Wine shops and wine bars · bottles, glasses and tastings
Wine shop and wine bar loyalty card: bottles, glasses and tastings
A wine shop loyalty card works when it rewards coming back, not the amount of wine: points on spend for bottles, one stamp per visit at the wine bar, rewards that are not only alcohol. With Iterum (by FIDUS) customers open the card from a QR code without an app and staff record the visit or points in the counter app; staff still check age.
Updated by Radman Sattari, Founder of Iterum
How a wine shop loyalty card works
A wine shop loyalty card records the purchases of returning customers and, once they reach the target or the points required, entitles them to a reward chosen by the shop. Very different customers share the same shop: someone picking up a bottle for Friday dinner, someone ordering a case for the holidays, someone stopping for a glass after work and someone who comes to the tastings. The card has to say clearly which of these counts.
You write the rule and your staff apply it. Iterum does not read the till, the card terminal or the receipt: an authorised person scans the card’s QR code or types its code in the counter app («Al banco») and confirms the visit or the points, which stay recorded in the dashboard. Sign-up and recording need a connection; your stock system and wine list stay where they are.
Choose what to reward
Bottles to take away, glasses at the bar, or both. Write it in the «What a visit is worth» field: staff and customers read it, but it is not an automatic check.
Display the QR code at the till and the bar
Customers sign up in the browser, with no app or password, while they wait for the bill or for their bottle to be wrapped.
Record at payment
Staff scan the card and confirm the visit, or type the points for the purchase if you use a points card.
Hand over the reward with the same checks as a sale
If the reward is a wine or a glass, the same age rules you apply at the till still apply.
How do you keep wine shop customers coming back? What the wine data says
To keep wine shop customers coming back, give occasional buyers a reason to return, because wine remains widespread while daily drinking falls. These are Italian figures. According to Istat, in 2023 56.9% of people aged 14 and over drank wine during the year, the same share as in 1998; meanwhile daily alcohol consumption fell from 33.3% to 19% and occasional consumption rose from 37.3% to 49.8%.
Price is a hard way to stand out: in the Eurostat harmonised index for Italy, wine stands at −2.3% on a year earlier in September 2026, while restaurants, cafés and the like are at +2.9%. These are national averages, not the prices of any one wine shop. Our reading: the reason to come back to you is the advice, the tastings and a clear reward.
A wine shop card should also reward visits or spend, never glasses. The Italian National Institute of Health’s 2026 report says that in 2024, 42.1% of men and 24.6% of women drank wine or alcohol away from meals, and treats this as risk behaviour: a rule like «one stamp per glass» pushes the wrong way, «one stamp per visit» does not.
| Figure | Value | Source and period | What it suggests for the card |
|---|---|---|---|
| People aged 14 and over who drink wine during the year | 56.9% (52.0% in 2014, 56.9% in 1998) | Istat, 2023 | Customers already know wine: the card has to give a reason to buy it from you |
| Daily alcohol consumption, aged 14 and over | 19% (33.3% in 1998) | Istat, 2023 | Do not set targets at a café’s frequency |
| Occasional alcohol consumption, aged 14 and over | 49.8% (37.3% in 1998) | Istat, 2023 | Short targets, or points that stay between visits |
| People who drank wine during the year | 65.1% of men and 44.9% of women, almost 29.5 million people | ISS, 2024 | Rewards for people who buy for themselves and as gifts |
| Wine or alcohol away from meals | 42.1% of men and 24.6% of women | ISS, 2024 | Count visits or spend, not glasses |
| Wine prices, change on a year earlier | −2.3% in September 2026 (−1.4% in September 2025) | Eurostat, harmonised index, Italy | Lean on service rather than discounts |
| Restaurants, cafés and the like, change on a year earlier | +2.9% in September 2026 (+3.4% in September 2025) | Eurostat, harmonised index, Italy | Redo the sums for rewards served at the bar, such as a sharing board |
Bottles to take away or glasses at the wine bar: one rule or two?
A wine shop with a bar works in two ways: it sells bottles to take home and it serves wine by the glass. The two have different frequencies and amounts, so it pays to decide at the outset whether the card treats them the same. The simplest answer is a single points card for everything; alternatively you can keep a stamp card for glasses and a points card for bottles, because in Iterum the two cards can run side by side within your plan’s number of active cards.
Whatever you choose, write it down: «one stamp per visit to the wine bar with at least one glass» is a rule staff can apply without hesitation; «a stamp now and then» is not. Bear in mind that a card’s type, stamps or points, can no longer change once it has its first customers: if you are thinking of moving to points, decide before launch.
| Moment | With a stamp card | With a points card (example) | What to decide first |
|---|---|---|---|
| A bottle to take away | One stamp per purchase, perhaps with a minimum spend | 1 point for every euro spent | Whether bottles on offer count |
| A case of six or a holiday order | One stamp, like a visit | The points for the amount, within the per-operation limit | Whether large orders have a points cap |
| A glass at the bar or at a table | One stamp per visit with at least one glass | The points for the amount | Whether a soft drink or a sharing board without wine counts |
| A paid guided tasting | One stamp per tasting | Points for the ticket, or a separate reward | Whether guests without a card can sign up that evening |
| Corporate gifts paid by invoice | Often excluded | Often excluded | Writing it in the conditions so it is not debated in December |
Everyday bottles and collector’s wines: how does a points card work in a wine shop?
In a wine shop the receipt can go from a few euros to a serious sum in the same afternoon, which is why a points card is often fairer than stamps. You decide what a point is worth, for example one point for every euro spent, and staff type the points in the counter app; Iterum converts nothing and does not read the receipt. You can offer up to ten rewards, each with its own points threshold.
With at least two rewards you also choose how they are collected, using the option «Scala i punti quando si ritira un premio» (deduct points when a reward is collected). When it is on, only the cost of the chosen reward comes off: with 300 points and a 200-point reward, 100 remain. When it is off, each reward can be collected once per round without deducting points, and the final reward resets the balance and starts a new round. Do the sums before turning it off: in the table’s example, someone reaching 500 points collects all four rewards, 52 euros of hypothetical value on 500 euros spent, so about 10% rather than 5%.
Two settings protect against mistakes at the counter: a «Maximum points per operation» limit, which stops anyone adding thousands of points to an order by accident, and the option to undo an addition within 10 minutes. Points do not expire unless you choose to reset them when a customer has not reached a reward within the months you set: the customer gets a notice on the Wallet card 30 days before, and a balance already worth a reward is never reset. To compare the two mechanics in general, read the guide stamps vs points loyalty card.
| Reward | Points required (example) | Hypothetical value to the shop | Share given back on spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wine stopper or corkscrew | 100 | 5 euros | about 5% (5 euros on 100 euros spent) |
| Sharing board for two at the bar | 200 | 10 euros | about 5% |
| A bottle of the house wine | 300 | 12 euros | about 4% |
| A place at a guided tasting | 500 | 25 euros | about 5% |
How many stamps or points should a wine shop reward take?
In a wine shop the right number of stamps or points is the one that gets the customer to a reward within a few months, because someone who calls in once a month forgets a card that runs too long. The table shows how long three targets take at hypothetical visit habits: start from your typical customer, not from a café’s target.
Someone who only buys for holidays and occasions never reaches the end of a stamp card: points on spend suit them better. With 1 point per euro and a hypothetical spend of 40 euros a month, a 300-point reward arrives in under 8 months. Work out what the reward really costs with the reward cost calculator.
After a few months, check whether the rule works: the guide to customer retention rate explains how to measure it over a period at least twice the usual gap between visits. In Iterum these numbers start from visits confirmed at the counter and sit in the Results section, included on every plan.
| Customer habit | 6-stamp card | 8-stamp card | 10-stamp card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every week, for example an aperitivo at the wine bar | 6 weeks | 8 weeks | 10 weeks |
| Every two weeks | about 3 months | about 4 months | about 5 months |
| Once a month, for a bottle | 6 months | 8 months | 10 months |
| Four times a year, for holidays and occasions | 18 months | 24 months | 30 months: points suit better |
Loyalty cards and alcohol: what changes with customers’ age?
A loyalty card does not check the age of the people who join and does not change the obligations you already have at the till. In Italy, Law no. 125 of 30 March 2001, Article 14-ter requires anyone selling alcoholic drinks to ask the buyer for an identity document unless the buyer is clearly an adult; selling or serving alcohol to under-18s carries an administrative fine of 250 to 1,000 euros, rising to 500 to 2,000 euros with a suspension of trading of fifteen days to three months if repeated. If you trade in the UK, your own licensing rules apply instead.
In practice, treat the reward like a sale: if you hand over a free bottle or pour a free glass, staff make the same check they would make at the till. To avoid awkward moments, include rewards that are not alcohol, such as an accessory or a sharing board. This page is not legal advice: ask a professional about particular cases, and read the loyalty card rules in Italy for the rules on prizes.
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| A young-looking customer asks to join | Joining is not a sale; when they buy alcohol, ask for ID as usual |
| The reward is a bottle or a glass | Hand it over with the same age check as a sale |
| A parent with a child under 18 uses the card | The card is the parent’s; the wine goes to the parent |
| A tasting open to cardholders | Entry and glasses for adults only, as for every other guest |
| A message to customers about a new label | An informative tone, and only to customers who gave consent |
Tastings and events: how can they work with the loyalty card?
Tastings are when a wine shop really gets to know its customers, and the card can support them in three ways: one stamp for each paid tasting, a free place as a points reward, or an invitation to join for first-time guests. Iterum does not handle bookings or seat availability: event sign-ups stay in your diary, on the phone or in whatever system you already use.
To announce an evening you can send a message to customers with the card in their Wallet, but only to those who have accepted your offers, a separate and optional choice, and within your plan’s monthly messages. Article 13 of the same Law no. 125 of 2001 bans, among other things, alcohol advertising that «shows minors drinking alcohol or presents drinking alcoholic beverages in a positive light» (our translation): keep messages informative, such as the date, the labels and the times, and if in doubt have the wording checked. The consent rules are summarised in the guide loyalty card GDPR.
A birthday is also a good reason to get in touch, with one extra precaution: customers type their date of birth in the card profile and it does not verify their age, so a wine gift is handed over at the counter with the usual check, or you choose an accessory. Wording and examples are in the guide to birthday messages for customers.
Wine club, tasting package or loyalty card: which should you choose?
A loyalty card rewards purchases already made, a prepaid package takes the money first and deducts one use at a time, and a wine club is usually a subscription with a fee and regular deliveries. They do not rule each other out: a loyalty card is the simplest to explain at the counter and does not ask customers to pay in advance, so it is the easiest place to start.
In Iterum the loyalty card is on every plan, while prepaid packages are included from the Pro plan: for example five tastings, with formats of 1 to 20 uses and the validity you decide. When you sell a package to a customer who is already registered, you can add an optional bonus of points or stamps to their loyalty card. The age check still applies at every tasting.
Iterum does not take payments, issue receipts or handle time-based subscriptions, deliveries or regular shipments: a club with a fee stays on whichever system you use to collect it. Receipts and VAT on anything sold in advance are questions for your accountant.
| Tool | How it works | Suits you when | With Iterum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stamp or points loyalty card | Customers build up at each visit or purchase and collect a reward | You want to reward every returning customer without asking for money up front | Yes, on every plan |
| Prepaid tasting package | Customers pay first and staff deduct one use at each evening | You run regular tastings with a loyal audience | Yes, from the Pro plan; you take payment as usual |
| Wine club with a fee | A regular fee gives access to bottles, deliveries or benefits | You have the volume, logistics and a system for recurring payments | No: fees and deliveries stay outside Iterum |
Cases, holiday orders and corporate gifts: how do you avoid outsized rewards?
In December a single customer may order several cases as gifts or for the family. On a stamp card an order counts as one visit, so there is no issue; if you want to recognise a large order, staff can give several stamps in the same visit, up to 50, and above 5 they must give a reason. On a points card, however, a large order can bring the reward much closer. Decide in advance whether that is fair or whether you prefer a cap, and use the per-operation points limit as a safety net against typing errors.
Corporate orders paid by invoice are often a separate commercial arrangement: if you exclude them from the card, write it in the conditions. To see what a reward really costs you compared with what the customer spends, redo the sums with the reward cost calculator.
| Rule | Benefit | Risk | How to word it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points on everything, no cap | Simple and generous to bigger spenders | One Christmas order is worth months of purchases | «1 point per euro on every purchase» |
| Points with a cap per receipt | Rewards stay balanced over time | Needs explaining to customers who place big orders | «Maximum 200 points per purchase» |
| Corporate orders excluded | The reward stays tied to private customers | Some debate with people who also buy for the office | «Purchases with an invoice excluded» |
| Stamp card per visit | No outsized rewards | Someone buying a case earns the same as someone buying a bottle | «One stamp per visit with a purchase» |
Which reward should a wine shop give its customers?
The reward on a wine shop loyalty card must be clear and desirable, but it need not be a bottle. Accessories, a sharing board at the bar, a place at a tasting or the house bottle all work well, worded precisely: «a bottle of the wine of the week, chosen by the shop» avoids debates about vintages and labels. More ideas, and the cost of each reward, are in the guide to loyalty card reward ideas.
If the reward is a discount, state what it applies to and whether it can be combined with current offers. If it is a product or service other than those you sell, such as a winery visit run by someone else, first read the loyalty card rules in Italy.
| Reward | Cost to the shop | Suits you when | What to write on the card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accessory: wine stopper, corkscrew, bottle bag | Low | You want a reward that is not alcohol | Which accessory, while stocks last |
| Sharing board at the bar | Low or medium | You serve by the glass and offer simple food | For how many people and on which days |
| A bottle of the house wine or the wine of the week | Medium | The target is long and the customer buys bottles | That the shop chooses the label |
| A place at a tasting | Medium, but often a seat that would be empty | You run evenings with limited places | How to book and what happens if it is full |
| A discount on a case | Variable | Your customers place holiday orders | Which wines it covers and whether it combines with offers |
Remembering what a customer buys: counter notes
A wine shop also sells advice, and knowing what a customer bought last time helps with the next suggestion. In Iterum staff can write an optional note when adding points or stamps, up to 500 characters, for example «Piedmont red, case of 6»: you find it in the customer’s history and only your business can see it.
Iterum does not record products by itself and does not read the receipt: what you do not write is not there. Put labels and formats in the note, never judgements about a person’s health or habits, because it is part of the customer’s data: it is included in the export and the erasure they can ask you for. The general rules are in the guide loyalty card GDPR.
How to set up your wine shop’s loyalty card with Iterum
With Iterum you prepare your wine shop’s card before paying: in the card designer you choose the design, the number of stamps and the reward and check the preview; a points card is configured from the dashboard after activation, with the value of a point and the rewards priced in points. You can start from the wine shop demo design, which uses made-up data: it is not a real shop or a result.
Customers open the card from the QR code or a link, with no app to install and no password to create; only if the page opens inside another app or on a computer does a short sign-up page come first, with no box to tick: by creating the card the customer accepts the card Terms and confirms they have read the privacy notice. Name and contact details are optional and, on supported phones, they save the card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Authorised staff use the counter app on a phone or computer; you can create accounts for the whole team, with roles and permissions. Iterum does not read the card terminal and records nothing without a connection.
To activate the service there is a 7-day free trial: you pay €0 today, a payment card is required and, unless you cancel, the selected plan continues after the trial. Each plan’s new customers a month and active cards are on the pricing page; total customers are unlimited on every plan.
Sources and method
Read on 31 October 2026: Law no. 125 of 2001, Article 14-ter, text in force since 22 April 2017, and Article 13, on Normattiva, the official Italian legislation database; Istat, «Trenta anni di vita quotidiana», the passage on alcohol consumption, data for 1998–2023, people aged 14 and over; Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), Rapporti ISTISAN 26/4, 2024 data based on Istat surveys; Eurostat, harmonised index of consumer prices, table prc_hicp_minr, Italy, change on a year earlier, September 2026 and September 2025, items «Wine» and «Restaurants, cafés and the like». We report the laws for completeness, with no conclusions on specific cases.
Occasional and daily consumption cover all alcoholic drinks, not only wine; the Eurostat indices are national averages, not wine shop prices. The column «What it suggests for the card» is our reading. Targets, times, points, reward values and shares given back are hypothetical examples, not prices or data collected from real wine shops. The information about Iterum describes the product as of 31 October 2026, as shown on its public pages and in the dashboard, and does not promise more visits or more sales.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you keep wine shop customers coming back?
- With a simple rule that rewards returning: points on spend for bottles, one stamp per visit at the wine bar, targets reachable within a few months and rewards that are not only alcohol. Tastings and advice at the counter give the reason to come back to you.
- How do wine shop customers get the loyalty card?
- They scan the QR code at the till or the bar, or open a link, and see the card in their browser, with no app, account or password; on supported phones they can save it to their Wallet. Only inside another app or on a computer do they first see a short sign-up page with no box to tick: by creating the card they accept the card Terms and confirm they have read the privacy notice.
- Does the loyalty card check the customer’s age?
- No. The card does not check age: when someone buys alcohol, staff ask for ID if the customer is not clearly an adult, as Italian Law no. 125 of 2001, Article 14-ter requires, and they do the same when handing over a wine reward.
- Are stamps or points better for a wine shop?
- If customers mostly buy glasses at the bar, stamps per visit are simple. If amounts range from a bottle to a case, a points card is fairer: you decide what a point is worth and staff record the points.
- Can I run one card for the wine bar and one for bottles?
- Yes: in Iterum a stamp card and a points card can run side by side in the same business, within your plan’s number of active cards. Each card’s type is fixed once its first customers join.
- Is a wine club better than a loyalty card?
- A loyalty card is simpler: customers pay nothing in advance and build up at every visit. A club with a fee needs volume, logistics and recurring payments, which Iterum does not handle. For evenings you can sell a prepaid tasting package, from the Pro plan.
- How much does it cost to try Iterum in a wine shop?
- The trial lasts 7 days and you pay €0 today; a payment card is required to activate it. The price of the selected plan is shown before you confirm, and the plan continues after the trial unless you cancel.
Find your sector.
These are demonstration previews made with the Iterum card catalog. Names, rewards and stamps are examples.