Demand-Driven Wine Import & Distribution System Built on Odoo

Industry

Wine and Spirits Import, Distribution and Retail

Headquarters

Philippines

Presence

Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao

Previous System

Spreadsheets and manual controls

ERP Partner

Aktiv Software

Our Solution

Odoo

About Sommelier

Sommelier is one of the Philippines’ premium wine importers and distributors. It brings in wines from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and beyond, and serves customers across the country through warehouses in Makati, Palawan, Boracay and Cebu.

Its customers span three distinct parts of the market: restaurants, hotels and country clubs; corporate gifting and event clients; and wine shops, supermarkets and online resellers. The group also operates several companies and two consumer websites.

The Challenges

Buying Based on Past Sales

Purchasing relied on history, not forward demand.

Unclear Import Needs

Import quantities took days to consolidate.

Uncontrolled Sampling

Sample costs lacked approval and outcome tracking.

Limited Field Visibility

Visits and sales activities were not consistently tracked.

Overextended User Access

Sales rep covering another territory had to be given full admin rights, exposing data beyond their role.

Manual Winelists

Proposals were slow, manual and inconsistent.

Our Solution: Odoo for Wine Import, Distribution and Sales

Sales Planning and Field Execution

Forecasts, visits, samples and territories in one view.

Import Planning and Buying

Demand, stock and incoming supply combined for smarter buying.

Inventory Visibility

Clear view of available, incoming, and forecast stock across locations.

Wine list Builder

Built-in wine list pricelist with a gap-and-fit analysis against the customer's current list.

Implementation Phases

Phase 1

Discovery & Process Mapping

Aktiv Software began by understanding how Sommelier planned demand, purchased wines, managed territories, handled samples and prepared customer winelists across its different companies and locations.

Key focus areas

Map existing spreadsheet-based processes
Understand sales, purchasing and inventory workflows
Identify gaps in forecasting and approvals
Define requirements across companies and warehouses

Phase 2

Data Migration & Odoo Setup

Existing business data was prepared and moved into Odoo, while the core structure for customers, products, warehouses, companies and sales operations was established.

Key focus areas

Prepare and clean existing business data
Set up companies, warehouses and territories
Organize customer and wine information
Validate migrated data before go-live

Phase 3

Customization, Testing & Rollout

Odoo was then tailored around Sommelier’s specific operating model, followed by business testing and rollout to ensure the new processes worked effectively for day-to-day teams.

Key focus areas

Build Sommelier-specific workflows
Test processes with business users
Refine based on user feedback
Train teams and support go-live

Functional and Operational Overview of Sommelier’s Odoo System

Demand Forecasting by Account

Country-Level Import Planning

Managed Wine Sampling

Structured Field Activity

Territory-Based Access Control

System-Built Winelists

1 Demand Forecasting by Account

Problem Statement

Wine purchasing has a very different rhythm from ordinary replenishment. Shipments can take months, vintages are finite and a missed buying window can leave an account without the wine it expects.

Before the change, buying decisions leaned heavily on past sales. Salespeople often knew what their accounts were likely to order, but that knowledge lived in individual spreadsheets or in their heads. Annual forecasting also ended at 31 December, leaving the first quarter without enough forward planning.

Solution

Each customer account now carries a rolling demand forecast by wine and by month, maintained by the salesperson closest to the account.

The planning window keeps moving forward and always looks more than a year ahead.
From October, the team can already map out the full following year instead of waiting for January.
Accounts that have not been reviewed are highlighted, making it easy for each salesperson to confirm what is still expected.
A monthly reminder shows which account forecasts still need attention.

Impact

Expected demand is shared across the business instead of sitting in personal spreadsheets or memory.
The year-end planning gap is removed, so the first quarter can be bought for before it arrives.
Import decisions begin with expected customer demand, not only with last year’s sales history.

2 Country-Level Import Planning

Problem Statement

Sommelier had to combine demand from four warehouses, several companies, three sales channels and many territories before it could decide how much of each wine to import.

Building that picture manually took days. Because stock, incoming shipments and sales expectations continued to change, the finished spreadsheet could be behind reality almost immediately.

Solution

Account forecasts now roll up into one country-level import plan. For each wine, the buying team can review the key commercial facts together instead of rebuilding them from separate files:

Stock currently available
Stock already in transit
Target stock level
Forecast customer demand
Likely volume linked to open sales opportunities

The view follows the way the wine business naturally thinks about its portfolio – by country, region and estate – and the buying order can be prepared directly from the same working view.

Impact

Procurement planning moved from a multi-day spreadsheet exercise to a live, same-day business decision.
Buying became proactive, with clearer visibility of what will be needed before stock becomes critical.
The team can better balance availability for customers with the cash tied up in slower-moving wines.

3 Managed Wine Sampling

Problem Statement

Sampling is essential in premium wine sales, but every bottle opened for a prospect is real inventory value being invested in a possible account.

Previously, there was no single way to approve samples, record why they were issued or make sure the commercial outcome was captured. Management could not reliably compare sampling cost with the value of the account or opportunity it was supporting.

Solution

Sommelier now uses one sample request process whether the request starts from a customer, an active sales opportunity or the sales desk.

The salesperson records theappointment,attendees and the potential revenue being pursued.
The customer’s revenue to date is visible when the request is reviewed.
Sales management approves the commercial request and operations confirms that the wine is available.
The bottle value is visible before approval, so thetrue costof the tasting is clear upfront.
The request cannot be considered complete until the salesperson records what happened, with reminders for missing outcomes.

Impact

Sampling became a managed sales investment rather than an informal stock expense.
Managers can judge sample requests with the account value,opportunityand bottle cost in context.
The business gains a clearer view of what sampling activityactually produces.

4 Structured Field Activity

Problem Statement

Sommelier’s sales team spends significant time in the field meeting restaurants, hotels, clubs and other customers. Without a consistent way to plan and close out those activities, managers could not reliably see where time was going or what each visit achieved.

Solution

Visits, trainings and activations are now planned with a clear objective and marked as tentative or confirmed. Each activity stays linked to the customer or sales opportunity it supports.

Salespeople can plan their working week directly from the calendar.
An activity is not closed without feedback on the outcome.
Cancellations require a reason, keeping the history meaningful.
Older open activities are handled consistently instead of remaining forgotten indefinitely.
Each morning, the salesperson receives a simple view of the previous day and the next five days of planned calls.

Impact

Field work is visible and measurable without turning it into extra reporting work.
Salespeople have a clearer view of their own commitments and follow-ups.
Managers can coach from actual customer activity and outcomes rather than impressions alone.

5 Territory-Based Access Control

Problem Statement

The commercial team is organized across segments, regions and cities, but those working boundaries were not reflected in the way information was shared. When someone needed temporary or wider territory cover, the practical option was often to give much broader access than necessary.

That solved the immediate sales need but exposed information and settings outside the person’s actual responsibility.

Solution

Territories are now defined once and used consistently to control which customers, leads, orders and sales views a person can work with.

A dedicated area-management role provides wider visibility within one area without opening access across the whole group.
Territory changes follow an approval step rather than taking effect informally.
Salespeople can continue serving existing accounts while a territory change is being reviewed.

Impact

Access now follows real sales responsibility instead of relying on all-or-nothing permissions.
Area coverage can expand without exposing unrelated companies,territoriesor administrative controls.
Management gains a cleaner balance between commercial flexibility and governance.

6 System-Built Winelists

Problem Statement

For restaurants, hotels and clubs, the winelist is often the proposal that wins the business. Sommelier’s team was building those proposals manually, which made it difficult to keep availability, pricing and product detail consistent.

Comparing Sommelier’s range with a customer’s existing list also depended heavily on salesperson memory, so the quality and depth of the recommendation could vary from one proposal to another.

Solution

Winelists can now be built from the same business information used for customer pricing and stock planning.

Each proposal uses the customer’s own agreed pricing.
Wine details reflect the language a sommelier or buyerexpects:grape and blend, style, colour, region, estate and production approach.
A gap-and-fit view compares the customer’s current list with suitable wines Sommelier can offer.
Bottle and by-the-glass pricing proportions can be worked out while the proposal is being built.

Impact

Every salesperson can produce a consistent,professionaland properly priced winelist.
Recommendations are grounded in wines Sommelier canactually supply, reducing avoidable rework after the proposal is presented.
Thewinelistbecomes a repeatable commercial tool rather than a document rebuilt from scratch each time.

What Changed for Sommelier Post-Implementation?

Results and Business Impact

From fragmented planning to one live view connecting demand, imports, inventory and sales.

Purchasing is guided by expected customer demand, helping reduce the risk of both stockouts and cash being tied up in slow-moving wines.

Import decisions can be made from current demand and stock information instead of waiting for manually rebuilt spreadsheets.

The first quarter is visible before it arrives, giving the buying team more time to secure the right wines and vintages.

Every premium sample has a business reason, a visible cost, an approval path and a recorded outcome.

Customer visits, trainings and activations are planned and reviewed consistently, giving both salespeople and managers a clearer view of follow-through.

Territory visibility follows actual sales responsibility, allowing wider area cover without granting unnecessary group-wide access.

Proposals are priced consistently, reflect Sommelier’s portfolio and are built around wines the business can actually supply.

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Customer Success Stories

Not to flex, but these are some Real results. Real wins.

4.7

is our

average

Aktiv Software Pvt. Ltd. followed up on the project as promised.

Bjorn Midtlien

CEO, Digitus Nordic AS

Rather than focusing on short-term fixes, their approach is pragmatic, focused on sustainable, long-term results.

Kasper G

Owner, Nordic by Choice

Their solution has helped us reduce our project managers' time for invoicing from a week to two days.

Kateryna Mykhailenko

Manager, ToxMinds

On a scale of 1-10, we would rate Aktiv’s partnership as 11.

Fabrice Beaux

CEO, InterHyve Sàrl

About Us

Aktiv is Odoo certified partner offering end-to-end implementation services.

We don’t just implement ERP, we bridge the gap between technology and your workforce, ensuring smooth adoption, empowered employees, and maximized ROI.

With over 10+ years of experience implementing Odoo for SME and Enterprise clients, we know how to assist you in your digital transformation journey. It’s what we do the best!