In the modern environment where everyone is trying to save money, many people are looking for ways to help drive down their costs while still providing a great service to their clients – and in this environment the idea of a membership card has really come to the forefront. Although store cards have been around for a while, when times get tough it’s money-saving ideas like this which become really popular and as such the current climate has really highlighted how important they can be.
Regardless of whether you are offering your customers 50% off or 5% off, in the current economic climate anything is better than nothing and as such you may find that store cards can be the perfect way to offer your clients just that little bit extra to put your company ahead of your competitors.
What is a store card?
A store card is essentially a membership card to a certain store which offers you discounts and member’s benefits with the aim of encouraging repeat service and encouraging your clients to continue to shop at your store rather than with your competitors.
A store card can operate in a number of different ways, but one of the most popular ways is to offer a rewards points system which allows you to accumulate points for every spend that you make and then offer you a way to redeem these points, either as cash back, or for items from the store once you have collected enough points.
Another way to operate an effective store card system is by offering money off or members-only discounts. This can include heavy discounts on certain items only to your members, which encourages people to sign-up to your mailing list and therefore receive marketing and promotional materials in regards to your items.
What are some key features of a store card?
Store cards can offer a number of benefits to businesses and customers, some of these include:
- Increased customer retention for businesses
- The ability for customers to collate points for items they would already be buying
- The ability to claim cash back and discounts on items
- The ability to collate customer information for promotional mailings.
