interested in wine who spend a significant amount of their budget on it are less sensitive about price on average."