Are Wine Clubs Worth It
From rich reds to sparkling whites to pair with your Thanksgiving turkey or toast the New Year tis the season to imbibe. When you consider just how much wine you might need between gifts, guests , and yourself this year, it seems like joining a wine club could be a good idea. Or is it?
The wine club business has picked up considerably since the first mass market Wine Club of the Month was founded in 1972 in the United States. There are large-scale clubs, such as the Williams-Sonoma Wine Club and The New York Times Wine Club , and there are clubs that market to Millennials, such as Winc and the trendy Plonk Wine Club, with a focus on artisanal and boutique wines . As a result, there is a range of pricing and schedules: two bottles per month, six bottles every quarter, or an annual shipment are just a few choices.
What To Do In Case The Wine Is Not Good
Wine clubs aim to provide the best wine in each price category – and as a subscriber you can look forward to several tasty bottles each month or quarter .
If the wine you receive isnt good, either because of the taste or any other reason, you can write wine reviews and let the club and other customers know about your experience. In some cases, if the wine doesnt meet your expectations, especially in the case of broken wine bottles, you can reach the wine club directly for return instructions or other reimbursement options.
Furthermore, A wine insiders review is a great way to share information about wines and find out which wine clubs delight their customers with great wine and excellent service.
Get Creative With Video Sharing
Speaking of video-chatting apps, the tech world is a big, bustling place with plenty of options for your video chats. Zoom is a huge contender in the virtual conferencing market today, but you might also consider Discord, or even Google Hangouts, for all your digital book club needs. All of these services allow for text-based chats and audio-only calls as well, so they’re here for you no matter what the needs of your members may be.
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Tips For Hosting A Digital Book Club
If you’ve ever dreamed of starting a book club, but worried you didn’t have the right space to do it in, we’ve got some great news for you: meeting up in person is no longer the only way. Starting an online reading group with friends is simple if you follow these tips for hosting a digital book club.
In addition to all of the incredible benefits that being in a book club holds normally, there are even more upsides to hosting a digital version. In an online book club, it doesn’t matter if your members are in the same city or halfway across the world, because thanks to the power of the internet, you can all be in one digital space at the same time.
When you’re starting a digital book club, all the standard book club rules apply: you want to pick a theme or goal for your club and stick with it, include diverse authors in your reading list, set a regular schedule, and have prepared discussion questions before every meeting. But if you’re running a digital book club, there are a few other rules that apply, too.
Ready to join the ranks of Emma Watson, Oprah, Emma Roberts, and Reese Witherspoon? Then here are 10 tips to hosting a great digital book club.
Enable Curated Member’s Choice Shipments
TrueCommerce Nexternal allows you to give your club members the personalized experience they want with Members Choice options. Wineries use this feature to allow customers to switch out pre-selected bottles with different options. Between their regular eCommerce sales and club sales using Nexternal, many wineries are able to double and triple sales in their first year.
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Reviewing The Local As Well As State Laws
Reviewing state and local laws that govern the selling and buying of wine becomes important as this may affect your business.
The sale of wine will likely require you to obtain special business licenses and you may also be subject to certain tax laws.
Contact both local and state officials to help you navigate through the confusing legal jargon. You will also have to pay taxes to The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
#BonusTip: Right Wine means Right Targeted Business. You need to Find the Right Space of your wine Business where you can fit yourself and get more Business from the Market. Different products for different Peoples.
You should familiarize yourself with states that prohibit shipping of alcohol through the mail as this may limit your business opportunities. A disclaimer is also required to bar those below 18 or 21 years of age from drinking and mention that alcohol consumption is injurious to health.
Hence to conclude one can say that setting up an online wine selling business is not an easy task, in that case setting up a business of any product requires patience, skills of supervising, investing and managing. It requires patience because developing the business gradually requires time and it is important not to get swayed away by the profits and losses.
You need to understand the mood of the market and how the preferences of the customers are changing from time to time.
Is A Wine Club For You
From rich reds to a crisp cava, wine has a way of conveying a story. If youre curious about wine, want to get a good bargain, or wish to expand your palate, theres a wine club for all of that.
Wine subscription clubs are designed to make your life easier by picking out the best bottles suited to your interests and can save you the time and hassle of going out. Some wine clubs partner exclusively with certain winemakers or brands that you wont find anywhere else. Now thats worth raising a glass to.
Why join a wine club?
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Convenience: Replenish your wine supply from the comfort of your own home
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Price: Most bottles are priced within the $10-$15 dollar range
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Experience: Some wine clubs offer exclusive access to sommeliers
Things to watch out for:
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Wine clubs that require long-term commitments
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Hidden shipping costs or additional fees
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No satisfaction guarantees
Subscribing to a wine club can save you money in the long run. Wine clubs often offer members exclusive pricing on a variety of wines, provide free delivery, and grant access to limited release wines and, on occasion, give free tickets to wine tasting events.
If you are a regular wine drinker and appreciate a good wine, joining a wine club is worth it. On average, members can save from 40 to 60% on wine through their membership. The average price per bottle on most popular wine clubs is $10-$15.
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There Is Any Help/instructions If I Am New At This
Choosing the best wine package can be tricky, but fortunately help is at hand. Every wine club has a website, and most of them have blogs too. These are full of useful information for first-time subscribers.
Knowing whether to expect small wine bottles, tasting vials, or generous table wines for your next get-together is crucial – and youll find all of this info on the wine clubs website. Small bottles of wine are the norm for some clubs like VINEBOX wine club, which gives subscribers the option of ordering full sized bottles of their favorite wines at a discount after theyve tasted them.
If youd like to know more about each wine club, you can always read our online reviews to get a real sense of what each one has to offer.
Is It Worth It
Joining a wine club can be fun any time of year, but if you pick the right club, it could help trim your holiday spending. Between big family meals and holiday parties, you can never have too many bottles of wine around the house,” says Ryan OConnell, from NakedWines.com, an online retailer whose customers fund independent winemakers from around the world in exchange for getting the product at wholesale prices. Your average gift recipient is going to go through more wine around the holidays than any other time of year, so it’s a great time to send them some vino. Wine clubs are usually wine gifts that keep on giving. The lucky recipient doesn’t just get one gift they get gifts for months, he adds.
Dont forget the stress reduction that comes from one fewer shopping trips during holiday season, too. Joining a club is about ease, reminds Schneider. Selecting wine can be a stressful and time-consuming undertaking. Its easier to just have someone else pick stuff out for you.
Even so, be sure you understand the terms of your membership how “locked in” you are, in terms of types and quantities of purchases. Otherwise, a year after joining, you may be awash in wine you don’t want.
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Selling Your Wine Online Your Wine Is Your Product
If you own a winery or your own line of alcohol products, this is the business model you should follow. In this particular online alcohol selling business model, your product is your wine, and the app or website platform used to sell is just another channel of sales.
Here, you partner up with a web and app development company to build the digital side of your business. Then you list out your alcohol products on your brands website and mobile app. People will visit these platforms and order the wine products that they want, and you deliver those liquor products to them at their home.
For this business model, you need to have an efficient delivery system where the staff is equipped and trained in managing alcohol delivery and customer interaction. The best thing about this business model is that the entire profit margin is yours. You also create an amazing brand image with a complete wine service from manufacturing to last-mile delivery.
How To Start A Wine Club: Steps For Success1 Learn The Rules
If youve been selling online and shipping direct-to-consumer already, youre likely familiar with the different laws and regulations you need to keep in mind. But, if this is your first venture into direct-to-consumer selling and shipping, its imperative that you follow both your state and local rules for shipping alcohol, as well as those regarding interstate shipments . Here are a few things you might need:
- An Alcohol Dealer Registration filed and approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
- A state winery licenseyou may need more than one depending on your shipping destinations
- A liquor delivery license, retail license, or other specialized licenses, depending on shipping destinations
Before choosing states and locales you want to ship to, we recommend performing a cost-benefit analysis for each area. Consider the number of customers you have from each area, and the buying behaviors of those customers. Because intra- and interstate shipping can quickly become expensive thanks to taxes and license fees, youll want to make some predictions about the profitability of a specific state or region before you expand.
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Most Affordable Wine Clubs In The Us
Some people may say that good cheap wine is difficult to come by nowadays, but we beg to differ. There are some excellent deals on wine in the US today.
Overall, finding the best cheap wine is a matter of examining a few wine clubs reviews, checking out their different wine boxes, and choosing the one that suits you best.
How Are You Doing Today And What Does The Future Look Like
We are just coming out of the first wave of COVID-19 but just before that we were on target for our exponential year. The center of Rome is devoid of inhabitants, and without tourism, it would be challenging to stay afloat, so having the wine club in place was an immense savior and has allowed us not to fire a single one of our 27 restaurant employees. And certainly going forward, it gives us a lot of protection to be able to work remotely and digitally.
The future is looking bright especially thanks to our community.wine project and rethinking how the wine industry will look going forward. One trend we see is the desire to cut out the middleman – consumers dont want to pay the added costs involved and our wine club helps to eliminate the need for importers and distributors, yet gives everyone the tools to learn about wine, the winemaker, their story and to connect to the winemaker themselves.
Our attrition rate is down to about 3%, which suggests that our members are extremely happy. And our refer-a-friend program is up 150% from last year.
Our major plan this year is to work with affiliates and possibly a PR company in the US, as our current needs involve establishing a greater reach.
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Taking Feedbacks From Customers
Feedback should also be taken from customers through online rating and there should be a section on the website that caters to the grievances of the customers relating to services, payments, etc.
Choosing the courier service provider is also a pertinent task for swift and smooth delivery.
#BonusTip: Social media is booming. Everyone is on Social media. Not only is your blog page a perfect platform for this, but using your social media to educate customers and fans is a great idea as well. You can share stories of your Products on it.
Use Your Landing Pages To Share More Than Just Meeting Dates
Whether you’re using your group’s Facebook page or Goodreads group, utilize your online platforms for more than just announcing books and meeting dates. Take advantage of the fact that you can reach all of your members by posting in one place by sharing information, thoughts, and opinions about the books you’re reading throughout the month, in between official discussions. You can link to , book reviews, roundups featuring other books you’ve read, book trailers, and more. It’s a great way to keep yourself, and your members, engaged with the club outside of your scheduled talks.
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Through Starting The Business Have You Learned Anything Particularly Helpful Or Advantageous
First and foremost, wine cannot be promoted in the same way that other products can be promoted. For example, if you say Gucci or Tesla, everyone knows those brands, but if you say Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, even many wine lovers and students dont know its the most important wine in the world.
Wine is different – its a cultural experience, and not following all the mass marketing rules has probably saved us… even if we have sacrificed numbers, we have never sacrificed our souls. We know we have a niche market and prefer to hone in those rather than ones who are just looking for cheap wines to imbibe on. This is something that Alessandro always reiterated to marketing teams who thought we would fit into their cookie-cutter strategies.
Offer free shipping! No one wants to pay for a service that doesnt give added value.
One of our best decisions we ever made was to work with an American company, PXLPod Web Strategy, for our website and custom store management since we didnt fit into any standard subscription software with our custom shipping schedule. Americans, generally speaking, and respective of Italians, have a more rational and efficient approach to business and are 10 years ahead of us in Italy in terms of technology.
We had used Facebook Ads and surely they helped but our return was always quite low, even after several months, so ultimately we bailed on that as a strategy.
And the most important, read books.
Build In Ways To Retain Customers
Wine clubs are seeing double-digit growth, so theres never been a better time to launch your own brand. But those that see success will do so as a result of excellent customer satisfaction. Well share more tips on customer retention in an upcoming post, but in the meantime, here are some general rules for keeping customers in your club:
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Make them feel special with free shipping, events, and exclusive access to wines
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Keep the lines of communication open, especially about club delivery dates
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Track the experience and get customer feedback on a regular basis
The key to keeping customers happy is to make them feel like they are part of something special. Connect with them on a personal level , provide them with excellent customer service, and make them feel special through exclusive member-only offers.
Again, you dont have to do all of this yourself. For help managing customer retention, check out ChatterBox Wine Marketing, a wine marketing agency offering email marketing, telesales, and customer data services, specifically for wineries.
Finally, once the wine club is up and running, many wineries hire wine club managers to manage the day-to-day activities. This often includes management of the tasting room, accountability to wine club sales, and customer support for wine club members. You can see some job descriptions here to get a better idea of the common responsibilities of a wine club manager.
Want to see how VineSpring can help jump start your wine club program?
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How To Give A Wine Club Gift
Wine country gift baskets make excellent presents for family, friends and clients.
Most wine clubs have a section on their website that features wine gift baskets and gift subscriptions. Simply click on the gift youd like to give, enter the recipients details, make a payment, and youre all set.
