For gift shops
A card that brings the browser back as a buyer
Gift shop customers are browsers first. The card gives them a reason to come back and buy here instead of online, especially in the weeks before Christmas and in the dead patch after. Counter Club keeps the card on their mobile and lets you tell the club when new stock lands.
The Paper Lantern Gift Room
One stamp per visit over $20. Five earn $20 off anything.
2 of 5 Three visits to go.
What gets in the way for gift shops
Visits are months apart
A ten-stamp card never fills. Set four or five stamps and stamp per visit with a purchase, so the card is reachable within a year.
New stock is the news
The thing a gift shop has to say is: the new range is in. An email to the club, on a paid plan, says it to people who already like the shop.
January is silent
After the Christmas rush the shop is empty for six weeks. A campaign to the club with a January reason to visit is the quietest way to fill it.
A worked example
Gift shop work, with Counter Club
A fictional shop, The Paper Lantern Gift Room, sets the card at 5 stamps for $20 off anything. One stamp per visit over $20. The QR is a tent card at the till. Through November and December 160 people join, many while a gift is being wrapped. In the third week of January, on Regulars, the owner emails the 70 confirmed addresses: "New ceramics are in from a local maker, and club members see them first this Saturday." Eighteen come in. Two reward codes are earned and used on the day.
Questions from gift shops
Does a dollar-off reward work as a stamp card reward?
Yes. Write it as the reward text and honour it at the till. The code on the member's row is your record that it was earned.
Can I run the card only in December?
You can set the card up whenever you like and stop asking people to scan whenever you like. Stamps do not expire, so a card started in December can finish in March.
Is a gift shop too occasional for a loyalty card?
With five stamps and a real reward, no. The card is for the locals who pop in monthly, not for the tourist who comes once.
Also for
Other shops and services
Bookshops
Independent bookshops already know their regulars by their reading.
Counter Club for bookshopsPet shops
Pet food is a repeat purchase on a fixed cycle. The person who buys a 15 kilo bag every three weeks is exactly the customer a…
Counter Club for pet shopsClothing boutiques
A boutique's regular buys a few times a season and wants to see new stock first.
Counter Club for clothing boutiquesPut the QR by the till this week
Setting the card takes two minutes. The first fifty members are free, paid for by a marketing consent instead of a card, and the card runs in full from day one.