Why use Passbook?
Using a mobile device to display digital loyalty cards can be accomplished on the major smartphone operating systems. Additionally, barcode scanners used for scanning digital loyalty cards are relatively inexpensive. The registration and distribution of the loyalty store cards can happen on the consumer’s own phone, which removes another barrier to adding subscribers. There are many other benefits in using a digital pass or digital card for loyalty for both the retailer and the customer. Let’s have a look.
Retailer Passbook Pass Benefits
Track everything: Since people always carry their phones with them they will automatically carry their loyalty cards with them as well. People will no longer forget their cards, meaning that absolutely every visit should be tracked. This data can then be used to increase the relevancy of offers or help with business planning.
The same ID number: The only difference between a plastic card and a digital one is that in plastic cards the ID is either encoded in a magnetic stripe or 1D barcode while in digital the ID is encoded in a 2D barcode. The ID and data stay the same, while only the method of validation changes. Additionally, with a Passbook pass, the retailer can update the ID number should there be a concern with fraud on the original ID number.
Deliver relevant marketing prompts: You can assign location prompts to a pass as ‘relevancy data’. This is data is used in order to send a notification to the customer’s lock screen as the customer nears a location associated with the pass. These reminders can be used to prompt users about a deal or a nearby store location.
More information and interactive information: The Passbook pass template provides a retailer with the opportunity to provide various amounts of information on the front and back of the pass. This gives the retailer the flexibility to provide more information than they could possibly put on a plastic card. They can also update these fields as the customers use the loyalty card. This can range from keeping track of loyalty points accumulated, to a field keeping track of visits, or even a field containing the consumer’s previous purchases.
Digital is green: Some environmentally conscious customers may not like the use of a plastic loyalty card. Additionally, some customers may not sign up for the loyalty program simply because they feel they may not use the card enough to warrant the effort or wallet space use.
Cheaper than a custom app: Building and promoting a dedicated application can be expensive. While Passbook loyalty cards can be integrated into your own mobile application, it should not be your only focus. Keeping your customers engaged with your custom app can be a daunting task. But if you take a “Passbook first approach”, where the loyalty card can be added without any friction (such as downloading and registering your custom app), you don’t need to worry about the promotion of your dedicated app in order to deliver digital loyalty cards to current members. Once you are ready to deliver digital cards to your customers, you can easily generate and distribute your retail Passbook passes with our mobile marketing platform.