Studies show that loyalty cards are a vital tool to improve profitability and one of the most cost effective ways to build brand loyalty and improve customer retention.
But it is important that any scheme introduced is as simple as possible.
If you asked your customers what they would like to see from loyalty cards, some of the top rated responses would be that they need to be simple, easy to understand, quick to use, and offer great value for money.
To keep it simple, consider laying out a small area for your customers to conveniently sign up to loyalty cards. Think carefully about the location – how many people do you know that like being asked to fill in the details when they pay for their goods at the till? This is poor timing because at that stage, they are ready to leave.
Get your sales assistants that float around the store to make friendly, helpful approaches to your customers whilst they look around the shop. Get them to explain the scheme and the discounts and benefits that the customer would enjoy as a member of your loyalty card scheme.
If this approach is managed effectively, you will see more members joining your scheme which will, in turn, give you more data on your customers to help you identify purchasing trends.
Many businesses in the UK have, in recent years, significantly expanded their IT networks including extending their physical network boundaries and increasing mobile, remote, wireless and VoIP use.
With this growth set to continue as technology advances and business needs demand it, there is a good chance that the risks from unauthorised access to core networks, both from inside and outside the network are likely to increase.
Coupling this with the advent of growth areas such as shared services across business communities, intranet and internet access, these combinations can be extremely difficult for businesses to assure adequate security.
The BERR 2008 Information Security Breaches Survey, reported that businesses are still very reliant on user IDs and passwords to check the identity of users attempting to access their networks. Yet the number of companies with no authentication at all has actually gone up over the last two years.
Remote and mobile computing creates significant risks with regards to access control. And enabling remote access undoubtedly opens up potential for unauthorised access to core networks.
It is therefore even more important that even though your current security of access controls may be working and you have not yet identified any breaches, you do not sit back on your laurels.
Keep abreast of technological advancements and take the time to listen to your specialist supplier of your current ID Pass and Access Control system if they contact you to discuss enhancements.
If you are in a business where you rely heavily on repeat custom, you are undoubtedly looking to find ways to get those customers coming back time after time.
In the current financial climate, loyalty cards are proving extremely popular with more and more customers. People are digging them out of the kitchen drawers and starting to claim benefits that they have earned in the past.
If your business hasn’t yet moved into the loyalty card scheme market, then you may be missing out on an excellent opportunity.
If you take the time to analyse your turnover, you may have noticed a few trends such as a regular drop in income on particular days in the week or month.
It is worth considering introducing loyalty cards or enhancing an existing arrangement to improve revenue on the quieter days. You could consider double points on purchases on those days or a free cup of coffee with any other item purchased.
The cost to the business is likely to be minimal in such examples but you could enhance the offer to whatever suits you. The key is to just get people into your premises and then let your staff do the rest.
Ensure your staff are fully motivated to up-sell and you could find some significant benefits.
As part of an integrated solution, it serves little purpose enhancing security in and around your premises unless your have the infrastructure and equipment capable of maintaining it.
Datacard are one of the world leaders in providing equipment for the production of plastic and printed security cards.
Taking the Datacard SP75 Plus card printers as an example, they are ideal for your card printing needs. They can quickly print contactless smart cards, the more standard contact smart cards, proximity cards, smartcards for access control to IT kit, general access control cards and ID cards with ISO magnetic strips and bar codes.
Designed to protect people, facilities and critical assets, the Datacard SP75 Plus card printers are engineered to produce highly secure IDs and can be used by government agencies, high-tech businesses, universities and other security-minded organisations.
The SP75 Plus card printers offer virtual edge-to-edge laminating across 95% of the card, extending card life and providing that little bit of extra security when defending against tampering.
The SP75 Plus card printers deliver consistency and reliability with a higher duty cycle and with moving parts kept to a minimum. They even offer the facility to laminate cards printed by other printers.
A versatile piece of kit which would undoubtedly, become a valued asset.
Ever struggled to find that loyalty or discount card in your purse or wallet?
Ever got to the till only to find that you have left them in the car or at home?
It’s an easy mistake to make and can be infuriating if you have spent a large amount of money and not seen the rewards.
It would make life a lot easier if all of our loyalty cards could be recorded on just one card but this may not become possible for a good few years yet.
As a simple alternative, why not punch a hole in your cards and attach them to lanyards or even a simple treasury tag? By doing this, you will always ensure that you have all of the relevant cards with you.
Of course there is the risk that if you forget one, you forget them all. But this is not the case if you attach the lanyard to your handbag.
In doing this, you have created the perfect solution to the problem of forgetting your discount or loyalty card. You can be sure that you will always have them with you, so with handy lanyards, you never need to worry about losing out on any discounts again.
Portable hard drives are a popular, low value gift and whatever you want to call these tiny storage systems, they are versatile, very easy to carry around and take up little space in a pocket or handbag.
However they can be easy to lose and with so much information being stored on them, that loss could prove extremely costly. The size of the data sticks works against you when it is lost and there is little chance of finding it again if it is lost in a public place. That’s where personalising your portable hard drive and a lanyard comes in.
Many stores sell personalised portable drives nowadays so all you have to do is choose a different colour and get your name put on it and then attach it to a lanyard so you can carry it around with you without the worry of losing it.
Just like the drive itself, lanyards come in a variety of colours, materials and styles – more than enough to satisfy most people’s tastes and preferences. If you can’t find one that looks the part and suits your needs, get yourself a custom printed version to look cool.
Anyone with sensitive information stored on their computers should ensure that access is restricted to such areas and security checks are completed regularly.
You may have read recently that one of Glasgow’s City Council workers was dismissed and another resigned before he could be fired after they were caught snooping in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information Systems (CIS) database.
The database forms one of the keystones of the government’s identity card scheme, containing over 50 million records with details of individuals National Insurance numbers, benefit history, dates of birth etc.
The Government offices who have access to this system have undertaken random and selective targeting of individuals accessing this system to verify that there is a genuine reason for them to be accessing this sort of information.
Using encrypted plastic cards known as smartcards to control access to your business’ computer systems enables you to monitor and record who accesses what and when it is accessed. With the potential financial impact that your business which could incur in the event of a security breach and you could find yourself regretting not putting such access controls in place.
Customers and employees alike are sensitive about their personal information being accessed and divulged without permission. If they feel a business cannot be trusted with their information, customers will do business elsewhere so they can be sure that their information is protected.
Loyalty schemes continue to be extremely popular and customers are always keeping an eye out for a great deal.
Every loyalty scheme can have its own signature which makes it different from the rest and each business is looking to get their loyalty card to stand out from the crowd to catch those elusive extra customers and attract more revenue.
Firstly, there is the more obvious route of offering more points for the same spending. Companies such as Tesco exploit this initiative to great effect. Partnerships with other key businesses such as utility companies and their other business streams such as insurance increases the attraction further which has been seen with Sainsbury’s Nectar card.
The basis of the scheme should remain simple and easy for customers to understand, namely that for each £1 spent, customers can expect to earn at least one point which is converted into vouchers and issued on a quarterly basis which can then be spent purchasing products in store or with a number of other business partners.
This simple, measurable, easy to understand scheme which is equally straightforward, is probably one of the key factors in ensuring that loyalty schemes remain popular in the UK.
The tickets which are to be issued for events such as the London 2012 Olympics could possibly be contactless payment cards as well as for travel and to be used as an identity card.
According to silicon.com, research into the feasibility of such a system is being carried out by the UK’s Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. Silicom.com reports that the recommendations on the feasibility of such a scheme are to be given to the House of Commons Library sometime next month.
Such facilities are already available to businesses whereby the ID cards are also used to control access to a building and in some businesses; employees are able to deposit money onto their card which can be used to purchase food in the canteen.
When you are looking to attract new employees to your business, this card could also be used to show the amount of discount offered to with both the employer and any business partners that you have set a discount arrangement up with for your employees.
Of more significance is the fact that providing all services on a single card can possibly offer significant financial saving for the business as well, especially if you are a large company with a vast amount of employees.
