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The Importance of Gift Card and Loyalty Programs

You’ve looked at your numbers and decided you need to do something to increase revenue and drive more business. Your first thought is probably something like, how do I reach out to more new customers? Before you go down that path, you may want to consider a gift card or loyalty card program.

Gift cards and loyalty cards can be a huge asset and accomplish exactly what you’re setting out to do, all while being a substantially less costly tactic compared to how expensive new customer acquisition can be. Gift cards have the ability to increase revenue and drive return visits to your location. Additionally, they provide up-front cash and reduce the potential for credit card fraud while loyalty cards can do exactly as their name implies – create stronger brand loyalty.

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Drive More Business

Unlike coupons or special offers, gift cards are viewed as more valuable to your customers. Plus, gift cards are proven to encourage visitors to spend more than the value of the card. According to a recent study, shoppers using a gift card spend just over $50 more than the card value on average.

Additionally, gift card revenue is increased revenue at the time of sale. This strategy is one of the few that will consistently increase your per transaction dollar amount when your employees actively encourage customers to purchase.

Increase Buying Behavior

There are a couple ways that a gift card program can actually motivate and increase buying behavior. One is through brand awareness. As their namesake implies, gift cards have the potential to introduce new customers to your brand. Any chance to build upon your current customer base is one worth taking, especially with such minimal effort.

Secondly, gift cards can be tied together with a loyalty program. Research has proven time and time again that new customer acquisition is an expensive endeavor. Your marketing dollars are more well spent in grooming your existing customers and encouraging repeat business, which gift cards and incentive-based loyalty programs do.

Competitive Advantage

It’s actually surprising how many companies still don’t offer a gift card program, so adding this tactic to your tool belt can easily put you at an advantage over a competitor. On top of that, offering a loyalty program can be the enticement needed to keep a customer returning to you for their needs versus trying out the competition.

Build Customer Loyalty

Your most loyal customers are also the ones that tend to spend the most with your business. They have a higher per transaction dollar amount. By building a loyalty program into your strategy, you can even better leverage these types of customers while also creating opportunity to build stronger loyalty with other customers as well.

Loyalty programs allow you to identify your most loyal customers by capturing their demographic and contact information.

Once a customer is in the system, you get line of sight into their spending habits, which can be used to create custom offers catered to that particular individual. You can also motivate them to spend more by reviewing their transaction history and offering promotions based on past purchasing behavior. And of course, you can reward your most loyal customers by offering them points for purchases, freebies and special offers.

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Partnering with Valutec

One of the reasons we’ve partnered with Valutec for this service is because their program is extremely easy to use. You’ll also have access to Valutec’s exceptional, 24/7 customer support, which means they’re available whenever you need assistance selling or redeeming gift and loyalty cards.

It doesn’t matter if you’re familiar with other gift card program providers or you’re rolling out a program for the first time. They have answers to questions before you even know to ask them. Valutec can help with card design, card processing and card merchandising.

Also, through their main data center, gift cards and loyalty cards can easily be activated, redeemed and reloaded.

On the technical side, they are also known for data reliability. A reliable, trusted source of data for your gift card program is crucial. Without it, you would have no way of seeing how the program is affecting your bottom line or opportunities for growth. Their data center offers data processing, information storage and data retrieval. In the end, your gift card program needs to be dependable and efficient. With Valutec, you can rest easy knowing that card values and customer data are being handled with care.

Reporting is the Key to a Successful Program

Reporting is vital to the success of your program, and this solution offers powerful, detailed reporting options right through your POS system or online. With these types of reports, you’ll be able to analyze buying behavior and trends, allowing you a much clearer view of what types of offers and incentives are working. This analysis can then be used to optimize your program even further.

Additionally, you will receive daily batch reports with a list of transactions in chronological order. This information is password protected and secure, providing you with access to monthly statements, transactional details and an overview of billed fees.

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We’ll work with you to find a gift card or loyalty solution that fits the needs of your business.

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