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Are Loyalty Cards Effective? How a Loyalty Program Works

How do you convert a new customer into a returning customer? Loyalty cards are an effective way to encourage new and current customers to return to your business more often. By nature, people are goal-driven, and rewards programs help your customers feel like every purchase counts. Here is how you can successfully launch a new loyalty program and watch your sales and client base grow.

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Loyalty Cards: Keeping Alaskan Customers Loyal to Your Brand

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a business owner is spending all your time and resources on bringing in new customers instead of strengthening relationships with your current clientele. It can cost you five times more in expenses to acquire new customers than It does to retain an existing customer. A good business model doesn’t just look at how much revenue comes in each month but how much recurring revenue you can depend on.

Repeat customers are often easier to sell to than new customers. If someone has already purchased something from you before, they already have experienced your product or service. If they had a positive experience in the past, they know they can expect the same enjoyable experience again.

When selling a product or service, you need to put in the effort to keep your customers coming into your doors instead of your competitors. You do this by increasing brand loyalty. While offering a high-quality product is one reason customers choose to shop with you, they’re also drawn to other aspects of your business. The cleanliness of your shop, the cost of your items, the friendliness of your staff, and the values you stand for can affect whether someone returns to your business. And the promise of a good deal is one effective way to get your customers to come back for more.

What Are Loyalty Cards?

Loyalty cards are a smart way to reward people for purchasing something from you. This type of rewards program offers customers discounts for making multiple purchases. This can look like an old-fashioned punch card or a plastic card that looks like a gift card and can be scanned and tracked through a digital app.

Modern loyalty cards are processed through your POS system and are personalized to each customer who signs up for one. Clients often need to provide some personal information, like their name and a phone number, which is used to track purchases, send reminders, and get the word out about new promotions.

How To Set Up Your Loyalty Program for Success

While loyalty cards are pretty self-explanatory, they can become a hassle or even harm customer loyalty if you don’t keep a few considerations in mind.

First off, loyalty cards have the potential to slow down your service times if customers are constantly searching their wallets for their cards during checkout. To help combat this, choose a card design that is eye-catching and bright so that it’s hard to misplace. It also helps to give customers an alternative if they can’t find their card, like entering a phone number or scanning an app on their phone.

Your loyalty program can also begin to annoy customers if they receive too many notifications or promotions. Try to keep the number of promotions you send out to a minimum, and make sure customers know how to opt-out of notifications if they want to. The last thing you want is to come off as spammy, which will just frustrate clients and cause them to avoid your business completely.

Start Your Loyalty Program With Clover

At Cornerstone Credit Services, we can help your Alaskan business start a loyalty program with Clover POS. The Clover system makes implementing loyalty cards easy, allowing you to create a personalized program that aligns with your brand. You can easily create custom offers, sign up customers at the counter, automatically reward points, and redeem rewards at checkout.

Ready to boost your revenue with Clover POS? Contact CCS Payment Solutions to learn more.