Today I went into town, nothing unusual, I’m sure most of you do it weekly. I had my hair cut, bought some make up, a couple of new items of clothes, collected a pre order pair of shoes. All very ordinary (girlie) things.
I picked up no less than EIGHT vouchers and loyalty cards. Some of them just handed to me as part of my set of receipts, others given to me because it was my first visit. I was offered at least two more that I declined because it would “only take a few minutes” to sign up. Here are the ones I was given:
All of them are designed to encourage repeat purchases but more importantly ALL of them I have to carry with me in my wallet, which is premium real estate. It’s got my bank cards, my money and a few key receipts that I cannot dispose of (and lots that I should). How many of you are carrying a wallet like this?
Aside from the mess, do you see any space in there for all of these vouchers and reward cards? Nope, neither do I. I’d never find them for a start, and it’s why I don’t carry a Boots advantage card (which I was also offered today). I know I have one somewhere and I would have earned at least 200 points today. (Let’s not tell my husband what I spent though to earn that). I don’t carry a nectar card or any of the points earning store cards either, I just don’t have the space. I love getting rewards though!
Fate of the vouchers
You know what’s going to happen to at least half of these? I won’t use them, they’ll end up in the bin, down the back of the sofa or floating around in my car. When I find them, they’ll have expired. I’ll be frustrated when I go to buy something and later find the voucher that could have saved me money. One of them isn’t even a card; it’s interesting, I might use it. But where am I going to keep a coffee cup holder until I go next? It’s not going to fit in my wallet.
So, two of these retailers know my name and have some details about me because I associate my reward card with my purchases. The others know only that I made a purchase. There will be no record that I personally have redeemed the vouchers (if I use them) because they are just bits of paper handed out.
Cost
One of the cards is a two part snap off card, one part for my wallet, the other for my keys with a handy hole for the keyring…sorry that spot is reserved for my Tesco club card. It costs anything from 19p to £1.99 per card to get those created, and that’s just the printing, not the design.
For a non-snap-off standard card, you’re looking at around 7p per card for a run of 20,000 or 75p per card for a short run of 100. Still quite pricey, especially for a small business.
So, maybe you compromise and go for a paper based voucher or loyalty card – the costs come down, but so does the quality.
Don’t forget you’ll also need a designer to create your artwork, and you’ll need to find some way of redeeming the vouchers.
Affordable digital rewards
You may think that loyalty cards and vouchers are out of reach, especially if you are a small company on a budget.
Not so. We have a solution that can provide you with professional branded digital vouchers, tickets or loyalty cards and what’s more, no one needs to “remember to carry” anything in their already stuffed wallet. All our cards are digital and are delivered by text message. Your card is on your customers’ phone, you have their number and you can remind them to use it, along with other useful messages throughout the year. Who goes anywhere without their mobile?
The “card” comes in 3 formats.
- A standard text message with a code, and a link to…
- A mobile-optimised web page with a barcode, and a download for…
- Apple Wallet (Also available on Android devices)
You ‘stamp’ your customers’ loyalty cards or redeem a voucher by scanning it in our free companion app, or via Messenger, and in some cases you can scan directly in your till (speak to us about integration). This then records the number of times it has been used – and you can send your customers texts to encourage them to purchase and earn their reward.
And the cost?
The cost of all this is only the text message to deliver the initial message to the handset, from as little as 2.4p.
You either collect your customer’s phone numbers manually, or get your customers to request their loyalty card via a keyword on a short code or a long number. The cost to them? One standard network rate message, which is often included with their text message bundles.
Let’s compare the cost:
| Solution | Design | Cost | Turnaround Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 paper or plastic cards @ £1 each (approx.) | £75 (approx.) | £175.00 | Weeks |
| 1 Keyword @ £25 per month Sending 100 text messages from 2.4p each |
N/A | £27.40 | Minutes |
You can see the cost benefit immediately, so what else do you get?
The power of your data
The very best part of going digital is that you now have data to work with.
Now you can do the following:
- Know who has redeemed their card – these are your loyal customers!
- Remind those who haven’t redeemed to use it
- Update the pass with up-to-date information automatically, no need for customers to re-download
- Send surveys to your customers get their feedback on your products and offers
Send additional offers, notifications and other marketing messages to an engaged audience.
What next?
Get in touch, we will happily help you set all of this up.
