There are six types of wine clubs you can choose from: Customer Choice, Winemaker Selects, Case, Tiered Case, Allocation, and Subscription clubs.
All of these clubs give you the option to provide special membership discounts.
When making a wine club, you must select a wine club type.
Table of Contents
- Customer Choice
- Winemaker Selects
- Case Club
- Tiered Case Club
- Allocation Club
- Subscription Membership Club
Customer Choice
The customer choice club allows your members to choose which wines they receive within a wine club release. When you have a release in progress, customers are able to log in to your webstore and customize their carts based on wines you make available. You can use OrderPort’s marketing system to alert the customers of the upcoming release so they know when to customize their orders.
Why wineries use it:
- Most popular model for engagement and retention
- Members get personalization without overwhelming staff
- Reduces cancellations and declined shipments
- Supports a modern, consumer friendly experience
Aligned business goals:
- Fast membership growth
- Attract younger buyers
- Reduce cancellations and improve retention
- Meet modern buyer expectations
Winemaker Selects
Winemaker Selects is the basic club type. You will choose which wines are included in a release, and customers will not be able to customize their orders themselves. You as the winery will be able to customize carts, so customers can contact you to make changes if you allow it.
Why wineries use it:
- Reliable recurring revenue
- Complete winery control
- Straightforward to manage
- Ideal for allocated or themed releases
- Members appreciate the ease and consistency
Aligned Business Goals:
- Predictable recurring revenue
- Manage limited production or protect high-demand wines
Case Club
Since a Case Club does not utilize releases, this club type allows customers to receive club benefits without committing to set releases.
Customers become eligible simply by purchasing a case of wine. After the initial purchase they continue receiving the Case Club discounts as long as they purchase a minimum of 12 bottles throughout the year. Members who do not purchase 12 bottles within that period will have their membership automatically lapse.
Why wineries use it:
- Boosts average order size
- Encourages repeat visits and purchases
- Very easy for tasting room teams to explain
- Perfect for local supporters and regular guests
Aligned business goals:
- Increase average order value
- Strengthen local loyalty and repeat visits
- Fast membership growth (where local engagement is strong)
Tiered Case Club
A tiered case club works in a similar way to case clubs. There are two differences:
- Tiered clubs allow you to have different club levels, which means members who buy more wine can move up a tier to receive greater benefits. If they do not buy enough wine, they can be downgraded or removed from the club depending on their current tier level. Each tier can have its own discounts, meaning that you can sell products to different tiers for different prices and make certain products only available for certain tiers.
- If you want to enforce minimum purchase requirements, you can create a release at the end of the year that automatically selects the number of bottles the customer needs to purchase to maintain membership. If there was a purchase requirement of 12, and a customer purchased only 9 bottles throughout the year, the release would automatically place 3 bottles in the cart to meet the minimum.
Why wineries use it:
- Gamifies buying behavior and motivates upsells
- Encourages long term loyalty
- Flexible for wineries without set release calendars
- Simple to scale as the business grows
Aligned business goals:
- Increase average order value
- Strengthen local loyalty and repeat visits
Allocation Club
The Allocation club type allows you to provide exclusive releases to your members. Members can log in and decide whether to participate in a release. You can create tier levels, which allows a member to move up or down depending on how much wine they purchase. You can also decide which wines are available to each tier, and set different quantities.
This club type integrates with your inventory in real time, ensuring that items do not oversell. In addition to letting the members decide which wines they want to purchase, they can add products to a wish list. The wish list allows the member to request additional wines for their allotment. If there are extra bottles after each allotment has been set, you as the winery can add additional bottles to a member’s cart based on their wishlist prior to billing.
Why wineries use it:
- Creates urgency and premium value
- Protects scarce inventory
- Works well for small lot or high demand wines
- Ideal for prestige brands or flagship releases
Aligned business goals:
- Manage limited production or protect high-demand wines
Subscription Membership Club
The last club is the subscription club. This club type is different from a traditional club model. Instead of creating releases charging members for bottles, you will set up a billing cycle that charges a certain dollar amount that will be added to their member accounts as credit. This credit will then be available to the members as a payment method at your winery, and they can use it towards purchases of both wine and non wine products.
Why wineries use it:
- Easiest entry point for new members
- Strong appeal with Millennial and Gen Z buyers
- Builds dependable recurring revenue
- Lower cancellation rates due to full flexibility
- Great for wineries wanting steady income without shipment pressure
Aligned Business Goals:
- Predictable recurring revenue
- Fast membership growth
- Attract modern subscription-minded buyers
- Strengthen local loyalty and repeat visits
- Reduce cancellations and improve retention