OBJECTIVES: Understand winery club member profiles, behavior, and wine club preferences in order to reveal ways to keep members happy, or win them back if they’ve left. This report leverages 3 research projects conducted by Merrill Research:

1. December
2017
Wine
Club
Dynamics:
Topline
Report

2. 2

3. 3
Merrill
Research
Patrick
C.
Merrill
Cofounder
• Extensive
work
in
the
wine,
spirits
and
beer
categories
for
small
and
large
brands,
domestic
and
imports,
regional
and
global
appellations,
distributors,
importers
and
leading
industry
associations
• Worked
in
MR
department
at
Joseph
Schlitz
Brewing
Company
and
Heublein
Wines
• Burke-­‐trained
research
methodology
expert:
post
graduate
statistical
education
&
training
• Worked
continuously
in
the
wine
category
for
30+
years
-­‐ including
brands
of
all
sizes
and
heritage
• Speaks
at
wine
conferences
worldwide
• Published
author
of
wine
and
spirits
articles
in
industry
publications
• Created
new
research
services
for
the
wine
industry
(e.g.,
Wine
&
Dine™,
Wine
Drinker
Monitor
Study,
Wine
Club
Study)
• Serves
on
professional
tasting
panels

4. 4
About
Merrill
Research
LONGEVITY Founded
1986:
One of
Bay
Area’s
most
experienced
custom
research
firms
MERRILL
TEAM
Founders
Patrick
C.
Merrill
and
David
M.
Schneer
have
extensive
backgrounds
in
CPG
and
technology
research
Senior
researcher staff with
at
least
15
years experience
on
supplier
and
client
sides
GLOBAL
PARTNERS
Partners
in
London,
Paris,
Beijing
Research
partner
of
MEMBERSHIP
FOUNDING
INVESTORS
OF
Iconography:
The
Noun
Project

5. 5
OBJECTIVES:
Understand
winery
club
member
profiles,
behavior,
and
wine
club
preferences
in
order
to
reveal
ways
to
keep
members
happy,
or
win
them
back
if
they’ve
left.

6. 6
Methodology
WINE
CLUB
MEMBER
NPS
SURVEY
Wave 1
MERRILL
WINE
MONITOR
Annual
Survey
WINE
CLUB
MEMBER
SURVEY
Wave
2
METHOD:
• Conducted
Q3
2015
• N=574
• Conducted
Q4
2016
• N=820
• Conducted
Q3
2017
• N=602
OBJECTIVES:
• Measure
member
satisfaction
• Determine
why
consumers
join
• Track
wine drinker
buying
behavior
and
attitudes
• Provide
trending
data
• Determine
why
drinkers
join
and
leave
clubs,
how
to
keep
members,
and
how
to
improve
club
experience

7. 7
Wine
Club
Members
at
a
Glance
3
clubs
average
memberships
3
years
average
tenure
3
in
4
order
more
than
a
case
per
year
via
their
wine
clubs
Primary
Segments:
Access-­‐driven
and
Winery
experience/recommendation-­‐driven
9
in
10
Have
visited
the
winery
28%
of
all
wine
is
purchased
through
wine
clubs
and
38%
at
retail
4
in
10
get
excited
to
join
new
wine
clubs,
while
just
1
in
10
are
losing
interest
(so
now’s
the
time
to
enhance
yours!)
27%
say
they’ll
belong
to
more
clubs
in
2
years.
Only
9%
say
they’ll
belong
to
fewer
3
in
5
say
any
new
clubs
they
join
will
be
in
addition
to
(not
instead
of)
current
memberships
Wave
1:
Q3
2015
and
Wave
2:
Q3
2017;
Base:
Wine
club
members,
n=varies
Iconography
source:
https://thenounproject.com/

8. 8

9. 9
Top
10
Takeaways
1:
Current
club
members
are
an
appealing
segment
for
winery
clubs
to
target
to
join
their
clubs.
2:
Members join
for
a
variety
of
reasons,
most
critically
for
discounted
pricing
and
limited
availability elsewhere.
3: Shipping
costs
have
a
huge
influence
on
preferred
number
of
shipments.
4: Perceived
value
is
universally
important-­‐especially
to
HPLs.
5:
Favorite
clubs
are
most
commonly
described
as:
Accessibility
to
hard-­‐to-­‐find wines,
feeling
they
have
a
valued
relationship
with
the
winery,
and
value
&
discounts.

10. 10
Top
10
Takeaways
(continued)
6:
Members’
advice to
wineries
for
improving
their
clubs:
Improve
your
wine
pricing,
reduce
shipping
costs,
offer
customizable
shipments
and
host
more
member
events.
7:
There
are
3
unique
segments amongst club
members:
Access
Driven
(access
to
hard-­‐
to-­‐find
wines),
Discount
Seekers
(cost
savings
&
convenience),
and
Referred
Experientials (recommendations
&
experience).
8: Cost
is
the #1
reason
members cancel
clubs.
9:
Those
who
never joined
a
club
prefer
more
personal
involvement,
selection
flexibility,
and
store
associate
guidance.
Virtually
none
of
these
consumers
are
likely
to
join
a
club
in
the
next
12
months.
10:
High
Price
Loyals’ optimum
bottle
price
through
clubs
is
$52.50. Much
lower
for
Trade
Ups
($32.50)
and
Trade
Downs
($22.50).

11. 11
Full
Report
Coming
Soon
Detailed report, including specific recommendations, available
for download starting January 15, 2018 at: www.merrill.com.
Questions? Contact:
Patrick C. Merrill
Founder & General Partner
pmerrill@merrill.com
650.954.2932