Building a loyalty program in the wine industry comes with its own unique challenges — from a fragmented ecosystem across where consumers purchase their wine to strict regulations around alcohol that vary by state. When Josh Cellars launched its loyalty program, it navigated these complexities through its partnership with Brandmovers, which supports brands through its proprietary loyalty and promotions platform technology.
Loyalty360 spoke to Mercedes Pazmino, Account Director for Brandmovers, about how its digital infrastructure helped Josh Cellars create an accessible loyalty program that allowed the brand to learn more about its consumers — and gave consumers a way to forge a deeper connection with the brand.
Loyalty360: With wine sales facing pressure from trends like Dry January and moderation, why was now the right time for Josh Cellars to launch a loyalty program?
Mercedes Pazmino: What we’re seeing across beverage and alcohol is a shift toward deeper brand relationships rather than purely transactional purchases. For Josh Cellars, launching a loyalty program created a way to stay connected with consumers beyond the shelf and build a direct relationship with people who already love the brand.
The program also gives the brand visibility into how people engage across channels — whether they’re buying through retail, wine club, or direct-to-consumer. That kind of first-party insight helps the brand better understand preferences and personalize communication over time, which is increasingly important in today’s marketing environment.
Loyalty360: Loyalty at scale has traditionally been difficult in the wine category. What challenges did you need to overcome to make this possible?
Mercedes Pazmino: Wine loyalty is complicated because purchases happen across a fragmented ecosystem — retail stores, on-premise venues and direct-to-consumer platforms. On top of that, the beverage and alcohol industry has strict regulatory requirements that vary by state.
From the start, the infrastructure had to be designed to manage those complexities behind the scenes while keeping the consumer experience simple. That meant building systems that could capture purchases across channels and applying compliance logic in the background, so members could participate easily regardless of where they buy their Josh Cellars wines.
Loyalty360: How does the loyalty program work for consumers? What does the experience look like from sign-up to reward?
Mercedes Pazmino: The goal was to make participation feel natural and easy. Consumers can enroll through the Josh Cellars website, through email communications, or even while shopping in-store using QR-enabled case cards or bottle neckers.
Once they join, members earn points for purchases made through direct-to-consumer orders, wine club shipments, or retail and on-premise purchases through receipt uploads. Those points can then be redeemed for a curated catalog of rewards, including Josh Cellars merchandise and lifestyle items connected to the brand.
It creates a simple cycle of purchasing, earning points, exploring rewards, and staying engaged with the brand.
Loyalty360: How does this loyalty program reflect the core values and story of the Josh Cellars brand?
Mercedes Pazmino: Josh Cellars has always been rooted in a story of gratitude, family, and creating approachable wines meant to be enjoyed in everyday moments. The loyalty program extends that philosophy into the digital experience.
It’s designed to feel welcoming and accessible, while reinforcing the brand’s spirit of appreciation by rewarding members for engaging with Josh Cellars in meaningful ways.
Many of the rewards are intentionally tied to the lifestyle and personality of the brand, so the program feels like a natural extension of Josh Cellars rather than a generic points system, helping strengthen the emotional connection with consumers and celebrate those who already love the wines.
Loyalty360: What role did Brandmovers play in bringing this program to life, and how did the partnership come together?
Mercedes Pazmino: Brandmovers partnered with the Josh Cellars team from the early strategy phase to design a loyalty program that fits naturally into the consumer journey.
Our work included building the website experience, integrating enrollment opportunities across the site and checkout flow, and creating the infrastructure to capture purchases from Shopify, wine club orders, and retail receipt uploads. We also collaborated on launch communications, including onboarding emails and promotional messaging, and helped curate the rewards catalog.
The goal was to create one unified program that connects all those touchpoints into a single consumer experience.
Loyalty360: What were the primary goals behind the program — driving frequency, trade-up, retention, brand affinity, or something else?
Mercedes Pazmino: The program was designed to deepen engagement with the brand while supporting Josh Cellars’ broader mission of building stronger connections with consumers and a better understanding of their behavior across purchase channels.
That includes encouraging purchase frequency, introducing consumers to additional varietals in the portfolio, and strengthening overall brand affinity.
Repeat transactions are a goal but not the only goal — it’s about building a relationship with consumers and giving them reasons to keep interacting with the brand over time.
Loyalty360: Because wine is often purchased through retail partners, how does the program create value for those partners as well?
Mercedes Pazmino: Retail plays a huge role in the wine category, so the program was intentionally designed to support those channels rather than compete with them.
Consumers can earn rewards for retail purchases simply by uploading receipts, which means the program encourages continued shopping through retail partners. At the same time, the brand gains insight into purchasing behavior that historically hasn’t been visible in the category.
It creates a win-win where consumers stay engaged, and retailers continue to benefit from in-store sales, and the brand gains a clearer understanding of its audience.
Loyalty360: Are you planning to incorporate personalization — such as tailored offers or experiences based on purchase behavior — as the program evolves?
Mercedes Pazmino: One of the most powerful aspects of the program is the first-party data it generates. By connecting activity across direct purchases, retail transactions, and engagement within the rewards platform, Josh Cellars can start to build a much clearer picture of how consumers interact with the brand.
Over time, those insights can support more personalized communications and promotions based on consumer preferences and purchasing patterns.
Loyalty360: What are the key metrics you’re focused on in the early stages to determine success?
Mercedes Pazmino: At this stage, the focus is primarily on participation and engagement. We’re looking at enrollment growth, purchase activity connected to the program, and how members interact with the loyalty dashboard and rewards catalog.
These early signals help the team understand how consumers are responding and where the experience can continue to evolve.
Loyalty360: Enrollment exceeded projections in the first month. What have the early results told you so far?
Mercedes Pazmino: One of the most encouraging signals so far is the enthusiasm from existing Josh Cellars fans. Much of the early participation has come from people who were already connected to the brand through its website and CRM communications.
We’re also seeing strong engagement with the rewards experience and early signs that members are exploring more than one varietal within the portfolio, which was a key goal of the program.
Loyalty360: Looking ahead, how do you see the loyalty program and your partnership evolving over the next year or two?
Mercedes Pazmino: This launch represents the foundation of a longer-term relationship between Josh Cellars and its consumers. As the program expands beyond the pilot phase and marketing activation increases, the brand will continue learning from consumer behavior and engagement patterns.
From there, the program can evolve with new experiences, additional personalization, and new ways for members to interact with the brand across the entire Josh Cellars ecosystem.