This is the gently edited transcript from the May 19 episode of The Wine Marketer’s Radar, a weekly series by 5forests that connects global business trends to wine marketing strategy.
This week on The Wine Marketer’s Radar, we’re looking at how smart brands are building loyalty, trust, and attention. From Pinterest’s role in Gen Z shopping, to what grocery e-comm can teach wineries about retention, to creator insights you actually need to hear, and one behavioral bias that might be quietly sabotaging your customer experience.
Let’s get into it.
Topics Covered in this Episode
Pinterest Is Quietly Becoming a Commerce Engine. Gen Z Is Paying Attention.
First up, let’s talk Pinterest. This one surprised me.
If you still think Pinterest is a digital corkboard for recipes and bridesmaid dresses, you’re about five years behind the curve.
At a recent press event, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready proclaimed, “Pinterest is now Gen Z’s go-to destination for shopping inspiration.”
Let’s break that down.
Gen Z now make up over 40% of Pinterest’s total users. That’s the biggest and fastest-growing demographic on the platform. And they’re not just saving pins or building mood boards — they’re using Pinterest like a curated search engine to discover products, compare options, and increasingly, click straight through to purchase.
Pinterest isn’t trying to compete with TikTok on entertainment or Instagram on aesthetics. Instead, it’s carving out a role as a quiet commerce platform — one that thrives on budget-conscious, planning-driven behavior. According to Ready, searches for things like “budget party decorations” or “cheap but cute dinner recipes” are up over 200% year over year.
Gen Z isn’t only searching for “Santa Barbara tasting rooms” or “best rosé” on Google. They’re searching visually. For tablescapes. Picnic ideas. Easy summer drinks. Charcuterie boards. And increasingly, they’re discovering brands that show up in that content — whether or not those brands intended to be there.
For wineries, this is a huge missed opportunity. Pinterest is no longer niche — and it’s no longer optional for wine brands trying to reach next-gen consumers.
If you want to meet Gen Z where they’re actually discovering products, you don’t need more video or more budget. You need searchable, shoppable, inspirational content — and Pinterest is one of the best places to do it.
Especially when your competitors probably aren’t there yet.
Is your brand struggling to engage with Gen Z wine buyers? We have a full breakdown on what you need to know.
What Grocery Ecomm Can Teach Wineries About Retention
Next, let’s talk loyalty.
This month’s report from Brick Meets Click, published in CX Dive, highlighted something big: two-thirds of Walmart’s online grocery orders now come from Walmart+ members. And those members don’t just buy more often — they spend 40% more per order than non-members.
That’s not a coincidence. It’s the result of a loyalty strategy that isn’t just about retention — it’s about revenue.
And here’s what really stood out:
- Walmart+ members are more likely to reuse e-commerce services.
- They show higher satisfaction and intent to repeat.
- They’re less likely to switch to competitors.
In short: a strong loyalty program makes customers stick, spend, and skip the competition. That’s not just good for grocers — that’s good for anyone trying to build a direct-to-consumer business. Like, say, wineries.
Many wineries we talk to think they have a loyalty strategy, but the truth is, many are still relying on a wine club to do all the work. That’s not enough anymore, especially as DTC gets more competitive and customer expectations rise.
The good news? If you’re on Commerce7, you already have the tools to compete.
How Wineries Can Build Loyalty with Commerce7
Commerce7’s Loyalty feature lets you:
- Create multi-tiered programs based on spend, club level, or LTV.
- Assign different point values per dollar spent.
- Reward customers with discounts, perks, or access to exclusive content.
- And do it all across POS, website, and admin tools — so it’s seamless for both your team and your customers.
It’s designed to be simple, flexible, and — most importantly — visible to the customer. They can log in, see their tier, check their points, and feel like their purchases matter.
And here’s the bigger picture:
Loyalty programs aren’t just about keeping your best customers happy — they’re about giving newer or occasional customers a reason to come back.
When you offer even small perks — early access to new releases, a discount on their third order, or a points-based reward — you turn a one-time buyer into someone with a reason to check in again.
Takeaway
This isn’t about gamifying wine. It’s about reinforcing value and momentum. Loyalty is no longer just a thank-you. It’s a sales strategy.
And with tools like Commerce7, you don’t need a CRM team or a big budget to start building a program that rewards your customers — and grows your revenue in the process. Need help setting up your loyalty program? Give us a shout.
Gen Z Creators Aren’t Here to Be Sold To — They’re Here to Belong
Our next article comes from The Drum, and it’s worth paying attention to.
At the recent LTK Upfronts in New York — that’s a major event where brands and influencers talk shop — three of the platform’s most-followed Gen Z creators took the stage. And it was a front-row seat to how this generation wants to engage with brands.
Their message was loud and clear: Gen Z doesn’t want to be sold to. They want to be seen, understood, and part of something.
If there is one statement that comes up time and again about Gen Z, this is it.
Why It Matters for Wineries
Too often, wine brands think influencer marketing means hiring someone to hold a glass in a vineyard. That’s not what’s working anymore.
Gen Z can spot a fake a mile away — and they reward the brands that feel human, specific, and in tune with their lives. That means:
- Working with creators who already love your product
- Letting those creators speak in their voice
- Understanding that what Gen Z buys often starts as what they talk about
This doesn’t have to mean national campaigns or big budgets. Smaller creators — even regional foodies or lifestyle micro-influencers — can be incredibly powerful brand partners when the fit is right.
See how smaller influencers drive trust and DTC growth
The Takeaway
Influence is no longer about reach. It’s about relationship.
For wineries, that means investing in content and partnerships that don’t just look good — they resonate. Because in a world where trust is everything, the best marketing isn’t always the most polished. It’s the most personal.
The Region Beta Paradox: A Quiet Brand Killer
And our last story this week isn’t breaking news — but it’s essential know-how for anyone who works in digital marketing or user experience. It’s about something called the Region Beta Paradox, and it comes from a piece in The UX Bulletin.
The Region Beta Paradox is a cognitive bias in psychology. It describes a strange but common behavior: people are more likely to take action when something is very bad than when it’s just mildly annoying.
In other words, big problems get fixed. Small problems get tolerated — for way too long. And in the context of customer experience? That’s where things quietly fall apart.
Here’s a few examples:
- A broken checkout button? That gets flagged immediately. But a checkout that’s just a little slow? Or confusing? That sticks around for years.
- A staff member who’s rude might get a bad review. But a host who’s just a little unenthusiastic? That’s rarely reported — but deeply felt.
In websites, it might be the “small stuff”: unclear menus, fiddly booking tools, reward points that don’t feel worth using. In tasting rooms, it might be offerings that are unclear, or a layout that leaves guests wondering where to go.
At 5forests, we talk a lot about behavioral psychology in wine marketing, and we see the Region Beta Paradox all the time. We call these Tolerations. They aren’t dealbreakers — but they do drain satisfaction over time. They slowly erode brand trust, and they may never show up in your analytics or reviews.
And because those issues are “just tolerable,” they never get prioritized. But meanwhile, customers are disengaging. Quietly. Repeatedly.
This is the paradox in action: if something were worse, it would actually get fixed.
Your biggest risk isn’t the dramatic failure — it’s the slow fade. I think wineries know this.
So if you haven’t audited your customer experience in a while, now’s the time.
Learn how to audit your wine DTC experience
Wrapping Up: The Common Thread
From Pinterest to loyalty programs, from creator relationships to overlooked UX flaws — this week’s Radar has a clear throughline: earning loyalty requires relevance, intention, and action.
That’s it for this week’s edition of The Wine Marketer’s Radar. If you find this series useful—and want to keep seeing smart, non-wine stories decoded for wine marketers—be sure to follow along on TikTok, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.
The Radar is part of our ongoing effort to help DTC, brand, and marketing teams stay sharp in a fast-moving world. If you spot a trend worth talking about, drop us a line. If you need a hand with your wine marketing, get in touch.
