In 1990, Jim Greaves opened Cross River Wine & Spirits in Cross River, New York for reasons other than making money.

"I started the store with the idea of testing ChoiceMaster interactive kiosks," says Greaves, president and founder of Beverage Marketing Technologies in Katonah, NY. "I came up with the concept before I bought the store, but I knew that I didn’t know the industry, so there was no point in designing software for it."

By the time he sold the store in 1997, ChoiceMaster customer service kiosks were installed in 150 stores throughout the United States.
The touch screen computer kiosks dispense instant, detailed product and price information about wine, beer and liquor and are customized to each store’s inventory.
Greaves’ interactive kiosks allow customers to find a nice wine to go with dinner, select a few drink recipes for a weekend party or to simply find out the store’s best bargains.

"The biggest problem all retailers have is informing their customers about their products," Greaves says. "It’s very difficult to find someone who knows those products and to train them and then keep them. ChoiceMaster was designed to provide that information.

"ChoiceMaster can make a regular store clerk a valuable wine retailer. If someone comes in and says, "I’m having chicken tarragon for dinner tonight what wine should I serve?" The clerk can say, "Come on, let’s use ChoiceMaster" And the customer finds out what they want very easily.

"A lot of customers are afraid of sounding ignorant by asking questions of store personnel. They’d rather find the information on their own." ChoiceMaster is a very user-friendly way of getting information for both customers and staff.