Gift Card Software, Loyalty Programs with PatronPal Software

PatronPal lets you design loyalty programs that have a positive impact on your bottom line. A loyalty card is used to store points that a customer receives for a purchase or visit. The customer can then redeem the points for a “reward” of goods or services. Studies have shown that it is easier to increase the sales of existing customers than to attract new ones. Loyalty programs help you attract and retain customers, provide valuable marketing opportunities, and influence consumer behavior.

With PatronPal, you can:

• Retain customers. Loyalty programs help you keep your customers by giving them value in return for their repeat business.
• Develop Prepaid Loyalty Programs. Sell your customers prepaid cards for redeeming your products or services. Reward their prepayment and loyalty by giving them an extra item, for example a free car wash with 10 paid car washes. This type of program is also called Stored Value Card technology. The prepayment is stored in a manner that is associated with the card.
• Generate frequent visits. The more often customers purchase from you, the faster they accumulate points toward a loyalty program reward.
• Increase product awareness. Loyalty rewards can be in the form of premium or specialty products that increase customer awareness of those products. For example, a coffee shop might offer a pastry as a reward, thereby promoting more non-beverage sales. Rather than reward loyalty with a product your customer already purchases, offer them a reward for something they may not always buy. For example a reward of $1.50 off a $4.50 blueberry muffin has the same value to the consumer as a cup of coffee yet generates a sale for you, while introducing the consumer to your other products. The cost of the reward is also effectively achieved through the lost profit on the additional sale – not a loss of a coffee sale.
• Target your marketing. Loyalty programs are a great way to track your customers’ buying habits. When you know your customers and their preferences, you can adjust your marketing plans accordingly.
• Build cost-effective programs. PatronPal has no transaction fees. This is critical for loyalty programs, as rewards must be cost-effective to be useful. It doesn’t make sense to pay a 25-cent transaction fee to award points for free coffee. PatronPal lets you focus your marketing dollars exclusively on customer rewards.

Types of loyalty programs include:

• The traditional Preferred Customer program, which offers discounts for all items in a category or predetermined items. The items are promoted throughout the store, and a discount is given at the point of sale to customers who present their loyalty card to the cashier. These programs are similar to traditional coupons, but they: 1) require less effort for both retailers and customers, 2) help track consumer buying patterns, and 3) provide instant gratification to the consumer. You may be implement a Preferred Customer program without the PatronPal software depending on you’re the goals of your initiative.
• The Points Based program, in which points are accumulated based on the dollar value of the customer's historical purchases. After a certain number of points are reached, the customer can choose to redeem points for a reward. The reward is determined by the retailer. Examples include free beverage, 5% off next purchase, etc. The customer may also choose to continue adding points to earn eligibility for a bigger reward. When a reward is redeemed, the customer's point balance is deducted accordingly and printed on the receipt for future reference. Usually, available rewards are communicated to the customer through traditional methods such as membership newsletters, advertising, reference cards, etc. To keep things simple, rewards are often separated into "Level 1," "Level 2, "Level 3" etc. with multiple rewards of similar value available within each reward category. This type of Loyalty Program is where PatronPal really excels.
• A third type of program provides Point of Sale Incentives through a combination of analyzing the customer's past purchase activity and the customer's most recent purchase. For example, if the customer is buying a particular stock keeping unit (SKU), the transaction system could offer an incentive on the customer's receipt to buy an associated item at a discount. The cashier or sales representative may also have the flexibility to "push" a particular incentive to the customer based on a discussion and an anticipation of a future sale. This type of loyalty program requires integration at the point of sale, see our PatronWorks POS program for more information. 
  
  

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Loyalty Sales Assumptions