Loyalty Points

Loyalty programs encourage repeat customers who spend more on their purchases and return to your winery more often. Reward club members at different rates, or make points earnable across your entire customer base. Loyalty Points are configurable to meet your needs and can apply to any SKUs in WineDirect so you can create a memorable brand experience for your customers.

Setting up Your Loyalty Point Redemption Rate

You must set a Redemption Rate to create a Loyalty Point program for your winery. The Redemption Rate is how much each point is worth for every dollar; if you have an SKU with a retail price of $50 and the Redemption Rate is set at $0.016, your customer will need 3,125 points before they can redeem that Product for "free" ($50 / $0.016 = 3,125).

Navigate to Settings > Website Settings > Store > Loyalty Points to set your desired Redemption Rate. We have set a default redemption ratio of $0.016. This is an average rate compared to other loyalty point programs in the retail industry, but you can adjust this value to suit your needs.

In this section, you can also choose to disable Loyalty Points from displaying on your ecommerce website; if you disable redemption on the website, your customers can only redeem points for purchases via the POS and Admin Panel. 

You can also limit how much of an order subtotal can be eligible for redemption to meet compliance laws in your particular state. For example, if you set the limit to 75% and have an order with a $100 subtotal, your customer can only redeem $75 in points on the purchase and must pay the remaining balance with another tender. 

Setting up Loyalty Point Tiers

Tiers allow you to configure how many points you would like your club members to earn on their purchases. By setting up different Tiers, you can reward members of certain clubs at different rates than others. 

Navigate to Store > Loyalty Points to set up your Tiers.

Select ‘Add a Tier’ to create a Tier. This is where you will determine how many points your club members should earn per dollar spent. 

Name your Tier, enter the Points Earned Per Dollar, then ‘Save.’

Most wineries will set up 3-4 Tiers at different earn ratios. For example, a Gold Tier could earn 10 points per dollar spent; a Silver Tier could earn 5 points per dollar spent, and a Bronze Tier could earn 2 points per dollar spent. Customers will earn points on all purchases via POS, the website, and the Admin Panel. 

DEFAULT TIER

A Default Tier will appear in your Tiers settings by default. If you want your customers, not just your club members, to earn points, the ‘Default Tier’ is where you can enable the default earning ratio.

If this value is set above 0, all your customers will earn points at the ratio you set unless they are club members and apply to one of your other Tiers. If a customer belongs to a Tier with a higher earn ratio, that will override the ratio in the Default Tier.

Manually Assigning a Contact to a Tier

Your contacts need not be within a club to be assigned to a Tier. All contacts will belong to the Default Tier by default (if this is set to 0, these customers are not earning points). You can, however, manually upgrade individual contacts to a Tier, and they will earn loyalty points at that Tier’s earn ratio. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a contact is assigned to a tier where they earn more points, they cannot be downgraded to a tier with fewer points.

Navigate to the contact record and select ‘Manage Loyalty Points,’ then edit the Tier section and manually add the Tier you want this contact to belong to.

Opting in SKUs

Your SKUs will not be opted into the Loyalty Points program by default. This means that your customers cannot redeem products for points unless you opt them in. For the products you would like redeemable for points, navigate to Store > Products.

When you edit the Product under 'Manage SKUs,' click 'Advanced' and then check off 'Redeemable with Loyalty Points' for that SKU to opt into the program.

Managing your Contacts Using Loyalty Points

Navigate to the contact record of interest and select ‘Manage Loyalty Points’ to view the contact’s transaction history and their points balance. You can manually add or remove Loyalty Points in this section by clicking 'Add a Transaction.'

Your contacts can also see their points balance within their account on your website. 

Processing Orders to Earn Loyalty Points

When you process an order in your Admin Panel, POS, or website for a contact linked to a Tier, they will earn points based on the Tier they belong to. Points are calculated from the subtotal of the order. If you refund this order, the earned points will automatically be removed.

EARNING POINTS VIA THE ADMIN PANEL

EARNING POINTS VIA THE POST

Redeeming Loyalty Points on Orders

Your staff can help customers redeem Loyalty Points for eligible SKUs using the Admin Panel and POS. If website redemption is enabled in Website Settings, your customers can redeem points via your ecommerce site.

Points act as a new payment tender, much like gift cards operate in WineDirect today. They can be used as a split tender on order, though a contact must have sufficient points earned on their contact record to redeem points for a product. 

THE REDEEMABLE PRODUCT SUBTOTAL 

Since SKUs need to be opted-in to be redeemable for Loyalty Points, you may have orders containing some SKUs that are eligible for redemption and others that are not.

Points will only be redeemable on the Redeemable Product Subtotal or the sum of the retail price for the SKUs opted-in to be redeemable for Loyalty Points. If Promos is used on order, the promo will apply to reduce the price before it is considered the Redeemable Product Subtotal.

LIMITING HOW POINTS ARE USED 

You can also limit what percentage of the Redeemable Product Subtotal can be redeemed for points to meet compliance regulations for your state. 

For example, you could set the above percentage to 50% off the Redeemable Product Subtotal. You have an order where Product A is redeemable for points and has a retail price of $100. Product B is not redeemable for points and has a retail price of $40. The subtotal of the entire order is $140, and the Redeemable Product Subtotal is $100. Since you set your redemption limit to 50%, your customer can redeem points for 50% of the Redeemable Product Subtotal or $50 off of their order (50% of $100 = $50). Their new subtotal would then be $90. 

MARKETING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS 

Since Loyalty Points are designed to be configurable to meet your winery's individual needs, marketing your loyalty program is up to you. You can decide how to promote your opted-in SKUs to your customers and communicate with them best for your winery.

To assist you in segmenting your marketing emails to reach members with loyalty points, you can use the Points Summary report found under Contacts in enhanced Reports. You can also include the //LoyaltyPointsBalance// auto-populating tag in your Send Mass Email and Send Club Email marketing communications (coming soon). 

REDEEMING POINTS VIA THE ADMIN PANEL

As usual, process your order via the Admin Panel and select LoyaltyPoints to redeem Loyalty Points on order. 

REDEEMING POINTS VIA POST

Add an item to the cart, and upon checkout, select 'Redeem Loyalty Points' to redeem Loyalty Points on order. 

How to Test Loyalty Points

To make the most of the Loyalty Points feature, you will want to develop a marketing plan to roll out your winery's unique program. We understand that this takes time, and you'd still like to test the feature before you begin marketing to your customers. 

Once you have opted into Loyalty Points, our support team will turn the feature on for you, and points will be available for configuration. We recommend you take the following steps to test the feature while you're planning out your program: 

1. Choose one of your employees to act as your test contact 
2. Create a Tier, but do not link this Tier to any clubs
3. Go to your employee test contact and manually add them to the Tier you have created
4. Test the program by opting in SKUs, processing orders, and redeeming purchase points using your test contact and cash transactions.
5. Keep track of order numbers so your accounting team can remove these from your books when you're finished testing. 
6. When your marketing plan is all set, and you're ready to launch your program, create additional Tiers and configure the feature to meet your needs best.

FAQs

WHAT PART OF THE ORDER TOTAL ARE POINTS EARNED AND REDEEMED ON?

Loyalty Points are earned and redeemed on the order subtotal and do not impact shipping or taxes.

HOW DO I CHANGE THE RATIO AT WHICH CUSTOMERS REDEEM POINTS?

The redeem ratio can be adjusted under Website Settings > Store > General. The default value of $0.016 is an average of other Loyalty Point programs in the retail industry.

CAN THE RATIO AT WHICH CUSTOMERS REDEEM POINTS CHANGE BASED ON THE TIER THEY ARE IN?

The redeem ratio cannot be altered for different Tiers; all members within a Tier will have the same redeem ratio set up under Website Settings > Store > General.

HOW ARE CLUB MEMBERS CANCELED OR ON HOLD AFFECTED BY LOYALTY POINTS?

Club members associated with a Tier and on hold with benefits can earn and redeem points. Canceled members will not earn points (unless you have your Default tier enabled) but can still spend any points they previously accumulated. 

WHERE ARE POINTS REDEEMABLE IN WINEDIRECT?

Loyalty Points are redeemable via the Admin Panel, POS, and ecommerce websites. You can choose to disable redemption via your website through your website settings. 

WILL LOYALTY POINTS BE INCLUDED IN REPORTS?

Yes. Sales reports will have new columns, including Points Redeemed, Points Earned, and Dollar Value of Points Redeemed. You can also use the Points Summary report under Contacts in enhanced reporting. 

ARE POINTS ACCUMULATED THROUGH EXTERNAL VENDORS, I.E., RMS, RMS WEB WINDOW, WEBSERVICES, MARKETPLACE ETC.?

At this time, points are not accumulated through external vendors.

ARE POINTS ACCUMULATED THROUGH ORDER HISTORY IMPORTS?

Points are not accumulated through order history imports.

DO POINTS WORK ACROSS MULTIPLE CHILD SITES FOR ONE PARENT BRAND?

Points are accumulated and redeemed on only one brand.  

How do I add the loyalty points feature

To have this feature enabled, please submit a request to support@winedirect.com