Is a Beer or Wine Subscription Box Right For Your Business?

If you’re keeping up with the times, you’ve likely become familiar with the idea of subscription services. However, what you might not know is that more and more beverage companies are offering them for craft beers and wine—but should yours? 

To determine whether a wine or beer subscription service is right for your business, you should consider your goals for such an offering. If you’re looking to broaden your reach and expand into new markets, it could be a fantastic idea. However, as you might expect, there’s a lot you need to consider if you want yours to succeed. 

So, with that in mind, this blog will walk you through the advantages and considerations of implementing a craft beer or wine subscription box. Let’s get into it! 

Understanding Subscription Services for Craft Beverages

A beer or wine subscription service delivers a curated selection of beverages directly to subscribers’ doorsteps, whether it be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. These services are provided by wineries and craft breweries to help enthusiasts explore unique and exclusive selections without having to visit specialty stores. 

Generally, a beer or wine subscription box shipment includes:

• A curated selection: they often include a variety of exciting beers or wines that have been purposefully curated to meet a certain theme, style, or season.
• Customization options: they usually afford the subscriber options to customize what they receive to match their tastes (i.e. type of beer, colour or wines).
• Educational content: they also usually go beyond the drinks themselves, offering exciting packaging, tasting notes, flavor profiles, and more.

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The Benefits of a Wine or Beer Subscription Service

It doesn’t take much thinking to get why a beer or wine subscription box is a great idea for customers. By shipping curated collections to their doors, they get to try the best you have to offer without ever leaving their homes. But how would a so-called “wine or beer of the month club” benefit you as the businesses offering it? 

1. Recurring Revenue

The subscription economy market size is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2025—there’s a lot of money to go around in this space and for good reason. 

As a business offering a wine or beer subscription service, you get to collect money from customers on a schedule without investing any time or energy into re-engaging them. This can help you grow your business or keep it afloat during slow periods.

2. Improved Customer Loyalty

If your customers are always getting their drinks from you and loving them, why would they bother trying what your competitor has to offer? 

A beer or wine subscription box is a great and organized way to build customer loyalty. Even if you aren’t their favorite when they first subscribe, the power of convenience is sure to win them over within a few weeks or months.

3. Breaking Geographical Barriers

If you only sell your products in-store, your potential reach is likely much smaller than it could be if you expanded your business with a wine or beer club.

Implementing a wine or beer subscription service will help you reach customers outside your state or perhaps even in other countries. The possibilities are endless (assuming you get the right permits to ship your beverages where your new fans are)!  

4. Gaining a Competitive Advantage

The beverage industry is highly competitive, meaning companies need to find ways to stand above the competition if they want to earn sales. 

A wine or beer subscription box is a great way to do exactly that. It’s a unique selling proposition sure to resonate with both experimenters and convenience-lovers, thrusting you well ahead of your non-subscription-offering peers. 

Wine or Beer Subscription Box Considerations

While the benefits are undoubtedly great, there are some things you need to consider if you want to find beer or wine subscription success. 

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What’s Your Goal?

You need to set a goal for your wine or beer subscription service, so start by asking yourself what you are trying to accomplish. Is your goal: 

• To connect with new customers you wouldn’t have otherwise reached?
• To strengthen connections with an already devoted customer base? 
• To drive sales of a more niche product that isn’t otherwise selling?  

None of these goals are right or wrong, and all can be executed if well-planned. What’s important is that you know yours as it will inform the next steps. 

What’s Your Pricing Model?

While the choice is ultimately yours, you should probably choose one of these subscription pricing models for a beer or wine box: 

• Flat-Rate: this involves charging every customer the exact same amount for their subscription as they all receive the same service
• Tiered: this involves diverting customers into different pricing “tiers”, with benefits to higher tiers that justify increased prices

You’ll also have to decide how often you want to bill your customers for their subscriptions. This could be annually, quarterly, monthly, or even bi-weekly.

What’s Your Shipping Strategy?

Last but certainly not least, you need to consider how your wine or beer subscription box is going to end up on your customers’ doorsteps. 

If you are dealing with high order volumes or shipping to customers quite far from wherever your operations are based, outsourcing your logistics is a great idea. This will ensure everything gets where it’s supposed to be, exactly when it’s expected.

Build a Wine or Beer Subscription Service With Brew Movers Managing Your Logistics  

If you’ve decided that a wine or beer subscription box is right for your business, then it’s time to deliver curated beverages to your customers—and we can help. With Brew Movers’ specialized small parcel shipping and direct-to-consumer services, we ensure your subscription boxes reach your customers with the greatest care and efficiency.

We are the experts in beverage logistics. Whether you’re shipping wine or beer, count on us to handle it with care. We also stay on top of all the latest rules and regulations so you don’t have to worry about anything when shipping. 

Ready to launch your beer or wine subscription box? Contact us today!