Glossary of Key Terms

Glossary of Key Terms

This glossary defines the key terms used throughout Winehub. Because Winehub integrates wine clubs, loyalty, allocations, referrals, POS, Shopify and payment gateways, some terminology overlaps. This guide is designed to give you clarity across admin, Shopify and customer-facing language.


A

Additional First Order Purchases

Products added during club sign-up that are not part of the core club case.

These may include:

  • Signup Product Offers

  • Full-priced products

  • Promotional items

They apply to the first order only and do not recur unless separately configured.


Addons (Club Addons)

Optional products that customers can add to their upcoming club shipment in addition to their core club case.

Addons:

  • Are attached to an existing club contract

  • Are included in the next scheduled club shipment

  • Do not automatically recur unless configured as ongoing


Allocation

A limited product offer made available to a defined customer group based on rules such as Loyalty Tier, club status or spend history.

Allocations:

  • Can include acceptance windows and waitlists

  • Trigger automated email invitations and reminders

  • Are typically used for rare or limited-release products


Anniversary Billing

A rebilling structure where customers are charged at set intervals (e.g. every 3 or 6 months) based on their sign-up date.


B

Billing

The process of charging customers for their scheduled subscription shipment.

See also: Rebill


C

Checkout Validation

A rule that ensures customers meet club requirements (case size, quantity, minimum spend) during sign-up.

Club Run

The scheduled processing event where subscription orders are generated, grouped, billed and prepared for shipment.

Club runs:

  • Generate shipments based on frequency rules

  • Allow product replacement

  • Allow stock reservation

  • Track rebill attempts


Club Shipment

A shipment generated from an active wine club contract.

Club shipments:

  • Are created during a club run

  • Follow fixed or anniversary billing logic

  • Include club perks and pricing

  • Count toward Loyalty Tier spend (if configured)


Contract

Winehub’s internal term for an active recurring subscription agreement between a customer and a wine club.

A contract contains:

  • Selected products

  • Billing frequency

  • Next shipment date

  • Saved payment method

  • Status (active, paused, cancelled)

See also: Subscription


Cluster

A grouping of product variants used for advanced control of perks, discounts and exclusive access.

Clusters allow variant-level control beyond Shopify collections.


D

Delivery Frequency

Defines how often a subscription is billed and shipped (e.g. quarterly, biannual, monthly). Can be fixed-date or anniversary-based.


F

Fixed Case Club

A wine club with predefined products and a set price. Customers cannot change the case contents.

Fixed Date Billing

A rebilling structure where shipment dates are predefined (e.g. June 1 and December 10).


G

General Subscription

A non-wine club recurring subscription product. Often used for vaulting payment methods during cellar door sign-ups.

Global Packing List

A consolidated product list for a club run showing:

  • Required quantities

  • Low stock warnings

  • Replacement indicators


L

Loyalty Tier (formerly Membership Tier)

A structured rewards system that grants benefits based on customer spend or activity.

Loyalty Tiers can provide:

  • Discounts

  • Exclusive products

  • Bonus perks

  • Tier credit rewards

Spend from both club and non-club purchases can contribute (depending on configuration).


M

Mixed Case

A case made up of individual bottles. Stock decrements at the bottle level rather than the case level.


N

Non-Club Shipment

Any order not generated from a wine club contract.

Examples:

  • One-off online purchases

  • POS transactions

  • Allocation purchases

  • Referral redemptions

Non-club shipments do not follow club rebill cycles.


P

Perk

A benefit attached to a wine club or Loyalty Tier.

Examples:

  • Percentage discounts

  • Free shipping

  • Fixed-value discounts

  • Free products

  • Cluster-based discounts


Primary Location

The warehouse location from which stock is reserved for club runs.


Product Metafields

Extended product data fields used for analytics and segmentation (e.g. variety, region, country).


Projected Subscription Data

A forecasting tool that projects future club revenue and product volumes based only on active contracts.


R

Rebill

The action of attempting to charge a customer’s saved payment method for a scheduled subscription shipment.

Winehub:

  • Automatically attempts rebilling on process date

  • Allows manual “Rebill Now” triggers

  • Can attempt multiple retries if payment fails

A successful rebill generates the Shopify order.

Referral

A rewards-based program that incentivises customers to refer new wine club members.

Rewards may include:

  • Free products

  • Discount vouchers


Replacement (Product Replacement)

Swapping a product in a club run due to low stock or product changes.

Important:

  • Products linked to active contracts cannot be deleted

  • They must be replaced instead

Replacements can be temporary (club run level) or permanent (club setup level).


S

Signup Product Offer

A discounted upsell offered during wine club sign-up.

Signup Product Offers:

  • Have start and end dates

  • Can limit quantities

  • Increase Average Order Value at signup


Skip Shipment

Postponing a single upcoming subscription shipment without cancelling the contract.


Stock Reservation

Moving stock from available to reserved to ensure club shipments can be fulfilled.

Can be:

  • Manual

  • Automatic (configured in General Settings)


Subscription 

This term has three common meanings:

1. Shopify Language – “Subscription”
Shopify refers to recurring products as subscriptions.

2. Winehub Language – “Contract”
Winehub refers to the recurring agreement as a contract.

3. Winery Language – “Wine Club Membership”
Wineries often refer to this as a wine club membership.

In practice, these describe the same recurring relationship.

For clarity:

  • Customer-facing = Wine Club Membership

  • Shopify = Subscription

  • Winehub Admin = Contract


T

Token

A secure payment reference created by the payment gateway (e.g. Stripe or Payrix) that represents a stored credit card.

Winehub does not store raw card data. It stores secure tokens.


Translation

Customisable language settings for:

  • Sign Up App

  • Customer Portal

Translations allow you to:

  • Change default wording (e.g. “Subscriptions” → “Wine Clubs”)

  • Create multilingual portals

  • Customise navigation labels


V

Variable Case Club

A wine club where customers select their own bottle combinations from an approved list.

Pricing is determined by selected items.


Vault / Vaulting (a Card)

Securely storing a customer’s payment method for future subscription billing.

In Shopify:

  • A transaction must occur to vault a card.

In Winehub:

  • A temporary general subscription can be used at POS to vault a card.

  • The stored token is then attached to the club contract.

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