How & Why Customer Punch Cards Increase Loyalty to Your Brand

Think of your favorite store. After you’d done business with them a few times, did they offer some sort of discount or reward? Most businesses do something like this for their repeat customers, and rewards are typically offered through customer loyalty programs.

Brands create theseloyalty programsto show customers that they’re thankful for their repeat business and to encourage repeat visits as a means to receive free items. Many loyalty programs use a tiered-based system, where customers are offered various rewards based on how much they spend.

Although they’re not as common, punch cards are a type of loyalty program that businesses can use. While it may not seem like it, these simple cards can go a long way in terms of creating and retaining loyal customers. In this post, we’ll explain what punch cards are, give examples, and discuss how and why they increase loyalty to your brand.

For both types of cards, customers typically receive rewards after a certain number of purchases. With physical cards, a hole is punched through an icon. Once all icons are stamped, the customer gets their reward. With digital cards, customers typically scan a personal code, and an algorithm tallies purchases until they reach the reward threshold. After punch cards are filled out, customers usually get a new one and start the process again.

奖励是特定于业务的，您可以自定义卡以满足您的需求。例如，如果您是三明治商店，则可以为客户提供带有十个三明治图标的名片。在所有十个三明治都被盖章后，顾客从下一个三明治中获得了五美元。但是，重要的是要注意，您提供的奖励应该对客户有价值，并与您已经出售的产品和服务有关。

For additional context, let’s go over some real-life examples of punch cards from businesses you may be familiar with.

Customer Punch Card Examples

Although they may not call them punch cards, many businesses use this model to create their loyalty programs.

Starbucks

星巴克,咖啡company, has a loyalty punch card program in their mobile application. When you visit the store and pay within the app or with your Starbucks card, you receive points. After reaching a certain amount, customers redeem them to make drink customizations or for free coffee and food items.

Goodwill

Goodwill is a nonprofit organization with thrift stores that sell second-hand items at low prices. Some stores offer physical punch cards, as shown in the image below, that can be stamped. Once fully stamped, a customer can redeem their card for a discount on their next purchase.

Flour

Flour is a bakery and cafe that offers a virtual punch card program. At every visit, customers can scan a personal QR code that makes a digital stamp on their loyalty card. After a certain number of purchases, customers receive rewards.

Below, we’ll explain how and why using punch cards can increase loyalty to your brand.

为什么打孔卡会提高客户对您品牌的忠诚度？

作为复习，customer loyalty是客户的意愿回到你的商业吗ness and make repeat purchases, usually because you provide them with exceptional experiences.

Given this definition, the straightforward answer to how punch cards increase loyalty is that customers are willing to make repeat purchases because you provide them with the exceptional experience of receiving rewards. There are additional reasons, though, that punch cards inspire loyalty, and we’ll discuss them below.

You’re keeping them engaged.

Customers that forget about your business aren’t going to be loyal because, well, they forget. A critical factor of customer loyalty is engagement, and punch cards keep engagement high because customers know they can get rewards from repeat interactions.

When customers get rewards, they recognize that engaging with your brand can benefit them, so they keep coming back to receive more rewards. Consumers are also more loyal to brands that provide them value, and rewards do exactly that.

You’re showing them you appreciate them.

Customers become loyal when they know you appreciate their business, and rewards are an easy way to show them that you do.

Instead of handing them a receipt and sending them on their way, you’re inviting them to come back again and showing them you appreciate that they come back by rewarding them. Rewards show them that you care, and showing them that you care inspires them to become loyal.

You’re creating an emotional connection.

Now, more than ever, customers make purchasing and loyalty decisions based on the emotional connections they can make with a brand. You can establish these connections by offering excellent customer service, valuable products and services, or repeat engagement from returning to fill out a punch card.

All of these elements work together to help you build a stronger relationship with your customers: the prospect of receiving a reward excites customers, so they’ll return until they can redeem their punch cards. Repeat visits allow them to get to know your business and vice versa, which creates an emotional connection. Emotional connections make loyal customers, and loyal customers will keep coming back.

Also, as these loyal customers make repeat purchases and receive rewards, you can learn from their buyer behavior and offer them even more personalized experiences that meet their needs — another form of inspiration for customer loyalty.

You’re giving them rewards for little additional effort.

Customers don’t want to feel like they’re embarking on a journey just to make a purchase; they want an intuitive process and quick solutions to their problems. Given this, minimal effort on behalf of the customer is a pillar of loyalty. Punch cards play into this, as they simply incentivize actions customers are already taking.

Essentially, customers don’t need to go out of their way or do anything extra to get a reward; they just keep doing what they’re already doing. Punch cards are low effort and convenient, but still provide value.

您可以这样想到：一个客户每周一次进入您的商店购买一片披萨。他们喜欢您的披萨，他们可能喜欢时不时获得免费切片的想法，因此他们可以拿一张打孔卡。打孔卡使他们可以通过做曾经做过的事情来获得免费的披萨；从您的商店购买一片比萨饼。他们不需要付出任何额外的努力来获得奖励；他们只是通过做自己已经做的事情来获得它。

Use Punch Cards to Leverage the Actions Your Customers Already Take

无论您是选择提供身体或创建虚拟系统，打孔卡都是培养客户忠诚度的宝贵工具。您将利用客户已经采取的行动，这是从您的业务中购买的，并给他们奖励以激发他们继续回来。