Banks Brewing Store Shopify Membership Strategy Breakdown and Lessons

Many eCommerce brands include membership programs within their marketing plans.

When managed well, membership programs provide competitive advantage to eCommerce brands. For instance, brands offer a community feel to members, increase average order value, increase customer lifetime value, and boost customer engagement.

To maximize ROI from membership programs, brands have to ensure they are well-planned and managed.

In this blog, we look at the membership program of Banks Brewing, its distinct features, and takeaways.

This Shopify membership strategy breakdown will offer lessons, strategies, and tips you can apply to your membership programs.

What is Banks Brewing Banks Club?

Banks Brewing is an Australia-based family run brewery that offers a range of beers. The brand produces a range of beers and also sells merchandise. Alongside, it also hosts beer events, such as competitions and festivals.

The Banks Brewing Store runs a membership program called Banks Club. The membership has an annual membership fee and offers various perks to members. Some of the benefits include a free beer on joining the membership, 10% discount on purchases, and a free beer in the members’ birthday week, among others.

Banks Club Shopify Membership Strategy Breakdown

In this section, we look at the key features of the various strategies used by Banks Club membership program, and tips we can use.

1. Offers a discount on all purchases

A study by Harvard Business Review says smaller and more precise discounts could help brands increase sales. And for 3 out of 4 online shoppers, discounts are a key factor in purchase decisions.

One of the biggest factors that drives membership sign ups is discounts. Customers expect cost benefits and savings when they sign up for membership programs. When customers know that a membership program will lead to consistent savings, signing them becomes easier. Even if there’s a membership fee involved.

That’s what Banks Club does. The annual-fee based membership program offers a 10% discount on every purchase, online and offline.

Here are some tips to plan your membership discounts:

• Offer a discount on every purchase. This helps members recover the membership fee they paid and also keeps bringing them back to your store
• Offer surprise discounts on festivals and special occasions to keep members excited and interested
• Find new opportunities to offer discounts. For instance, if you add a new product to your inventory, create a week-long launch campaign and offer a discount on the new product. However, ensure you do not overdo discounts as it can create a sense of diminished value of your products and membership program

2. Banks Club charges membership fee

To join the Banks Club, members have to pay an annual fee of $75. This fee is only for the first year. From the second year, members can renew their membership for $50.

Members can earn their money back by making purchases at a 10% discount. Additionally, they get other benefits, such as freebies and more.

Many eCommerce brands charge a fee for membership programs. Think Amazon Prime, Walmart, American Express, etc. That’s because serious members do not hesitate to pay a membership fee.

Let’s look at some factors about membership fees.

• Serious and genuine customers don’t mind paying a fee
• For brands, charging a fee is a way to keep away customers who are not interested
• Having a fee-based membership structure also helps retailers focus their efforts on a smaller segment of select customers, rather than everyone

Here are some tips to run a fee-based membership program:

• Once customers have paid a fee, ensure you consistently communicate with them about the benefits of the program to keep them engaged. This is because members’ interest tends to diminish as time passes
• Design your membership fee payment model carefully. For instance, not all customers may be comfortable paying an upfront amount of $75 or $100. If a staggered payment model works better for your customers, try it out
• Highlight the value of the other benefits. For instance, Banks Club offers free beers on at least two occasions – one for signing up and the other for members’ birthday

3. Multiple payment options

Today, there are several payment options used by customers. From online transfer to cards to mobile wallets to cash and more. Customers expect eCommerce brands to offer these various options.

Brands that offer multiple payment methods have advantages over those that don’t. For instance, offering multiple methods increases convenience for customers and leads to higher conversion rates. It improves customer satisfaction and reduces payment related issues.

Thus, enabling multiple payment methods brings in more cash flow and leads to an overall competitive advantage to the brand.

Banks Brewing Store offers multiple payment options, such as mobile wallets and cards. It’s Shopify checkout page has a minimal design with easy navigation and UX.

Overall, this aspect leads to a better experience for its customers and increases conversions. Moreover, the checkout page also highlights the fact that members pay lesser fees from the second year onward, improving conversion rates.

Let’s learn some tips for planning payments for memberships:

• Integrate a Shopify membership app that allows multiple payment options
• Choose payment methods that are popular and widely used to cater to a large customer base including various customer segments
• Prioritize payments security when choosing your membership app security features
• Choose payment methods that are efficient and economical for your membership model and for your Shopify business
• Ensure you have payment methods that are suited for recurring payments, such as recurring cards, direct debits, etc.
• Consider local payment methods if your membership program caters to multiple geographical regions. Enable payment methods from all regions to cater to a wider audience
• Choose an efficient payment gateway that easily integrates with your Shopify store. Also look for features such as fraud detection, card upgrades, etc.
• Conduct customer surveys to understand their preferred payment methods

4. Banks Club membership program is simple

The structure of the Banks Club membership program is simple and straightforward. It is easy for customers to understand and transact. For instance, the perks are clearly mentioned, so members know exactly what they can expect.

Customers prefer everything to be easy and simple, including payments. Banks Club offers multiple easy payment options to choose from. What is more, its members get first access to limited edition releases.

Here’s how you can make your Shopify membership program simple and easy:

• Focus on easy management by integrating automated processes with the help of a smart membership app
• Ensure the payment method is easy, there are multiple payment options, and the payments are secure and automated. This adds to member convenience
• Members have committed to your brand for a long term, hence, you must ensure you give them premium treatment and make them feel special
• Personalize your membership program experience with the help of customization and personalized perks
• Work on building strong customer relationships via your membership program through consistent communication, feedback requests, etc.

5. Banks Club automates membership processes

Automation has numerous advantages for eCommerce stores. It increases efficiency, reduces costs, enhances customer experience, and helps brands make better use of data. Automation helps streamline processes and allows businesses to focus on strategic growth.

Banks Brewing uses Shopify membership app, Appstle Membership for its membership program. The brand automates various functions with the app.

Here’s how you can leverage automation for your membership programs:

• Automate repetitive tasks and process things faster, such as order fulfilling, shipping, sending notifications, etc. By reducing manual processes, you can increase efficiency
• Reduce operational costs and improve resource allocation by automating membership processes with the help of an app
• Collect and analyze customer data and use the insights to personalize membership experiences
• Automate communication and reduce wait time. This leads to enhanced customer experience
• Create a seamless shopping experience for customers
• Make informed business decisions based on customer data and analysis
• Track inventory in real-time, reduce stockout, manage your inventory better
• Scale your business operations easily with the help of automation features to meet increased customer demands

Key takeaways from Banks Club Shopify membership strategy

Here’s a recap of the key takeaways from the Banks Club membership strategies that you could consider when planning your Shopify membership program.

• Offer value-based pricing to your Shopify members: Banks Club charges a membership fee but also offers a 10% discount to members on all purchases. This offsets the fee and creates value for members. Moreover, reducing the membership fee from the second year also encourages long-term commitment from members
• Keep your membership programs simple. You can make your membership experience better by creating a straightforward structure and ensuring clear communication that helps customers understand the value proposition
• Think about discount offers strategically. For instance, a consistent 10% discount to members can encourage repeat purchases, while surprise discounts can maintain excitement
• Automating processes can help you enhance efficiency and performance. Use an efficient Shopify membership app such as Appstle Memberships
• Ensure personalization, exclusivity, and customization based on your members preferences. Your Shopify membership app can help you with these features

Ready to set up your Shopify membership strategy?

You can take inspiration from these strategies used by Banks Brewing for its membership program. However, ensure you pick only those strategies that are relevant to your business goals and customer preferences.

You could start with one or two of these strategies and keep experimenting with new strategies from time to time. To plan and manage your Shopify membership strategies, you will need an intuitive app such as Appstle Membership.

The app has an intuitive merchant UI that makes it easy for merchants to manage their membership plans. Its tiered and customized membership perks and automated billing features take away the load of manual processes from merchants.

These are just a few of the capabilities of Appstle Membership app. To know more features and how the app can help your Shopify memberships, try the free trial.

Install Appstle Membership App in your Shopify store today!