One of the biggest challenges faced by business owners today is how to retain customer loyalty in the face of rising prices and business costs. A very effective method of ensuring a customer will return to your business is by issuing membership cards.
A membership card is a type of loyalty program designed to give the consumer a benefit for continuing to use your services, or make purchases with your business. Some of the most popular loyalty programs around the country come in the form of membership cards that offer discounts at certain grocery stores.
While loyalty cards are common for businesses such as grocery stores and gyms, they can be applied to virtually any business that offers a service of some sort. For example, car wash loyalty programs may provide every 6th wash free. Subway restaurants provide a free six-inch sub once a member’s card has been punched a certain amount of times.
The benefits of offering a loyalty program are many, with most of them psychological as a means to keep your business in the mind of your consumer.
- Most consumers who participate in a loyalty program are more likely to use that service
- Offering your service for free after so many visits is a reward tactic many consumers love
- Offering a discount on items within your business for loyal members is another valid tactic
- Loyalty programs allow you to compete against larger chains more effectively
- Gift cards introduce new customers to your wares and services
How Much Does Starting A Membership Program Cost?
One of the many concerns of business owners is that the bottom line of printing these membership cards for those interested will cost more than the net gain. The reality of the situation is that purchasing a card printer to use in-house can be a very viable business expense. Since your customers are more likely to return to the store with your membership program in place, your business will likely expand. Membership programs are not the only things these devices can do, either. ID card printers can also:
- Print ID cards for employees
- Print gift cards for purchase
As you can see, there are many practical uses to having one of these machines in-house. Outsourced printing can be expensive and the product may not be exactly what you expect. With in-house printing, you can print various types of cards as you need them with no worries about ever running out since they’re all done in-house. If you ever decide to change the design of your cards, or the terms of your membership program, you can do so without worrying about making sure a third-party company will get all of the new details correct.
Steve Stoltz is a sales representative at CardPrinter.com, an ID Card Printer retailer that sells a variety of high quality, all-in-one membership card printing packages designed to serve the needs of companies both big and small.
