(Part Two of a Series)

Like customer loyalty programs themselves, customer loyalty program applications aren’t created equal. The most effective customer loyalty programs are based on the most comprehensive solutions. When evaluating different options, look for the following features:

• Multiple vehicles for rapid access to individual customers’ information–for instance, by swiping a membership card through a magnetic stripe reader, scanning a bar code on a membership card or key tag, or keying the person’s name or telephone number into the POS terminal.
• The ability to quickly gather member data; for example, by scanning a customer’s driver’s license to auto-populate a member record.
• The ability to record ancillary customer data, such as birthdays and anniversaries.
• Tools for recording itemized purchase details each time a customer executes a transaction–for instance, Mrs. Jones bought one red shirt in a size 12 and one blue shirt in a size 14 on March 1 and a yellow shirt in size 16 on March 2.
• Tools for automatically tracking and generating rewards.
• Tools for generating and sending a variety of collateral to customers, including newsletters, coupons, and announcements about sales, promotions and new product introductions.

Loyalty and gift card programs integrated into pcAmerica’s Cash Register Express and Restaurant Pro Express POS software solutions offer all of these attributes. With these tools and capabilities at hand, you will be empowered to effectively target and attract existing and potential customers in the most compelling manner.