How many loyalty cards do your customers have in their wallets? 5? 10? Are they still aware of the fact that they are already collecting stamps or points in your shop and thus get discounts? To make it easier for your customers to access the loyalty card, you should think about a digital loyalty card. With this you offer your customers a simple possibility to use shopping advantages in your shop and consequently increase customer loyalty.
What is a digital loyalty card?
Loyalty cards are issued by companies to strengthen their customer loyalty. They are a marketing tool that on the one hand grants customers special offers and on the other hand gives companies the opportunity to better understand customer behavior through data analysis. Customers ought to be motivated to repeat purchases through discounts to ultimately become regular customers.
While in the past classic loyalty cards were issued in the form of a stamp card made of paper or a bonus card made of plastic, there is now another alternative: digital loyalty cards. Sie werden bereits von vielen Einzelhändlern und großen Ketten genutzt und können einfach über die Smartphones von Kund*innen abgerufen und eingesetzt werden. So haben Kund*innen ihre Treuekarte immer parat und Unternehmen können über das Smartphone mit Kund*innen interagieren. Hinterlegt werden können digitale Treuekarten z.B. im Wallet, in einer App oder über den digitalen Kassenbon.
The end of the loyalty card clutter
The digital loyalty card has several advantages compared to the classic loyalty card. Here is a list of the most important:
- All loyalty cards are deposited in one place without taking up any space
- Resources (paper from stamp cards or plastic cards) are saved
- It cannot be misplaced or lost
- Merchants have a simple overview of:
- how many rewards are due
- how many of your customers haven’t visited you in a long time
Modern, simple and always at hand
1. Direct connection to customers and thus more personal relationships.
2. A more targeted selection of discounts or vouchers is possible for smaller shops.
3. Increase in sales from customers who use a digital stamp card.
4. 91% customers are more likely to shop at stores that reward them.
5. Customers don’t have to carry a separate loyalty card in their wallet for every small shop.
Individual loyalty cards vs. multi-partner bonus programs
Stiftung Warentest describes loyalty cards from “shops around the corner” as the best implementation of the loyalty card concept. For one thing, this is due to the fact that stamp-based vouchers like “every 10th coffee for free” usually grant customers a greater overall discount than “3% discount on every purchase”. Apart from that, a digital loyalty card from a small shop is usually more anonymous than Payback & Co. and does not require registration. Customers have to reveal less data (address, age, gender, …) that could be used to create detailed buyer profiles. In addition, multi-partner bonus programs are only worthwhile if customers spend large sums of money in the shops in a relatively short period of time. There is usually both a minimum number of points that are required to redeem the points and an expiry date after which the points can no longer be cashed in.
Digital loyalty card via the smart receipt by refive
With refive you have the opportunity to offer a digital loyalty card integrated in the digital receipt. You or your customers do not need an app or anything else. As soon as they scan your digital receipt, all they have to do is enter their email address and they can then immediately receive a digital stamp or collect for a target value. In addition, your staff does not need to point out the loyalty card to customers every time they make a purchase, as it is automatically displayed on the digital receipt. In contrast to loyalty programs such as Payback, we offer an uncomplicated and data protection-friendly solution for digital loyalty cards that specifically uses the smartphone as an interaction channel with customers. So it’s basically a win-win situation for you and your customers!
