Total Wine loyalty program leaves a sour note

Brands approach loyalty programs in a variety of ways. Some try to make them more exclusive, putting them behind a paywall, whereas others advertise them constantly, from digital and traditional advertisements to the point-of-sale.

Total Wine & More, a liquor store chain with 249 locations in 27 states, wants to sign up as many customers as possible onto its loyalty program and just requires shoppers to enter a phone number at checkout to sign up.

When I first signed up for the loyalty program, I did so because I was a regular shopper at Total Wine, which has some of the best prices I've seen in the area. However, upon registering for the loyalty program I noticed a few issues.

First, like many loyalty programs, you need to register online to access its benefits, which requires an email address and password. But the website is fairly unreliable. As of the writing of this blog, I have attempted on multiple devices to login to my account only to be met with a permanent spinning loading wheel.

When reviewing at the program itself, it varies based on the state due to differing regulations. In Kentucky, where I am based, it offers three loyalty level tiers: Select, Reserve and Grand Reserve.

With Select, you receive a $5 reward after spending 5,000 points, which roughly equates to $500 (unless you purchase an item that provides more than 10 points per dollar). It also provides an online record of past purchases and military benefits. Reserve runs from 5,000 to 25,000 points and includes access to member-only events (which I have yet to receive any emails about despite being on Reserve) along with 50% off classes and one free wine gift bag a month or a reusable tote (worth $2.99 or less).

The benefits of Grand Reserve, which requires more than 25,000 points, are free classes, two free wine gift bags or reusable totes and six free magazines per year as well as "additional opportunities for priority access to select products."

These benefits are fairly lackluster in my opinion.

For one, the fact that you never get more than $5 off for every $500 spent is a very minor reward. There are no opportunities for discounts beyond that. In addition the other benefits are never advertised particularly well and are never mentioned at point-of-sale. To my knowledge, I have never received an email with a list of events nor with instructions on how to receive a tote bag or anything of that nature.

From my perspective, the loyalty program doesn't appear to offer much real value to members, other than to gain access to information and encourage customers to spend more to access a "discount." Combine that with a glitchy website and poor information on how to access rewards, I am not impressed at all.

Ultimately, I think Total Wine should give a better value proposition to its loyalty program members. By doing so, it could drive better engagement and a better brand image. But in order to do this, it will also need to communicate better with its members of the benefits and how exactly to take advantage of them.