|
Gift and loyalty card programs are designed with one goal in mind: To attract more customers who will spend more money at your store!
Gift and loyalty card programs almost guarantee an additional visit to your establishment. The reason why most businesses implement a gift and loyalty card program is because most consumers tend to spend more than the value of their card. Loyalty programs are an excellent opportunity for your business to reward and reinforce repeat visits and personal referrals from your customers.
So what exactly is a gift card?
Gift cards are plastic cards that have replaced the labor-intensive paper gift certificates of the past. Gift cards are loaded with a specific dollar amount using a credit card terminal, are paid for in advance, and are used as cash for future purchases with the issuing company. Since gift cards are generally given as gifts, they are terrific for increasing your customer base. American Express estimates that gift card balances will surpass $1 billion in the next few years.
Most gift cards are issued in set dollar amounts, such as $10, $20, $50, or $100. Gift cards are generally customized with your business logo. Many businesses are now using gift cards for returned merchandise. Instead of giving cash or bankcard credits, using gift cards allows you to keep more cash in your register. You also retain more cash because a significant percentage of gift card balances are used over long periods of time or abandoned altogether, due to loss.
What is a Loyalty Card?
Like gift cards, loyalty cards are plastic or even paper cards with special incentives to motivate your customers to reuse them and visit you again and again. Loyalty cards help you to track customer visits or purchases and make it easy for you to reward your loyal customers. Most loyalty programs use a point system to track data like number of visits, purchase amounts and special dates or customer referrals. Accumulated points are then redeemed for free items, discounts, dollar-off coupons or special offers.
Gift card and loyalty card programs give your business added exposure and credibility. They also boost profitability, since customers pay full price more often, make bigger purchases and spend more than the original card value, by as much as 65% on average.
|
