Wine and beer clubs can increase restaurant traffic and diner frequency.

You’ve meticulously crafted a dynamite beverage menu tailored specifically for enthusiasts of beer, wine, whiskey, cocktails or other liquors. Leverage your beverage program with a club to increase repeat visits to your pizzeria.

Membership-based wine, beer and even whiskey clubs can offer great benefits for your restaurant. They can reward your regulars. Just like your general loyalty club, creating a beverage club is a great way to thank your patrons and keep them coming back for more. A club can help with inventory control and sales forecasting by promoting products that excite club members. Clubs also give you the opportunity to build an affinity culture around your beverage program.

Before you explore the beverage club option, check with your local Alcohol and Beverage Commission to make sure such a club is allowed. If it is allowed, are there limitations to your offerings? Make sure you know the laws regarding selling or serving alcohol to-go, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic restriction changes.

Give Customers What They Want

There are a wide range of benefits that you can offer consumers as part of their club membership. We scoured some of the most highly regarded restaurant beer, wine and whiskey clubs. Here are some of the common benefits to evaluate if it could fit your concept:

• A standard discount, either a percentage or dollar amount off beverage orders
• New tapping announcements and events
• Early access to seasonal and specialty releases
• Recommendations from beverage experts
• Beverage Pairings and tasting events
• Members-only swag and collectibles
• Beer- or wine-pairing dinners
• Access to rare and highly sought-after products

Exclusivity is a common draw for membership, such as being the first to try a new or hard-to-find beer, wine or whiskey. Enthusiasts often are seeking the opportunity to sample new beers before they are offered on the menu.

Mug and glass clubs are popular. They can be set up a number of ways. The most common is the up-front fee-based model that includes a custom mug or glassware, which gains the member access to discounts and exclusive offers. The mugs may be kept at the establishment or brought in by members.

Some restaurants offer a reward point system to earn prizes such as swag and other gear. Some of the higher end establishments also offer direct shipment (this area requires research and alignment with local, state and national regulations regarding the shipment of alcohol).

Photo by master1305/stock.adobe.com

The overarching benefit of beverage clubs is creating a sense of community around a common interest.

If you are friendly with local business operators, you can go beyond some of the common club benefits to create something unique to your pizzeria, such as working with breweries and wineries to collaborate on a limited release. You also can create a private-label product specific to your pizzeria.

There are also opportunities to host specialty events with member-exclusive access such as Meet the Maker (brewer, winemaker, distiller) dinners or collaborating with breweries, wineries or distilleries to offer exclusive facility tours.

If you’re considering a membership-based beverage club, be strategic. Have a plan outlining everything before you roll it out. What type of program would work best for you, your staff and your customers? How will you execute club features and events? Establish membership terms including term length and the renewal process. Running an effective beverage club takes coordination.

Pizzeria Beer Club

Drew and Leah Watson have offered a beer club since opening Hops & Pie on Denver’s Tennyson Street in 2010 with a focus on craft beer and artisan pizza. The pizzeria has 30 taps, eight of which are static. That leaves 22 lines of new, interesting or rare beers to rotate each week. Some change three times per week. Hops & Pie is known for tapping rare beers. “If there’s one keg coming to the state, we’re getting it before anybody else,” he says. The pizzeria has grown into the go-to spot for acquiring hard-to-find beers. It’s something Drew feels fortunate about.

The Watsons’ beer club approach is to keep it simple and provide incentives that members want. “For 75 bucks, you get $1 off all drafts,” Watson says of the annual program. “$12 Detroit style pizzas. On Sundays, you get your third draft free, and the second Sunday of every month, we … pick three beers and offer them to club members for 50 cents a piece.”

There is also a lifetime membership option for $500. As much as the memberships provide a bump in revenue, Drew says he sees a significant uptick in food sales and repeat business from the club.

Everything goes through a promotions code in Hops & Pie’s POS system. The Watsons keep a member email database. You can go DIY like Hops & Pie or use a club-management provider.

The club offers another marketing vehicle. “It’s just been a really great tool, and it gives us a really great database of e-mails, people who are committed in one form or another,” Drew says.

Whatever route you go with your beer, wine or whiskey club, Drew advises: “Be patient and make it worth their while.”

Denise Greer is Executive Editor at Pizza Today.