As a producer/winery, I am curious as to what most consumers are looking for when they join wine clubs, aside from wine quality.
Assuming you like the wine, what is the biggest driver for joining? Is it discounts, free shipping, events (pick-up parties), etc? How do wine buyers feel about being able to customize wine clubs vs. having the winery select for you?
Personally, if I were to join a club, 1) quality of wine 2) discounts 3) special experiences (pick up parties, etc)
I would say it goes without saying that you would like the wines and style if signing up for the club.
I belong to exactly 1 winery club. Itās a relatively short drive for me, the winery makes very good stuff (meaning Iād be a buyer anyway), I get a discount on all purchases, and taste for free.
Member discount; in-person interaction when picking up, often leads to further purchases
Discounts
Would buy anyway
Totally customizable
I still wish for a club that charged me a smaller amount monthly and then I make my selections against my balanceā¦ eg if I spend $400 twice a year Iād prob sign up for $50/month if offered. More sales for winery, less big hits to my theoretical budget.
Member discounts, access, having full choice in what I purchase. I wonāt even consider joining winery clubs that force auto shipments of wines I donāt choose, though I know others that like this path.
Thanks for the responses. I didnāt really think about smaller shipments, bu more often, as an option for people. Curious to see what other responses say, but it seems discounts (assuming you like the wine) are the most important driver right now.
Yea. I love the idea of fully customizable.
Are wine club exclusive wines one perk that would draw you in?
I think you need to look at a few other things:
I do believe all three of these need to taken into account when discussing why folks choose to join clubs or not
I had to have visited first and liked most of the wines. Then the discount and ability to buy wines I would never find at retails. Finally, better tastings when you go back to visit.
I join so that I can continually support the project (i.e. I like the people), have comped or lower cost tastings, have the ability to purchase lower production/limited wines, or because itās a wine thatās genuinely one of the best Iāve had.
My criteria, ranked:
Half of my wine is allocation based, and the rest is easily purchased online so despite following a bunch of projects, I only sign up on a few mailing lists if it counts as wine club.
I prefer to be on the allocation list v a club. I am only in one club and for that I get a discount on wine and shipping + comped tastings. The winery also takes great care of us when we visit as a club member. That great care leads to more tasting room sales when we visit.
Beyond that, special occasions are nice but our schedules donāt always align for these events. If they drive sales for the winery definitely host them. The more opportunity to sell your wine and get them into customerās hands the better.
For a club for me, starts with a great experience tasting their wines. Then, in order of preference, customization capability, freight advantage, and a discount off regular pricing. If I canāt customize, Iām out. Special events do nothing for me as Iām not local.
āClubsā where the wines are otherwise closely allocated or offered to mailing list members on a first come, first served basis - saves me the hassle/drama of waiting for the release emails and the opening of the purchase windows.
All of these you list are certainly drivers for me. Quality is assumed; else, Iām not joining. So for me, that leaves customization. Discounts are cool, but not my highest priority. I do really appreciate being able to customize. Without that, Iām not joining. Now, letās talk about the pick-up parties. I LOVE the concept and would probably value that feature if I lived anywhere near the wineries I belong to, but I donāt. My point here is they sound like something members would like, but it depends a ton on who youāre targeting to join your club.
Just my thoughts.
K
pick up parties mean nothing to me as I have to travel. I think those only suit a small demographic
access to limited bottlings and magnums
not too much wine per shipment per year. Sometimes I only just want a 6pack
customizing is nice but more work for you
free shipping on case+ orders
flash sales or discounts twice a year
For me I join the member list for the following reason, in order or priority: