Case study · AI guest memory & follow-up
A tasting room that
OKAERI (おかえり, “welcome back”) turns each tasting-room visit into a lead. Guests scan a QR code and note what they taste; when they come back, the team already knows them, and a personal follow-up is waiting for the manager’s yes.
- For
- A Japanese sake tasting room in the US
- Built
- QR guest web app, guest memory, check-in alerts, AI lead scoring
- Status
- Pilot in progress. Results have not been measured yet.
Tasting rooms forget
Guests tell the bar what they love, what they need and what they’re planning. All of it is gone when they walk out, so follow-up is generic, or never happens.
What one guest shared in a single visit (from the demo):
Loved
“N-end’s umami. REI was too light.”
Asked
“Does N-end ship to Oregon?”
Planned
“Team offsite for 12 in December.”
How it works
Small AI agents pass the guest along, and a person approves before anything goes out.
01Built
The guest scans a QR code
A short web page, no app to download. Guests say who they are, agree to be remembered, and log each pour as loved, liked or not for me.
02Built
One memory per guest
Tasting notes and check-ins are saved to that guest’s own memory, so recall never mixes people up.
03Built
The team gets a check-in alert
When a returning guest checks in, the team sees what they loved and what to follow up on, before they reach the bar.
04Built
AI scores the lead
An agent reads the guest’s memory and scores them as a lead: a gift, an offsite, wholesale, a club sign-up.
05Next
A personal follow-up, drafted
An agent drafts the email and a sake pick, written from what this guest actually said.
06Next
The manager says yes
Nothing sends until a person approves or edits it.
John checks in. The room already knows him.
Returning guest just checked in. Likes N-end (5/5) and Hizo Koshu. Follow up: a bottle for their sister in Portland, and the 12-person offsite in December.
“Hi John, lovely to see you again! Shall we check N-end shipping for your sister, and hold a December tasting for your team?”
From the pilot demo. John is a sample guest.
Why it matters for a Japanese brand in the US
- 01
Every visit becomes a lead
Gifts, offsites, wholesale and club sign-ups stop walking out the door unrecorded.
- 02
Follow-up that sounds like you
Each draft starts from the guest’s own words, so it reads as a personal note, not a newsletter.
- 03
A person stays in charge
The manager approves every message. The AI drafts; it never sends on its own.
- 04
Privacy built in
Guests are remembered only if they say yes. Next: removing a guest’s memory on request.
The same setup works wherever you pour or sample in the US: retail tastings, pop-ups and trade-show booths.
Want this for your tasting room or US launch?
Tell us how you meet US customers today. We’ll show you where a QR experience and AI follow-up would help, in Japanese or English.