Take Starbucks or Subway, for example. They both have a loyal fan base in which customers visit on a regular basis. Both provide retail cards which make transactions that much easier. A simple scan of the card and the balance is deducted, so the consumer can enjoy their coffee or sandwich without having to fumble for loose change.
If businesses provide digitalized Passbook store cards, it automatically results in a reduction on printing expenses. Even if customers lose their store cards, businesses could save on reprinting fees as the simple transmission of passes to their customers through Passbook is essentially costless.
Passbook Push Notifications
The great thing about these retail cards in Passbook is that the balance gets updated automatically and the figure appears in text right on the pass. For customers, checking how much credit they have left in their cards and reloading them at an appropriate time enhances efficiency at your point of sale.
Since Passbook is time and location enabled, it has the capability of receiving push notifications based on geo-fencing parameters. Rather than having one simple logo or static image on your store card, your company can change the picture that appears on each pass almost dynamically. Consumers can “refresh” their pass and automatically the image on the pass updates to one that your business set.
For Subway, a daily image rotation of the “Sub of the Day” could be a great way for customers to stay informed of the the latest deals. Starbucks could change its picture to reflect the seasonal atmosphere, like an image of an iced Frappuccino during the summer or a hot cup of caramel Macchiato in the winter. Have a new item on the menu? Spread awareness through images, allowing your customers to visualize your new creation right on their retail cards. If you’re like Pacific Coffee, you could even push the “Quote of the Day” into your consumers’ Passbook, adding just a bit of extra flair. In any case, the fact that passes aren’t static provide a nice aesthetic design and gives your business control over what you want consumers to see.
For devoted customers who visit your outlet consistently, each pass can be individually customized to reflect their usual orders. Depending on their order history, each card could have a “Usual Order: Iced Coffee”, so by simply scanning the barcode, your business would increase efficiency and reduce long lines or queues. The ability for businesses to track consumer favorites allows for better planning in terms of stock and supplying what is in high demand.
By taking advantage of Passbook’s geofencing capabilities, an alert could be sent to anyone walking in your neighborhood, like “Care for a coffee?” or “10% off all muffins!”. You can keep customers engaged and updated with news and special deals, or send funny alerts to try to draw them in.
Stamp Card Innovation
You could even use these retail cards in replacement of stamp cards. For instance, for every 20 purchases made using their retail cards, a free coffee can be redeemed. Rather physically stamp each card, the system contains all the information and automatically keeps track of everyone’s purchases. When the 20th item is purchased, your system will alert you that your customer could redeem a free coffee. It’s as simple as that. An updated figure could even appear on the retail pass (i.e. “5 more purchases until you get a free coffee!”), and this reminder may even encourage people to visit your outlet more.
With all of this, information on consumer purchase behavior can be used to further analyze and improve your business. Since everything is updated in real time on your system, you would know at what time most people order coffee or how many turkey Subway sandwiches were purchased.
On the back of the store card, you could include a multitude of information and resources for your consumers. For example, your outlet’s opening hours, contact information, website, nutritional information on your food, and the list goes on. Any bit of information you want your consumers to retain and carry with them can be posted and updated on their passes instantly.
So if you’re in the business of distributing retail cards or are thinking of distributing them for the first time, Passbook gives you much more versatility in terms of connecting with your consumers, as well as helping you keep track of transactions at your point of sale.
Create Passbook Store Cards
Our team happened upon a website called PassK.it and there they supply businesses with passes and the Passbook platform for creating, managing, and distributing retail cards. On their website, you can find out more on the services they could provide for your business and how they could help you fully integrate Passbook in your line of work. Those who have iOS6 can download their sample retail cards directly into their iPhones, but for those who don’t have iOS6 installed, we’ve provided some screenshots here as to how it would look.
