Punch passes are a well-known technique for boosting both sales and customer loyalty. The idea is quite simple; customers purchase a prepaid card (physical or digital) that holds a certain amount of services or products for a discounted price. Ultimately, the customer ends up saving up a sum of money right at the point of purchase. The mechanism behind it is also known as a Volume Discount where purchasing several items in advance is profitable and worth their while. A classic example would be a ski pass which entails a large amount of entrances for a reduced price, rather than purchasing the entrances individually and paying more for a one time use.
Because this marketing method is so popular, some businesses and experts started claiming it’s past its prime. Well, we beg to differ. Here are a few reasons why you should embrace punch passes and how they will ultimately help your business become more profitable.
Why punch passes are a smart loyalty move
- Simple and Solid: Often, the most straightforward options also prove to be the best ones. Punch passes work simply and simply work. Studies find that 37.5% of customers are motivated to stay loyal thanks to loyalty related discounts, and even younger audiences like millennials prefer this method. Punch passes in their nature create commitment between the business and its customers, ensuring repeat business that is also paid for in advance. With new customers, this is a clever way to build habits that will lead them back to your business in the long run.
- Comfort and Product-Familiarity: If punch passes or in other words “volume discounts” are an early memory that seem too traditional to you, think again. Customers appreciate this blast from the past, and research finds a strong connection between childhood nostalgia and brand loyalty. For digital punch passes, this is a great way to build familiar experiences customers remember and perhaps miss from the physical world. Add a vintage design, and you’ve got a powerful emotional connection that builds loyalty.
- Data: When it comes to knowing your customers, and learning the right offer for each and every one of them, it’s all about data. Digital punch passes offer fascinating insights you don’t want to miss out. By analyzing both the purchasing habits and the redeem habits, businesses learn what are the services/products of choice, how often customers need a particular service/product, which incentives have a more substantial impact, and more.
Elements to consider when creating your digital punch pass
Now that we’ve established the importance of punch passes, here are a few elements that will help yours pack a punch.
- Create an Experience: The card is your canvas. Come up with a creative theme and match the design and copy to your vision. Ensure that everything works with your overall business values and objectives.
- Pay Special Attention To the Title: Customers usually try to understand the offering of your punch pass by reading the title alone. Most people don’t read the small letters and long descriptions. Not to mention the long-scrolling disclaimers. So you have to make sure that the title explains in 4-5 words the content of the offering. Writing a clear title with a simple statement about the products/services that are proposed in the punch pass, as well as mentioning the reduced price of the offering is one of the most important points to notice when building punch passes.
For example, “Buy 7 shirts for $99” seems profitable for the customer when the normal price of a shirt is $20.
- Set Reasonable Volume For the Discount: Don’t ask customers to jump through hoops to win the discount. The prepaid amount needs to be realistic and match the prize. The idea is to add just a little bit of effort (if any) to easily encourage loyalty. Asking for too much might leave you with zero interest from customers. For example, you wouldn’t normally buy a punch pass that offers “Buy 300 shirts for $5,000”.
- Decide on Which Product/Service to Give the Volume Discount on: Come up with a punch pass that promotes loyalty even further. One approach is to offer a product/service that is very common, another would be to offer an exclusive product/service or share a sneak peek at an upcoming launch. This will expose customers to new products/services, expanding your business and profit range.
- Create a Promotion: If you only build it without promoting it, customers will not come. You have to spread the word about the punch pass you’ve created to bring in more business. This is where our Push Campaigns & Glue Loyalty’s automation system kicks into work.
Punch passes are loyalty royalty for a reason. This classic feature is loved by businesses and customers that use Glue Loyalty’s platform because it delivers top results every step of the way. Our digital punch passes are automatically sent to customers at the most convenient time to boost engagement and sales, allowing you to effortlessly enjoy all the benefits they have to offer and keep track of the campaign’s progress while gathering relevant data. We hope you put the tips above to good use and can’t wait to visit your business again (and again) to earn our prize!
