Why Membership Cards Work: The Business Case

More than ever before, savvy businesses are using membership cards to strengthen and sustain customer loyalty. Whether you're grappling with customer retention issues, seek to sharpen your competitive advantage, or want to increase upselling and customer lifetime value, a membership card can support your overall marketing efforts in a real and meaningful way.

The value of retaining customers becomes clear when you consider the numbers. According to Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer can cost anywhere from 5 to 25 times more than keeping an existing one — and companies have a 60–70% chance of selling to an existing customer, compared to just 5–20% for a new prospect. Winning and sustaining consumer loyalty is more important than ever, as these recent statistics show:

A membership card that offers discounts and special offers can be the incentive that customers need to make repeat purchases and curb the tendency to compare brands before every purchase.

A powerful marketing tactic for small businesses

Small businesses may initially be focused on cash flow and revenue generation, and effective customer engagement may not be a huge priority. The first thing that may come to mind on the subject of membership cards can be 'money-off deals', instead of the value of rewarding customers for their business and continued patronage.

Customer reward strategies can go a long way in making customers feel special and cared for. Small businesses are already well-poised for intimate and personalised interactions with customers. Membership cards can grow and solidify the relationship, helping ensure that the brand is always in customers' minds. This front-of-mind awareness is crucial in pushing customers towards your product/service every time they experience such a need.

A reputation enhancing tool

61 per cent of consumers would tell their family and friends about their brand experiences. Membership discounts and offers give consumers a reason to recommend your brand to their contacts. Not only do they increase customer appreciation, but also pique others' curiosity about you, encouraging them to try out your offerings.

Retain existing customers

Customer retention rate has a direct impact on the top line as well as the bottom line. In five years, a business with a 70 per cent customer retention rate would have lost up to three times as many customers than a business with a 90 per cent retention rate. Membership and loyalty cards offer a strong reason to continue buying from a business. It is often seen that once customers start using special offers and redeeming rewards, their enthusiasm for the business as well as engagement with it grows.

Gain new customers

The perks offered by your membership card will determine how effectively you will be able to acquire customers. As already stated before, it is more profitable to retain customers and try to increase their lifetime value or upsell to them, than invest in new ways to get more customers.

In his research involving a well-known retailer, author and loyalty expert Brian Woolf found that after a year of becoming a customer, just two out of every thousand new customers - a mere 0.2 per cent - were in the top customer segment, while just twelve - or 1.2 per cent - were in the second segment. Also, between 95 and 96 per cent of new customers were either in the lowest segment or had abandoned the business by the end of the year.

The quality of new arrivals can be improved by assessing the data of loyalty programs. The data can help understand the demographic similarities of existing, high-quality customers, which can then be used for tailored targeting of prospects who fall within similar demographics. In fact, access to customer data is a huge benefit of membership cards. Cards that have magnetic strips capture customer data at the point-of-sale, giving you a glimpse into customers' frequent purchases, so you can create suitable discount vouchers reflecting their preferences and buying habits.

An analysis of customer data, purchasing behaviours and loyalty levels will reveal who your best customers are. You can spend the necessary time, money and effort on your best customers to increase their shopping cart values and the return on your marketing investment.

How Plastic Membership Cards Can Increase Membership Numbers

Do you have a club or association? Would you like to increase the number of your members?

People like to feel that they belong somewhere and that they can be proud of their ideas, values and lifestyle — it's why they choose to join clubs and organisations in the first place.

A plastic membership card is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reinforce that sense of belonging. Designed to incorporate your club's branding and identity, it gives every member something tangible to carry that represents their connection to your organisation.

Cards can be produced as standard issue for all members, or personalised for your most valued or long-standing members. A personalised card carries more weight — people appreciate being individually recognised within a community, and that recognition builds loyalty.

You can also create tiered cards that reflect different levels of membership or involvement: newcomers, regulars, committee members, life members — the structure is entirely up to you.

Members who feel proud of their card will naturally talk about your club to others — showing it off, sharing their experiences, and bringing new faces through the door without any prompting from you.

Many clubs and organisations have already made personalised membership cards a core part of what they offer, finding that the cards themselves become a point of pride and a quiet but effective recruitment tool.

Extra value for customers

Membership cards allow businesses the opportunity to enhance their value proposition. If you're a store owner-operator for instance, your membership card can offer exclusive cash rewards, early shopping hours or discounts. Free shipping or other value additions also increase the appeal of a membership. They all serve as incentives to buy from you instead of turning to the competition. You can't stop consumers from comparison shopping; but offering extras and inducements can tip the scales in your favour.

Win back inactive customers

The success rate for converting prospects is typically five per cent, while the rate for reactivating inactive customers can go as high as 20 per cent. Winning back customers has a higher rate of success than acquiring new ones. An advantage you have with lost/inactive customers is information about their purchase history, contact details, and preferred communication channel.

Your customer win back program can help you identify the kind of incentives and rewards that elicit positive results and those that don't. You can use this information to attach the most-appreciated rewards to the specific products you want to share with customers/clients.

Leverage as a relationship building tool

Building long-lasting relationships with customers isn't exactly an easy job. A number of factors may work for or against you in your effort to engage, win and retain customers. Age is one factor. Studies in the UK have shown that customers under the age of 45 are most loyal and those over 65 are least loyal. Some other studies haven't found a clear relationship between age and loyalty.

We live in a world of the highly connected customer who checks reviews, ratings and peer recommendations on review sites and social media to make informed purchase decisions. Businesses that earn positive word-of-mouth are more likely to attract healthy traffic to their website, calls or requests for more information from prospects.

Building and nurturing relationships is less of a challenge when you have customers knocking on your door. But the task of reaching out to your target audience, identifying leads, and converting them to customers is effort-intensive and time-consuming. Here's where simple yet effective tools like a membership card can help in forming relationships and motivating customers to come back for more.

Self-sustaining

Once you've handed out membership cards to customers, they will keep doing the work for you. As long as they have their cards, your customers will want to make the most of your product/service and special offers.

The self-sustaining nature of membership cards can also relieve some of your marketing costs. You don't have to keep sending out promotional material or invest in outdoor advertising in order to remind customers to keep buying from you or using your service.

Additionally, satisfied customers can act as brand advocates and personally recommend your business to their friends, family and associates. It can supplement your own marketing efforts and expand your customer base.

Printed membership cards have become a staple at clubs, associations and societies. If you own a club and don't have any kind of membership card program in place, here are four reasons to invest in one:

Unique card identity

You can personalise your club's membership cards with member data and protect it through an encoded magnetic strip. Sequential numbering on the card will serve as proof of the unique identity of the card-holder.

Motivate subscription renewals

Issuing membership cards annually has been seen to encourage a prompt response at the time of renewal. Unless your customers have made up their mind to discontinue your service, you can expect the membership card to keep reminding them of their association with your club and all the advantages that come with it.

A status enhancer for new members

People join clubs to participate in activities they like or socialise with like-minded people. The appearance and quality of a membership card can add to this appeal, hastening recruitment and retaining interest.

Security

Printed membership cards also act as a security tool. They can be manually checked or swiped to permit entry into your premises. It can ensure that only members have access to your premises and non-members cannot make unauthorised use of your services.

Why Colour Plastic Cards is the preferred provider of membership cards

We've been serving a diverse customer base of small local businesses, multi-national organisations, and sports, hobby and recreational clubs for several years now. Our company is founded on principles of superior quality and a customer-first attitude. A sizeable percentage of our sales comes from referrals and we're proud to have a large family of satisfied customers who rely on us for all their membership card printing needs.

Excellent value for money - top quality is our guarantee

Our locally printed membership cards are made from top-grade plastic to ensure the highest strength and durability. We don't cut corners and provide a quality product that enhances the reputation of your brand.

Ready to order your membership cards? Get a quote from our team — we typically respond within 10 minutes during working hours.

Frequently Asked Questions About Membership Cards

How long do plastic membership cards last?

Our plastic membership cards are made from high-grade PVC and are built to last. With normal everyday use, you can expect them to remain in excellent condition for three years or more. The print is protected and won't fade or scratch easily.

What is the minimum order quantity for membership cards?

We can print membership cards in quantities to suit all sizes of club or business. Whether you need a small run for a local club or thousands of cards for a large organisation, we can help. Contact us for a quote and we'll advise on the most cost-effective quantity for your needs.

Can membership cards be personalised with each member's name or number?

Yes. We can personalise each card with individual member names, membership numbers, sequential numbering, or other variable data. Personalised cards feel more premium and have been shown to strengthen member engagement and loyalty.

Can I have different membership card designs for different tiers?

Absolutely. Many clubs and businesses use tiered card designs — different colours or finishes for standard, premium, or life members, for example. This adds perceived value at each level and gives members an incentive to progress.

What security features can be added to membership cards?

We offer a range of security options including magnetic stripes, barcodes, sequential numbering, and signature panels. These help control access to your premises or services and ensure cards cannot be easily duplicated or shared.

How quickly can membership cards be produced and delivered?

We manufacture all our cards in England and aim to despatch within a few working days of approving your artwork. If you have an urgent deadline, let us know when you get in touch and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Do you offer a design service for membership cards?

Yes. If you don't have print-ready artwork, our design service can create a professional card design for you. We'll work to incorporate your branding, colours, and logo.