Q&A: Mike Fisch is Using Tech to Modernize Alcohol Tastings

By Kyle Swartz

Technology continues to reshape beverage alcohol retail, but Mike Fisch believes the industry’s success will always depend on relationships. As CFO of Gary’s Wine & Marketplace and cofounder of Samplii, Fisch has looked for ways to simplify one of retail’s most valuable marketing tools: in-store sampling events.

In this interview, Fisch discusses how Samplii grew from an internal scheduling solution into a platform used by retailers, distributors and suppliers, why tasting events remain critical in an increasingly digital marketplace and where he sees retail technology headed next.

Beverage Dynamics: Tell me a little bit about the history of Samplii. When did you start it and why did you start it?

Mike Fisch: Originally, the first form of Samplii was a booking app for Gary’s, probably back somewhere in 2019 or 2020. We were getting lots and lots of requests for sampling events, and we weren’t even able to properly manage the process internally.

We had a marketing manager. It certainly was her job to do it, and we dropped the ball on planning these events. Not enough were happening, and we wanted more of them to happen. So we created a very simple booking tool for people to book sampling events. That was way back in 2019, and it’s obviously developed quite a bit from there.

BD: Why is it difficult for retailers to book all these sampling events?

Fisch: There are many different reasons. One is oftentimes retailers don’t know these events are possible. These suppliers and distributor sales reps are willing to do these events. Suppliers want to do the events. The distributor sales reps have the allocations, but many reps don’t make it known to retailers that these events are available to them.

When we talk to reps, we hear that distributor sales reps don’t want to book these events because oftentimes they don’t go well. We spoke with a distributor the other day; they had an allocation for 50 events from a supplier. They only booked five of them because their reps just don’t want to book these events.

So that’s part of the reason these events just don’t come to the retailer’s attention. Oftentimes they go to the big-box retailers who make it very easy to book these events.

Then, of course, if you’ve got multiple stores, managing the request process, the approval process and date changes means you really need to stay on top of it, because you don’t want to advertise an event that you don’t have. In many states, you also have to report to the regulatory agency ahead of the event that you’re going to do it.

All of those things make it complex for a retailer, and they’ve got a lot of other things to worry about besides events.

BD: Tell me a little bit about how Samplii solves those problems.

Fisch: Samplii takes it completely off the retailer’s plate and puts it on the plate of those in the industry who are very invested in having these events, such as the supplier, the tasting agency or the distributor sales rep. They can request the event and book the event on the retailer’s behalf.

For the retailer it’s very easy. They just get an email and hit approve, when they get an event request.

We know many retailers — especially independent one-store operators — still use paper calendars. So we have to be easier and more beneficial than a paper calendar for those retailers.

BD: Tell me about how Samplii has grown. How far is the reach of the platform now?

Fisch: We have between 400 and 500 events happening a month on Samplii.

Every week we probably have about 500 users across the platform, and we’re growing quickly. There’s a nice network effect to our growth in that every event results in at least three parties being added — the retailer, the supplier and the distributor — and often a tasting agency and the brand ambassador as well.

All of these stakeholders are being added to the family, and over time they see more and more value from the platform. That’s how we end up growing it.

BD: Why are these events so important for retailers?

Fisch: In the age of AI, where information is at the customer’s fingertips on their phone and they can order online from anywhere, it’s important for retailers not to become a commodity.

In order to differentiate and be unique, they need to create unique experiences in their stores, and give people a reason to come into the store instead of just ordering online.

If you consistently have tasting events in the store, we find customers are more loyal and more likely to come back. It also results in higher spend when they’re in the store, because they’re feeling like they’re getting something for free and they want to reciprocate. That’s just a psychological principle that we see.

BD: How can retailers get started with Samplii?

Fisch: Retailers can sign up at TrySamplii.com.

There’s a big sign-up button there. They just need to give us their email address and it’s basically a one-click signup. Their default time windows are created for them, then they’ll get a booking link. They simply share that booking link with their reps, suppliers and agencies that come in asking for an event.

That’s really all the retailer needs to do. After that they’ll just receive events and press accept.

When we onboard retailers, we tell them, ‘Just share this link with the people who want to book events instead of writing it down on a calendar like you usually do, and everything will go smoothly from there’.

BD: How can something like this work across different states and markets?

Fisch: We create action items for each stakeholder in the process because, while every state has different regulations and different forms of these events, there are certain principles that are consistent across a lot of them, and we think technology can solve those because it’s done so in other industries.

Things like: Is there inventory before the event? Is the brand ambassador assigned to the event? Did they check in? Did they submit their data after the event: how many bottles were sold, how many people were tasted? Those are what we call action items, and we’re building those into Samplii.

Potentially one day a retailer might even be able to see exactly who’s coming into their store to conduct the tasting, what their ratings were and how they’ve performed in the past, so the retailer can make sure the people representing both the brand and the store are best suited to do so.

BD: More broadly, do you see beverage alcohol retail becoming increasingly digital and AI-driven?

Fisch: I do, but I also think beverage alcohol retail has a very important relationship component that’s going to be tough to completely replicate or remove.

Those relationships matter because every store has a buyer and every store has a manager. Those are the people making the decisions about what to carry. They don’t make decisions based on tech. They make decisions based on who they like, who they have good relationships with and, of course, what’s selling and what’s doing well.

Making information more available and easier for people to know is important, but we try to build in parallel with that relationship aspect of the business.

We think distributors are moving more and more toward technology for B2B sales. And for brands to effectively maintain relationships with retailers they need tools that allow them to connect directly. That’s what we think Samplii is providing.

BD: What’s next for Samplii?

Fisch: We’re building solutions for distributors, tasting agencies, suppliers, retailers, brand ambassadors and even state regulators. We see ourselves serving five different constituencies, and it’s very important for us to have solutions for each of them.

This is not a typical SaaS product. We’re not charging monthly fees for people who want to use it. We want all the events in the industry happening on the platform. Of course, there are upsell opportunities if we’re adding value, but to use the platform and get the benefits of efficient events, efficient calendars and efficient bookings, you don’t need to pay.

Feature photo by Vann on Unsplash.

Kyle Swartz is editor of Beverage Dynamics. Reach him at kswartz@epgacceleration.com. Read his recent pieces, The 2026 Spirits Growth Brands Awards Winners and Our 2026 Retailer of the Year: Garfield’s Beverage.

The post Q&A: Mike Fisch is Using Tech to Modernize Alcohol Tastings appeared first on Beverage Information Group.