Loyalty Cards ... What are they good for ?

Hi,
before you sing out  " Absolutely nothing ", have a little think. How many loyalty cards do you carry around with you ?. This is a question that has me puzzled and stumped.

The majority of retail or coffee shops I go to, almost without exception ask me when I go to pay " have you got a loyalty card ? ". If I was to get a loyalty card from each of these places, I would need to bring back to life, my Filofax. [ it was an 80's thing ]

I would love to know how beneficial they are to a business. Do you see increased levels of business from people who have a loyalty card ? Or do they make up a small percentage of your overall customers.

Having being involved with many programmes throughout my time in the hospitality industry, I tend to have a lukewarm feeling towards them. The key for me at least was .. 1. how easy was it for the customer to use them ..2. how easy were they to manage from the business point of view.

Recently I have come across three types and from a customers point of view, one of them stands head and shoulders above the other two. Let's start with my least favourite one.

Big coffee chain. To access the free wi-fi and enable the loyalty card. I have to log into their website, punch in a long number and jump through all sorts of hoops. I haven't done it yet. Why would I, when there is other places I can go to, without the need for excessive form filling.

The second is a small coffee shop/restaurant which I frequent maybe once or twice a week. It operates the buy ten get one coffee free type of card. I explained to the waitress that I keep losing those type of cards and she replied " oh just let me write your name on the card, I will keep it by the till and when you come in we will stamp it for you ". I was impressed by the level of service offered. However it depends of my getting served by this waitress , as it appears to be something she is doing on her own. So credit where credit is due.

My favourite one is a pet store. They asked me if I was interested in joining their loyalty programme and get 5% off purchases of pet food. I explained my usual losing story .... the shop assistant said ... " well all you need to do is fill out this form with your name and mobile number. I will activate it on system right now and everytime you come into the store and your phone is switched on the system will recognise you "

So filled out a form ... my name, my mobile number. That was it and everytime I have gone in there the shop assistants greet me by name when I go to the till to pay for my items. Simple and effective.

I like simple, I like effective. I dislike having to jump through hoops to activate something. As a customer I like to be greeted by my name. I like immediate reward for spending my money in a particular store.

I would love to hear about Your favourite loyalty card and the one that frustrates you the most, below in the comment box.

Have a successful week,
Colin Myles
Straight Talk. Better Business
Author of this book 

p.s.
" You are what you do, not what you say you'll do "  Unknown