Loyalty cards are of immense importance for every kind of business, be it big or small. Loyalty cards help businesses reap good rewards. A Loyalty Cards is similar to a credit card or debit card. It features the logo and information of the business in an attractive manner.
Some of the advantages offered by loyalty cards are as follows:
Advertisement: as soon as a person uses a loyalty card, it gets advertised to people standing close to him. This indirect advertisement helps company promote its name in the eye of other customers as well.
Gain customer loyalty: If you are one of those who are retailer, you can still benefit from a loyalty card. As a retail store owner, you can use loyalty cards to offer attractive discounts to your customers on a certain amount of purchase and thereby gain their loyalty. Customers love to get discounts and offers and they form a bond with your company and thus remain loyal to you.
Customer reward: In the current times, you will find that these days a large number of restaurants and coffee shops are making use of loyalty cards for rewarding their customers. For example, if you are a bakery owner and you initiate a scheme that if your customers buy 5 pastries, they get the 6th one free. Such rewards create loyal customers for your brand.
Not only do bakeries benefit from loyalty cards, Loyalty Cards are also used in restaurants, retail outlets, coffee shops, department stores and grocery stores. The reason for this is simple. Each and every one of us wish to spend their hard earned money where they know they get the maximum benefit. Loyalty cards drive return traffic to your business.
If you are one of those who wish to print loyalty cards in-house, there are a host of companies for your help. One of the most renowned names is Digitalid. For more information, visit the company’s site www.digitalid.co.uk.
Loyalty cards an excellent way of marketing your business. Thus, whatever may be your profession, you can benefit by printing Loyalty cards. If you are one of those who own a restaurant or run a bakery or even if you have a hairdressing saloon or a drycleaners shop, you can make use of loyalty cards.
Printing loyalty cards in-house would help you attain a greater advantage both in terms of cost as well as customers. Loyalty card is one of the best ways of customer creation and retention system.
Also, You could give out stamps for a minimum spend or reward your customers when their purchases reach a set amount. If you are one of those who own a pizza shop, you could even reward your customers with loyalty offers like ‘Add garlic bread and get loyalty card points’ and encourage them to spend more. On the other hand, if you are a restaurant owner, you could offer some discount or a dish when your customer’s bill reaches a specific amount.
Customers are happy to go to the same restaurant, pizza shop or hairdresser where they find excellent service coupled with a good bargain.
It is easy to get loyalty cards designed for your business. All you have to do is purchase a good quality printer and start printing loyalty cards in-house. One company that helps you customize your loyalty cards is Digitalid. The company also offers a wide range of printers of various brands like Evolis printers, Magicard printers, Datacard printers, Zebra printer and various others. Also, the company deals in printing ribbons like Zebra printing ribbon, Datacard printing ribbon, Magicard printing ribbon and various other printers ribbons to enable you customise your loyalty cards as per your requirements. For more information about the products offers by the company, log on to www.digitalid.co.uk.
Loyalty cards are everywhere these days. In bars, hairdressers, supermarkets, clothes shops, petrol stations, leisure centres and jewellers. Their purpose is to highlight a customer’s loyalty to that company and by offering a reward for that loyalty. The reward may only be small, but it is something that wouldn’t have been given out otherwise.
They are similar to membership cards, but they do not provide any kind of binding or agreement between holder and business. Membership cards are there to show that a person has signed up for or joined an organisation, programme, business or group, and has been accepted as such. Membership cards often provide a discount for that person, or allow them special privileges, such as a free biscuit with every cup of tea bought, or a special item from the shop exclusive to members.
Loyalty cards are relatively inexpensive, as they are usually made out of cardboard, though they can be made of plastic cards, which are far sturdier, and less easily forgotten or left somewhere by mistake. They give your customer an incentive to come back to your business, rather than go to a competitor, as they have the possibility of a reward for doing so.
There seem to be lots of membership cards and loyalty cards flying around at the moment (not literally, we hope). If you’ve seen them, or been given them, but aren’t entirely sure why, here are some of the advantages that they offer to both businesses and customers:
Businesses
• Promotion – customers are more likely to visit your business over a competitor if they look in their wallet and see your name.
• You can get to know your customers if they have membership cards with their names on, or by seeing which stamps/entries there are on their loyalty card.
• You could reduce paperwork if customers’ details are stored on their electronic membership card.
• You can promote new ideas or products by allowing members or loyalty card holders an ‘exclusive’ period of a week or two before opening it up to the general public.
Customers
• You will usually get a reward if you fill up a loyalty card.
• You can feel more valued by the company as it gives you a return for your regular business.
• You can remember the name of ‘that really good coffee shop on the corner of whatchmacallit’ because it will be in your wallet.
These days, our purses and wallets are full to bursting with business cards, loyalty cards and membership cards. There’s a discount card for every shop on the high street, and it can be difficult to find one, short of tipping them all out on the desk and rummaging through until you’ve located it.
This is one of the reasons that some shops and businesses are using key fobs. They have exactly the same function as a normal membership card, but are much smaller.
Key fobs are usually about 3 x 2 cm, but can come in many different sizes and shapes. The Nectar card key fob, for instance is about 2.5 cm squared, but with one edge rounded like an arc.
The main thing that all key fobs have in common is a hole punched through it. This will be close to an edge and enables the owner to thread the fob onto their keys. That way, they will not become lost in amongst the sea of other loyalty cards.
It can also be useful if someone has driven to your business and tried to bring as little as possible. That way, even if all they have is a ten pound note and their car keys, they will still have their membership cards with them.
Most businesses that have membership cards are places like hotels, gyms, fitness suites, leisure centres, restaurants, clubs and places like film rental stores.
These businesses will benefit from using membership cards, and yours can to. Here’s how:
Less paperwork
If everything is stored on a computer, members can scan or swipe their card when they arrive or leave, and their details are automatically found. No need for pages and pages for each customer. All of their information can be in one place.
Less waiting around
You can make life easier for your welcome or reception staff, as signing in can be automatic, without the need for so many questions and identity checks
Fraud prevention
If members are only permitted with their membership card, you will not have people pretending to be members, and you could have photographic ID on the card to further prevent misuse.
Colour coding
They could be colour coded depending on which package they’re on or which month their membership is due for renewal. You could have a different colour for premium memberships and a different colour again for comprehensive packages.
Security
Some plastic cards can have security codes on, or encrypted information. This will prevent others using the information on the card, and will let you know if anyone has made a copy or attempted to use it fraudulently.
Loyalty cards can really generate returning customers, as they will see that they will actually ‘get something back’ for visiting your shop/business/organisation. Customers are also more likely to come back if they think that you are interested in their custom and are prepared to make an effort for it.
This may be in the form of your loyalty cards. Because card can get ‘fluffy’ corners after a few days of wear and tear, and the ink can become worn and faded, having them printed on plastic cards will stop that happening, and make them look professional and newer for much longer.
Plastic cards can be more visually stunning, as the colours printed can be more vibrant and striking. Patterns are able to be more complicated, too, as well as being able to have barcodes, microchips and magnetic stripes included for electronic data storage.
Doing this will mean your employees no longer end up with ink all over their hands from the stamp not working properly, and people will be less likely to discard them as they do not seem to be ‘disposable’ in the same way as paper and card ones can.
Having plastic loyalty cards, you can even have the customer’s name printed onto it, to let them feel more appreciated by the company.
Membership cards can be really useful to clients and businesses or organisations. They can give piece of mind to both customer and business by allowing the ‘singing in’ process to be quick and hassle-free.
Membership cards can also be personalised in a number of ways, to make them more efficient or user friendly.
Photo – having a photo of the member on the back can make quick identification easy, without the need for extra security questions.
Barcode – having a barcode can mean it is easy to scan in as your member arrives, which will automatically ‘register’ them, and provide details of their membership on the reception/other computer.
Colour coded – with custom printing, you could have the background colour, or a coloured stripe on the front of the card, changing depending on which month their membership is up for renewal. This means you can monitor which months people are more likely to join, as well as provide customers with relevant information near to their renewal date.
Key fob – you could even provide a key fob with each membership card, so members can easily find their card, as it will be attached to their keys. They have a hole punched in, for easy attachments to key rings.
Discount cards
These can be plastic cards or cards made of cardboard or laminated paper. These are quite often used by employees or business partners. They can be disposable, for one time use, or authorise discounts every time the holder shows the card. They encourage people to shop at a certain place or use a particular service, as they will feel they have a ‘better deal’ than at others.
Loyalty cards
These are great for employers, as they can see when they have returning customers or new customers. They can offer a reward for those who return often, by introducing offers like ‘get your tenth coffee free’ or, ‘half price haircut after your fifth appointment’.
Loyalty cards are most often made of printed card, and the business or organisation will stamp this when a product is bought or a service used. The number of the stamps then usually add up to a certain reward.
Membership cards
These are usually made of plastic and are similar to identity cards. They can store information, such as the holder’s membership package, name, contact details and date of renewal. They can also be printed with photographic ID on the card, as well as having barcodes, microchips or magnetic stripes to automatically scan and send over the information.
