It’s time to scrap your paper loyalty cards
You may have caught our previous blog post, ‘the case for wallet passes’, where we discuss the huge opportunity for hospitality businesses to engage their audience through mobile wallet passes.
If you missed it, here are the headlines:
Mobile wallet passes like Apple Wallet and Google Pay are very under-utilised by the hospitality industry
Sugar Snap rolled out two campaigns that utilise mobile wallet pass technology to offer student perks and a club membership for ORTO Pizzabars and TRIBAL
Customers activate the pass on their phone, which is stored permanently in their mobile wallet, and receive notifications for deals based on business objectives and geo-location
The campaigns have yielded significant results, including increased customer spend, valuable data collection, and meeting business objectives.
Recently, French Village (a Belfast-based bakery with multiple locations) asked us to replace their paper coffee loyalty stamp cards. They’d seen a lot of success with their loyalty scheme, but customers often forgot or misplaced cards, and the system can be abused very easily.
We delivered a seamless solution, combining the best features of wallet pass technology from our previous blog with the full functionality of a loyalty card.
Now, depending on the specific business objective, we’re delighted to be able to offer our clients:
A digital membership card
A digital stamp card
A digital points card
So, what’s the difference between each of these, and which one suits your business? Let’s break down each option.
Membership Card
A membership card is a type of pass that provides customers with exclusive benefits, such as discounts on certain days of the week. Customers present their membership card at payment to receive the benefits. For instance, ORTO Pizzabars uses their membership card for students — the ORTO Student Pass. Students activate the card in the phone wallet, and receive monthly deals. Right now, it’s a free filter coffee when you buy a breakfast croissant.
Points Card
This allows customers to earn points for each purchase they make. Once they reach a certain number of points, they can redeem them for discounts or free items. This pass is perfect for businesses that want to encourage repeat business and reward loyal customers. For example, a fast food chain could offer a loyalty program that rewards customers with a discount when they accumulate a certain number of points. Think of your Tesco Clubcard, but for hospitality!
Stamp Card
A digital stamp card is similar to a points card, but with a simplified process. The customer gets a stamp with each purchase they make, and when they hit the ‘magic number’ of stamps, can redeem them for a free item. This is what French Village now uses. It’s a like-for-like system to the paper stamp cards, but enables greater data utilisation.
As a dedicated hospitality marketing team, we’re always keen to hear from owners and operators in the industry who are interested in creative solutions. If you’re interested in finding out more about what we do, let’s chat.