Adrien VINPOP

I guess Peter Rahal will be a good inspiration for you. He explains who he started his first and second business. You will have probably a lot of things in common. https://youtu.be/0OdHGliowm4?si=GUmy14x3-LBAc4gW

Hi everyone, I’m a Bordeaux winemaker building a wine-tech e-commerce platform for the Dutch market. I’m currently hitting a critical funnel bottleneck and would love direct feedback from experienced founders. (If allowed by moderators, I’ll gladly share the link or screen recording in the comments. I'm not here to promote, just trying to fix my checkout drop-off). --- ### The Problem We Solve Buying wine is usually a gamble based on marketing, confusing labels, or medals. The result? Consumers regularly waste €10–€25 on bottles they dislike and pour down the sink. When people dislike a wine, the industry often implies: "You just don't have the palate." In reality, taste is subjective. Our value proposition: "Never pour a bottle down the sink again." We replace subjective ratings with objective lab data. --- ### The Concept As a winemaker, I’ve used laboratory molecular analysis for over 7 years to craft my own wines. We apply that same precision to consumer taste: 1. Step 1 (Tasting Kit): Customers take a 6-question quiz. Our algorithm maps their profile against 100 molecular criteria to recommend a 3-bottle kit. 2. Step 2 (Calibration): They taste at home and rate each bottle (Love / Like / Dislike). 3. Step 3 (Predictive match): Ratings calibrate future selections based on chemical similarity (from safe matches to new flavor adventures). --- ### The Bottleneck & Past Test Currently, 100% of traffic comes from Meta Ads. The top of the funnel converts well: 100% of visitors who start the quiz finish it. But once they reach the checkout page showing their 3 matched wines and the cart total (~€30–€40), conversion drops to 0%. Past experiment: A few months ago, I tested an entry offer (€29.90 for 4 bottles, €50 retail value, free shipping). It converted very well, but attracted pure bargain hunters with near-zero retention. Unit economics were unsustainable, so I stopped it. --- ### Recent Changes (UX) We redesigned the checkout to look like a clean, data-driven lab experience: - Clear taste profile comparison sliders per bottle (quiz answers vs. lab molecular data). - Prominent, active dark checkout button. - Transparent pricing (free shipping applied upfront on the first kit). Still, no purchases. As a founder, the lack of sales is 100% my responsibility. --- ### Questions for the community: 1. Value Proposition: Does the lab-data matching (% match + molecular sliders) feel like legitimate personalization, or does it trigger skepticism / look like a gimmick? 2. Price Transition: Is moving from a free 60-second quiz directly to an upfront €30–€40 cart too abrupt for first-time visitors? 3. Offer Structure: How would you balance sustainable gross margins without scaring off buyers who haven't tasted the wine yet? Any insights from founders running quiz-funnels or physical B2C products would be hugely appreciated! Thanks, Adrien