Offering loyalty cards is a win-win situation as it provides an opportunity to increase sales for your outlet by enticing customers to make repeat purchases. Targeted customer schemes like these are often seen as attractive since it presents a chance for your customers to receive exclusives and feel more valued by you.

Customers that are members of loyalty schemes generate between 12 and 18 percent more revenue than customers who are not members.[1]

 

Retaining customers

Interesting a new customer can cost five times as much as keeping an existing one,² so therefore, efforts are often best spent trying to retain the customers you already have, rather than finding new customers. Building customer loyalty can lead to long-term sources of revenue where a 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%!³

 

Customer satisfaction

Using a customer loyalty program is a great way to make your customers feel valued. When they receive benefits such as exclusive rewards, reward points and extra benefits customers can see the reward of their custom and importantly are more likely to return. 69% of consumers say choice of purchase is influenced by where they can earn customers loyalty/reward program points.⁴ This provides an incentive, as 92% of customers view cut prices and value as the number one reason for their loyalty. ⁵

Not only this, but customer satisfaction can lead to positive word of mouth promotion. More than half of loyal customers actively recommend places to go to for others. ⁶  Some of your most loyal customers may encourage their co-workers to eat in your outlet with them. This brings new customers to your outlet and can be a massive boost to your sales since 92% of consumers say that they trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising.⁷

 

Incentivising spending

Loyalty cards can also be used to shape the way your customers spend by incentivising the products that you would like your customers to purchase. Points-based loyalty schemes give more points for more customer spend to encourage customers to spend extra in order to gain later rewards. 66% of consumers report that they modify their own spending habits in order to maximise points ⁸ so take advantage of this with targeting food and drink you want to sell the most of.

 

Types of loyalty cards

There are different variety of loyalty cards your outlet can offer:

• Points can be used to reward customers for their spending, with the more they spend the more points they earn. This will help to encourage your customers to spend more to earn more points.
• Loyalty cards can also be offered where exclusive discounts can be redeemed through the card, making those customers feel appreciated and valued.
• Also, programs rewarding frequency of purchases can be used. Try offering a free coffee cards to encourage coffee drinkers to buy more coffee in order to redeem a free coffee.

To meet a variety of needs, a combination of these should be used, such as offering both points and discounts to incentivise your customers to visit more frequently.

---

[1] Accenture, 2017

² Lee Resources, 2010

³ Havard Business school, 2001

⁴ Maritz Loyalty Marketing, 2013

⁵ ICSC, 2017

⁶ Accenture, 2017

⁷ Nielsen, 2015

⁸ Modify Bond Brand Loyalty, 2016