In the quest to foster customer loyalty, El Lopo, a wine bar in San Francisco, has embraced a membership model as a means to reward its loyal patrons and convert casual customers into regulars. Daniel Azarkman, the owner of El Lopo, discussed how the establishment's "Take-Care-of-Me-Club" membership initiative has not only provided a stable income during uncertain times but has also contributed to building a strong brand connection.
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GLOIn the quest to foster customer loyalty, El Lopo, a wine bar in San Francisco, has embraced a membership model as a means to reward its loyal patrons and convert casual customers into regulars.
Daniel Azarkman, the owner of El Lopo, discussed how the establishment’s “Take-Care-of-Me-Club” membership initiative has not only provided a stable income during uncertain times but has also contributed to building a strong brand connection. He mentioned, “It’s certainly nice to have some predictable revenue… aside from that reliability, it’s been a great way to just say who we are, and even a lot of people that don’t end up signing up for it do read through it, do ask questions about it and are still impressed that we are the kind of place that would run something like that.”
The membership program has two tiers for in-restaurant customers: one costs $89 for $100 in restaurant credits, and the other is priced at $175 for $200 worth of credits. As a minimum, the program ensures over $2,000 in revenue. Through these memberships, the restaurant’s staff serves curated food and beverages to the members until they utilize their credits. Members also have the privilege of enjoying any wine by the glass, securing reservations, and even gifting a complimentary drink to another table during each visit.
The program was conceived when The Third Place, a software platform offering subscriptions and memberships for various restaurants, approached El Lopo. Azarkman explained, “At the time they were mainly just doing like take home kits… I wanted to come up with something that would actually get people back in the door… [this program] was a natural fit, since we always had a pretty heavy focus on regulars.”
Remarkably, El Lopo’s most devoted customers dine in at least three times a week, an impressive frequency considering the rarity of such consistent restaurant visits among consumers. PYMNTS’ “Connected Dining” series revealed that merely 7.4% of restaurant patrons made purchases from any restaurants three times a week or more, as of June.
Azarkman highlighted that the membership initiative has attracted new regular customers, serving as an effective advertisement for the program.
Given the current decline in overall restaurant visits, the guaranteed income from the subscription program offers a valuable stability. Data from Connected Dining demonstrated that only 58% of consumers made a restaurant purchase in June, marking a 9 percentage point decrease from the previous month.
Looking ahead, Azarkman expressed a desire for the membership program to maintain its current size, aiming to preserve the close rapport the restaurant shares with its members. However, he acknowledged that a similar model could be applicable to larger establishments willing to forgo some personalization.
“It works because we’re as small as we are, and I’ve definitely seen that it wouldn’t scale well — at least not the way we run it — because a lot of it depends on the human touch of knowing who our members are. … Assuming we stay within the same four walls in one location, I think I would cap it at 40 members.”
Source: PYMNTS
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