Vinify’s “magic” feature changing restaurant wine updates for good
The Vinify app is changing the face of cellar management. Designed for private collectors and restaurant professionals alike, the latter benefit from an extra “magic sprinkle” on top of the already cutting edge technology: integration with their point-of-sale (POS) systems for automatic, real-time wine list updates. Three sommeliers tell us how Vinify has changed their restaurant lives.
Founded in 2022, Vinify was originally created for private investors to keep track of their wine collections more easily. In speaking to restaurant teams for inspiration, CEO Jon Trygve Hegnar soon found that sommeliers needed this technology even more, and sought their help in developing it; from the start, the likes of Francesco Marzola, Best Sommelier of Norway and the Nordics, have tested different versions and offered feedback.
So not only have sommeliers dictated the requirements for Vinify, they are now (unsurprisingly) adopting it in droves.
And one special feature?
It’s the POS integration, available to all Vinify Pro+ users, which one sommelier estimates saves his team around 16 hours per week. Keep reading for more details.
“Vinify on its own already offers a huge step up from the Excel sheets that most restaurants still use today,” says Ole S. Berg, Vinify’s Head of Sales and Business Development. “It gives you proper control of your inventory, streamlines your wine list, and provides full insight into cellar history and stock locations. It’s a powerful tool for running a professional wine programme, even without POS integration.
“But when you add the integration, that’s when the magic happens. Everything becomes automatic and streamlined – stock updates, pricing, and the wine list are all synced. It saves a massive amount of time and reduces the risk of errors.”
Ole himself was one of the sommeliers to trial the app, while managing the various cellars of Fursetgruppen, one of Norway’s largest restaurant groups.
“From day one, the goal was to build something that actually worked for restaurants,” he says of Vinify. “Not just another generic stock system, but a tool shaped by people who live and breathe service and wine management. That collaboration helped Vinify grow into the strongest stock management system for wine and other beverages, with a heavy focus on functionality tailored for wine-focused restaurants, wine bars, hotels, and similar places.”
What does the POS integration do?
The beauty of the integration is its automation of three, usually separate tasks, in one go: updating inventory, updating the wine list, and updating the POS with the new information. Not only does this save time, it reduces the risk of error by requiring only one input of data.
“When you add a product to Vinify, it automatically creates the article inside your point-of-sale system,” says Ole, “whether it’s a bottle, a glass, a recipe containing multiple products, or a specific glass size. Everything stays connected and synced in real time. So, when you make changes or updates in Vinify, that information is pushed directly to your POS.
“When a wine or beverage is sold in the POS, it sends the data back to Vinify and automatically updates your stock. This means your inventory in Vinify, your wine list, and your sales data are always aligned.
“In short, these three key parts – Vinify’s stock management, the wine list, and the POS – work together to create a smooth and efficient workflow. It saves a huge amount of time by keeping your stock up to date, reducing the need for manual stock counts, and making sure your wine list is always current.”
Starting out with the Lightspeed G Series, Vinify now works with various POS partners around the world and is compatible with most systems (the development team will always try and find workarounds for older ones; scroll down for a full list). Ole says that they are “always improving smaller details that make everyday work smoother for restaurants. We’re also focusing more internationally, with new integrations with larger international players, making Vinify more available for everyone around the world.”
With around 60% of Vinify accounts making use of this feature, we asked some of them what they thought.
Sommeliers using Vinify
Oskar Sköld, Restaurant Saga & Spontan Vinbar (Trondheim, Norway)
Owner, General Manager, Sommelier
POS system: MUNU
How long have you been using Vinify?
Roughly a year now.
And have you always used the POS integration feature?
As soon as our POS system integrated with Vinify.
How easy is it to use (the POS integration)?
It’s really easy – as long as you provide correct info about the wine, pricing and serving size, the rest just goes by itself.
What difference has it made to your workflow and service?
We didn’t specify which wine we sold before (rather, you would see “Glass red wine” on the receipt), but now with the integration it’s so much easier to control stock and way more transparent for the guest. We have wanted something like this for some time now, but it just takes too much time to register an article in the POS, wine list and stock count document.
We’re a small team and this makes it easy for everyone to make the necessary changes.
All in all, we save quite some time in service.
What's been the trickiest thing to get the hang of?
Knowing both Munu (POS) and Vinify prior to the integration, I would say no big issues.
How much time does it save?
We are waiting for the integration to subtract the right amount in stock from wine pairings, tastings and not just specific sales of one particular product. When this is in order we will have a complete picture of our current stock at all times (given we do things right of course) and that will probably, with inventory, ordering, etc. save us a few hours a week (and probably three or four hours of inventory).
Bas Noorman, Bisous Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Owner
POS system: Winston POS
How long have you been using Vinify?
About three or four months now.
And have you always used the POS integration feature?
As soon as we started we used the integration, because we use Mr Winston. We were one of the first in the Netherlands to be able to use it, I believe.
How easy is it to use (the POS integration)?
Super easy. A small day to set it all up, after that it is quite easy to maintain.
What difference has it made to your workflow and service?
It is easier for us to do the monthly stock as it updates already accordingly. But also easier to see where the bottles are placed/kept in stock.
What's been the trickiest thing to get the hang of?
For me it is the uploading of the invoices and, for the sommeliers, to put everything in correctly, especially if it is a bottle which could not be found straight away.
How much time does it save?
Several hours a month.
Would you recommend it to others?
Absolutely, I am already recommending it.
Nikolai B. Johnsen, Brasserie Blanche (Oslo, Norway)
Restaurant Manager, Sommelier
POS system: Lightspeed
How long have you been using Vinify?
Since October 2024.
And have you always used the POS integration feature?
Yes.
How easy is it to use (the POS integration)?
Super easy.
What difference has it made to your workflow and service?
More efficient work, easier to find wines and organise large wine lists.
What's been the trickiest thing to get the hang of?
Basically nothing, just getting an understanding of how Vinify works together with Lightspeed.
How much time does it save?
Hard to say, but I’d estimate saving about 16 hours during a work week when it comes to finding wines during service, as well as updating the wine list and pricing.
Would you recommend it to others?
Absolutely. This is something those of us working in service have been missing – especially people who really enjoy working with wine.
Which POS systems is Vinify compatible with?
OB: “Vinify is already integrated with several of the leading POS systems used across restaurants, wine bars, and hotels, including Lightspeed G-Series, Munu, Winston, Nanopos, Unitouch, Favrit, Restolution, UntillPOS, and Susoft.
“We’re continuously expanding our integrations to make sure every restaurant using Vinify can connect their existing POS set-up. Right now, we’re also finalising the integration with Lightspeed K-Series, which will go live towards the end of 2025. In early 2026, we’re planning to add more international players such as Toast, making it even easier for restaurants outside of Scandinavia to connect.
“In general, Vinify can integrate with any modern POS systems that support two-way communication – meaning they can receive product and pricing updates directly from Vinify, while sending sales data back to keep inventory accurate and up to date. For systems that don’t yet support this functionality or need development work, we’re always open to finding work-arounds that suit the customer.”
How much does it cost?
OB: “At Vinify we like to keep things simple and transparent. There are no hidden costs for the POS integration – it’s included as part of the Vinify Pro+ plan. We currently offer three subscription tiers:
– Vinify Free: a great way to explore the system and get a feel for how it works.
– Vinify Pro: around €95 per month. Includes inventory management, automatic wine lists, stock count, beverage recipes, selling-price automator and invoice scanner.
– Vinify Pro+: around €170 per month. Includes everything in Pro, plus full POS integration, Shopify integration and sales analytics.
“We always make sure that every integration covers the core two-way functionality, meaning products created or updated in Vinify are instantly synced to the POS, and every sale in the POS automatically updates your stock in Vinify.
“Beyond that, some POS systems support additional ‘nice-to-have’ features, like recipe management or live display of stock locations, and we always build those in when possible to make life even easier for restaurants.”
Is there anywhere in the world where somms can't access this feature?
OB: “Vinify and the POS integration aren’t limited by geography, currency, or anything like that. It’s all about the specific POS systems being used. Most of our integration partners already operate internationally, so Vinify users around the world can access the feature as long as their POS provider supports the required functionality.
“That said, there are POS systems we’re not integrated with yet, which can limit access in certain countries or parts of the world. But we’re continuously expanding and open to new collaborations whenever a restaurant needs an integration we don’t have in place yet. So anyone can reach out to us to see what we can offer today, or what’s coming down the line.
“In short, it’s not about where you are, but which system you use. If the POS partner supports two-way communication, we can make it work. And if they don’t, we’re always happy to find a solution that fits the customer.”
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