There’s only one thing your customers love more than a glass of delicious wine: the opportunity to save money.
That’s why a loyalty program is essential for wine store success.
In this blog, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about starting a wine store loyalty program — including the top three benefits and four simple steps to get started.
3 Benefits of a Wine Store Loyalty Program
Starting a wine store loyalty program might sound like a lot of work — but it will be well worth the heavier foot traffic, expanded customer base, and increased revenue.
Let’s look at the three key reasons to launch a loyalty program for your wine store.
1. Increase Your Customer Retention Rate
The biggest benefit of a wine store loyalty program is a higher customer retention rate.
One of the first lessons any small business owner learns is that it’s much cheaper to retain an existing customer than to attract a new one — which is why increasing your retention rate should be one of your top goals.
A wine store loyalty program gives one-time, casual shoppers a reason to become regular customers and choose your business over the competition. When they shop with you, they’ll have the chance to rack up points and exchange them for exclusive discounts, special perks, and even free gifts.
These regular customers will ensure your wine store has a steady (and growing) flow of sales.
2. Boost Your Average Transaction Value
A loyalty program doesn’t just bring more customers through your door; it can also boost your average transaction value.
This critical metric represents the amount customers usually spend when visiting your wine shop. If you can maintain a high average transaction value, you’ll sell more wine and enjoy a healthy and steady revenue stream.
If customers know that a great deal is just a few bottles of wine away, they’ll be willing to spend more during each shopping trip to rack up rewards points and unlock discounts.
3. Learn More About Your Customers
Another unique benefit of starting a wine store loyalty program is that it gives you a closer look at your most valuable customers’ preferences and shopping habits.
If you manage your loyalty program through your wine store point of sale (POS) system, you can see when members usually stop by your store, how much they spend per visit, and which bottles they purchase most often.
Plus, you’ll have a detailed record of each member’s purchase history, which can help you provide personalized customer service and guide them to their next favorite bottle of wine.
4 Steps To Start Your Wine Store Loyalty Program
Now that you know why you should start a wine store loyalty program, let’s talk about how to do it.
These four steps will help you brainstorm, market, and grow a loyalty program to increase your revenue, retention, and customer satisfaction.
1. Make Sure Your POS System Is Up to Task
First, let’s make sure you have the right tools for the job.
A powerful wine store POS system is the foundation of a successful customer loyalty program. It should let you set up your rewards structure, enroll new members, track rewards points, apply discounts at the register, and review your loyalty member metrics.
If you’re new to the wine store world, we recommend relying on a POS solution specifically designed for wine sales. Look for features like case breaking, built-in age verification, and a centralized database of the most common beer and wine SKUs.
2. Outline Your Loyalty Program Structure
Next, it’s time to decide how to reward your wine shop’s customers.
Are they always searching for the best deal? Do they scour your shelves looking for the rarest blends? Do they stop by your shop to stock up on their go-to bottles?
Base your loyalty program’s structure around your customers’ preferences and your wine store’s offerings. Here are a few examples to inspire you:
- A points-based structure lets customers earn points for every dollar they spend at your wine shop. Once they’ve earned enough points, they can exchange them for perks like a store-wide coupon or even a free bottle of wine.
- Tiered membership sorts customers by spending level. The more they spend, the higher their tier, and the more they’ll save.
- Paid membership programs are a great option for specialty wine shops that sell rare and luxury blends. Customers can join your membership program to access exclusive bottles, tastings, and wine-focused events.
Regardless of which structure you choose, your customers should easily understand what you’re offering and why they should join your loyalty program.
3. Train Your Staff
Now that you’ve set up your wine store loyalty program, you can start promoting it!
Your cashiers will be responsible for explaining your loyalty program to customers, signing up new members, and ensuring that points and rewards are applied at checkout — which is why training them is essential.
Before launching your customer loyalty program, schedule a staff meeting and train your employees on:
- The benefits of your loyalty program
- How to promote it to customers
- How to sign customers up through your POS system
- How to ensure loyalty program members earn points during each visit
- How to redeem rewards and apply them to members’ purchases
Getting your team on board with your wine store loyalty program will help you secure signups and satisfy your most valuable customers.
4. Stay Flexible and Keep It Fresh
Congratulations! You’re ready to set up your wine store loyalty program and sign up your first members — but the work doesn’t stop there.
Regularly review your POS system’s sales reports to check on your members’ changing shopping behaviors, and ensure your program still aligns with their wants and needs.
We also recommend refreshing your loyalty program offers to align with your broader seasonal marketing strategy. For example, you might offer bonus points on fruit-based wines in the summer, gift-worthy reds around the holidays, and champagne before New Year’s.
Pour on the Rewards With Bottle POS
Ready to cultivate your customer relationships and boost your revenue? Then, you need the right POS system to help you launch a wine store loyalty program.
Bottle POS is an all-in-one POS solution designed to help wine, beer, and liquor stores operate more efficiently and profitably.
Along with a built-in customer loyalty program, our software includes wine inventory management features, age verification, advanced reporting and analytics, and more.
See how Bottle POS can take your wine store to the next level by scheduling your personalized demo today.
