4 reasons why your business should offer loyalty cards
Loyalty card programs are a great way to keep your customers loyal. With competition on the rise, it is becoming more and more difficult to get new loyal customers.
That is why looking after your current customers is so important!
Loyal customers receive deals, perks and discounts for signing up for a loyalty card. As a result, creating a good incentive to keep them coming back.
In return, your business receives valuable information about what they purchase. Building a better understanding of your customer's needs and wants. Allowing you to better sell to them. Therefore, building better relationships with them.
Loyalty cards are usually presented as plastic cards, key tags or key fobs. Depending on what your business is looking for, we will be able to help.
Examples of loyalty card programs
South Africa has many loyalty programs available to choose from and they are all very unique.
The most well-known programs include:
- Woolworths WRewards
- Pick n Pay Smart Shopper
- Checkers Xtra Savings
- Clicks ClubCard
- Dischem benefit
- FNB eBucks
- Macro MCard
- SPUR Family Card
There is a loyalty card for everything. Stats show that every South African has signed up for at least 5 to 6 loyalty programs in their life.
Clearly, South African's love loyalty cards and we are big on saving.
Examples of loyalty cards that we have done:
SPAR Rewards key tag card
SPAR Rewards sends customers monthly electronic product points on specific products that they have specials on.
When purchasing and swiping their card at the till customers can redeem these points and save.
If customers forget their card at the shop, Spar is still able to reach the customer's information by using a cell phone number on their database. Therefore, making it very convenient for when customers forget their belongings.
All customers need is a key tag or cellphone number to sign up online or in-store.
The key tag is a great attachment for keys. Therefore, making it easy to remember and not have to recite their cell phone number every time they forget their card.
The Sharks cashback program
By signing up to be a Member of THE SHARKS Cashback Program, customers will receive up to 5% Cashback with every purchase.
Customers will also get great deals. The more they purchase the more points they accumulate and the more deals they receive.
Additionally, for every purchase they make, 1% of those profits will go towards supporting The Shark's rugby team without any additional costs. I mean who wouldn't want to get behind the sharks and support this initiative?
Customers are able to purchase at over 150 000 stores worldwide. Providing a huge selection of stores for everyone's taste.
Therefore, ensuring that customers always get something out when shopping with The Sharks cashback program.
Now that you understand a bit more about what these loyalty programs entail. Let's speak about why your business should offer loyalty to your customers.
Benefits of the loyalty card
1. Repeat customers
Gaining a new customer is five times more expensive than keeping existing customers.
Existing customers are very valuable. You have already done all the work to earn their trust. Now all you need to do is give them what they want. Providing them discounts and perks for being loyal to your brand.
A happy, satisfied and loyal customer will continue to buy from you, spend more than others and give you valuable information about their needs and wants.
Therefore, existing customers are crucial for business success.
2. Boost your brand
Brand awareness is a very powerful tool for consumer purchase decisions. Customers are likely to stick with a brand they know and trust.
Building a good brand is vital for forming good relationships with your customers.
Businesses should never underestimate the power of referrals. Customers talk to their friends and family when they receive a great discount or cashback from your loyalty program.
Therefore, increasing brand awareness for you and growing your audience.
3. Gathering important data
When customers sign up for your loyalty program you can gather rich information about them.
This helps to understand a bit more about your consumers buying trends, preferences and habits.
This data will help you come up with better marketing ideas specific to certain customers. Therefore, enabling you to create a more personal experience for your customers.
4. Build emotional connections
Providing rewards, discounts, coupons and extra incentives the more customers purchase with you is a great way to make them feel appreciated and satisfied with your company.
Creating personal experiences creates a deeper connection and ensures that your customers feel that you care about them. This makes your customers feel loyal to your store, ensuring that they keep coming back.
The future of the loyalty card
A lot of businesses are switching to mobile apps and technology to better engage with their customers.
This will become a huge transition. Especially during the pandemic when people avoid touching surfaces and protecting themselves.
But for now, South Africa is different.
Truth and BrandMapp state that they expected to see a shift in consumer preferences towards using an app for loyalty program identification but, still, 73% of South Africans prefer to use a loyalty card.
Twenty-five per cent of the responders prefer using a cellphone number and scanning an app is still not as favoured as swiping a card, with only 23% of respondents indicating this.
Unless a consumer is a very frequent shopper, they won’t invest the effort to download a retailer’s loyalty app; and those that downloaded several apps are reaching the point of app fatigue.
Stats show that having 5 to 6 loyalty apps creates an overwhelming experience for consumers. There are too many apps and it clogs up peoples phone storage.
Therefore, South Africans prefer the physical touch of a card and the ability to see it in their wallet every time they purchase a product.
Cards are not dead, if anything they are on the rise in South African loyalty programs.
Conclusion
While attracting new customers is an important part of growing your brand, it is even more important to keep current customers.
Through incentives, you can grow your revenue higher than ever before.
So what do you think? Seems like your business needs to offer loyalty.
