WHAT'S WRONG WITH PAPER GIFT CERTIFICATES?
Paper certificates are prone to numerous problems.
First, they don't hold up well and appear cheap, so consumers frown down on them and avoid buying them.
Secondly, they are prone to poor record keeping and are easily copied, resulting in fraudulent use.
DO GIFT CARDS REALLY RESULT IN HIGHER CUSTOMER SPEND?
When customers shop with gift cards that have been gifted to them, they are less price-sensitive than when spending actual cash or using credit cards.
They are more apt to purchase items they may not otherwise purchase, just to use up the value of the card, and more often than not, exceed the value of the card.
A study by First Data showed 25% of consumers purchased items they had not planned to buy or otherwise would not have purchased with cash.
8% of consumers upgraded to more expensive versions of the items they wanted and 3% purchased from stores they otherwise never visit!
CAN GIFT CARDS GROW MY CUSTOMER BASE?
The unique aspect of a gift cards is that they are gifts that require the recipient to visit your store. By definition they involve two parties, the purchaser and the receiver.
Odds are, for many gift card sales, one of the two consumers in that transaction will represent a new customer to your business, which is a new opportunity for you to collect loyalty data on them and market to them to influence more future business!
CAN GIFT CARDS BE USED AT OTHER, UNRELATED STORES?
No, the Preferred Patron™ gift card system is a closed-loop system, meaning cards sold at your store can only be used at your individual store, pool of related stores or a private community of stores.
Every store wishing to process these gift cards is required to maintain their own software license and operate our software program.
ARE PHYSICAL CARDS REQUIRED OR CAN GIFT CARDS BE DELIVERED BY EMAIL?
For our Standard and Small Biz (SB) editions, physical cards are required to sell gift cards.
Our Premium/Premium+ editions do, however, include electronic gift card delivery.
Additionally, Premium+ subscribers have access to our eCommerce module for selling gift cards online!
ARE GIFT CARDS BRANDED WITH MY OWN DESIGN?
Yes, when ordering your gift cards, you would supply the artwork you would like printed on the face of the card.
Customer cards are completely white-labeled with your brand, with no mention of Preferred Patron™ or Preferred Patron Loyalty on the card.
Standard edition subscribers may request free Preferred Patron™ branded gift cards.
ARE THERE ANY PROCESSING FEES?
No. Gift card processing is included free with your loyalty subscription or you can choose a web-enabled gift card only solution for a low flat-rate monthly fee.
Your only obligation is to purchase your plastic gift cards from us.
CAN GIFT CARD HOLDERS LOOKUP THEIR GIFT CARD BALANCE ONLINE?
Yes, with your subscription is included a mobile friendly web portal for members, which allows members to see their current gift card balance as well as usage history.
IS THERE A MERCHANT BANK OR CREDIT CARD PROCESSING COMPANY INVOLVED?
No. The Preferred Patron™ Gift Card system is a software program that allows you to manage your own gift cards.
That means, when selling gift cards, you will process the sale in your point of sale while our software tracks the card value.
As the gift card balance is decremented at your point-of-sale, our software keeps track of the remaining gift card balance and usage history.
The money never leaves your store.
There is no waiting on a merchant bank to compensate you for cards decremented and no fees owed to a merchant back for cards sold!
Reconciliation and invoicing reports are provided for multi-store businesses who need to settle funds between stores.
