2020 showed many small business owners the power of community. When lockdown kicked in and local shops, restaurants, and service providers could no longer open their doors to the community, loyal customers stepped up to support them and get small businesses through the trying months of 2020.
As a small business owner, you know how important loyal customers are—and the importance of building a community within your business. One of the easiest ways to show your customers how critical their support is—and incentivize them to keep shopping with you is through a gift and loyalty program. From increasing customer satisfaction to increasing profits, gift and loyalty programs are an easy, cost effective way to increase your revenue.
Retain Your Customers and Attract New Ones
Most local and independently owned businesses rely on repeat customers to keep their business thriving. Between loyal customers who shop consistently and happy patrons who promote your business through word of mouth, happy and loyal customers play a huge role in both maintaining and expanding your customer base. In fact, during the pandemic, 83% of business owners said that loyal customers were the key to keeping their business operating through lockdowns and closures.
Gift cards and loyalty programs are one of the easiest ways to incentivize your customers to keep doing business with you. Not only is a loyalty program crucial to keeping current clients happy— but it’s also a key tool in attracting new ones. Gift cards are one of the easiest gifts to give as well as an opportunity for patrons to share their favorite local business with friends and family. No matter the type of business you run, your customers will be excited by the possibility of earning loyalty points and being rewarded for supporting a business they already love. Gift and loyalty programs act as both a marketing program and an additional revenue stream by helping increase store traffic, build brand awareness, and enable digital functionality.
Give Your Customers More Ways to Shop
In today’s competitive business landscape, giving your customers more ways to shop is important to keeping them engaged with your business. By leveraging a forward-looking gift program, you’ll engage with customers the way they want—via mobile, online, social, and in-person. Your customers want to support your business—throughout the pandemic, consumers have continually shown up for small and independently owned businesses, finding innovative ways to support them even when traditional brick and mortar stores weren’t open. Gift cards give your customers a way to support your business even when it’s not operating as normal. For seasonal businesses, gift cards are a great way to keep your revenue streams open all year—not just during your peak season.
With a loyalty program that combines the physical and digital experience, you’ll stay relevant with consumers and help satisfy demand for current trends and the latest technologies—like a card-less rewards programs. Loyalty programs make customers feel like insiders in your business’s community—offering loyalty members discounts through social media and text messaging will make them feel like an exclusive member.
Make Smarter Business Decisions Using Data
When you utilize Beyond’s Gift Card Program, you’ll gain access to customer data that will help you make more informed business decisions. Identify your loyal customers by capturing their contact and demographic information and then use that information to run targeted marketing campaigns for top customers—like greetings and promotions for birthdays, anniversaries, and more.
By leveraging a loyalty program, you’ll be able to track your customers’ spending habits, so you can promote relevant offers based on their purchase behaviors. Even if it’s something as small as getting a better idea of certain customer’s favorite product or going as far as to send out promotions targeted to their favorites, adding data insight into your business plan will help you increase revenue streamline your marketing efforts.
In challenging times or not, leveraging your customer base and keeping them engaged is key to running a successful small business. Choose a smarter way to reward with Beyond’s Gift Card Program.
Looking for other resources to help your business reopen? Download our Reopening Kit complete with social media posts and signage you can use.
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