Why Wine Clubs Aren’t Working, And What’s Replacing Them For many wineries, the biggest challenge today isn’t attracting new customers; it’s keeping the ones they already have. Wine clubs once represented the most stable revenue engine for wineries. Members signed up, shipments went out quarterly, and predictable revenue flowed in. It was the foundation of direct-to-consumer success. But that foundation is cracking. Recent industry data reveals a troubling trend: nearly 40% of wine club members cancel within the first year. In a market where customer acquisition costs are climbing, and competition for attention has never been fiercer, losing members at this rate isn’t just a retention problem; it’s a profitability crisis. The math is unforgiving. If acquiring a new club member costs hundreds of dollars in marketing, tasting room labor, and incentives, losing them before they’ve generated meaningful lifetime value means wineries are bleeding money with every signup. And yet, some winer

Every so often, we get a very cool chance to co-lead a webinar with wine industry thought leaders and colleagues, on a topic that matters to us all. Please consider this your official invitation to join us, for a special webinar two weeks from today. The co-lead? Geni Whitehouse of BD&Co in Napa, a team of finance experts with a laser focus on the wine industry. Geni herself has been named one of the 25 most powerful women in accounting, and she brings very deep expertise to the table along with high-level thought leadership. Your colleagues? Sandra Demaria, Director of Sales and Marketing at Ehlers Estate, and Erika Boudreaux, Director of Membership and Sales at Peju Winery, who will speak from their boots-on-the-ground perspective. Our topic? How to bridge the gap between a winery's sales team and their finance team. "Too often," Geni says, "sales and accounting teams operate with two different sets of numbers and little shared understanding. The result? Mi

Afternoon Brief, January 4th

Bold Predictions: Insights for Successful Wine Business in 2023:Registration has opened for the 2023 Bold Predictions: Wine Industry Leadership Conference - a FREE virtual event designed to prepare wine business leaders for the year ahead, along with advice on how to best overcome the challenges while taking full advantage of the opportunities...

Sonoma County Winery Event Permit Meeting Leaves Vintners Frustrated with Process: Last Thursday’s virtual forum organized by Sonoma County’s Permit Sonoma to ostensibly open up conversation about event permitting for wineries in Sonoma County, had over 200 stakeholders taking time out to participate, but many vintners felt it was a charade... The post Afternoon Brief, February 23rd appeared first on Wine Industry Advisor. Url:https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2021/02/23/afternoon-brief-1807?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=afternoon-brief-1807 Published Date:Tue, 23 Feb 2021 22:53:17 +0000