What does A gift card program do?

A Gift Card Program can help increase sales and profitability while eliminating time-consuming processes that are necessary when you issue paper gift certificates. Gift cards are sold to customers for their own use or can be given to family or friends. You can offer your customers single gift cards or display the gift cards throughout your store. Remember, cards do not have value until activated.

Just like a credit card, balances can be debited from the card upon purchase, saving the customer the hassle of cash exchange. Gift cards can be set with predetermined denominations or you can simply load the amount on the card based on each customer’s needs. Also, cards are re-useable and can be reloaded with more funds at any time. Cards are swiped through credit card terminals and POS systems and payments are collected by the merchant at the time of sale. Gift cards offer the recipient flexibility to purchase whatever they want.

Some benefits to launching a gift card program:

• Increase sales and cash flow for the business
• Promotes impulse purchasing and additional sales
• Improves brand awareness within the community
• Provides real time web based tracking and reporting
• Security features to reduce fraud and duplicate usage
• Easy reconciliation and reporting systems to save time
• Fast transactions and ease of use at the point of sale
• Ability to issue gift cards in any dollar amount
• Cards can be re-used and recycled through the system

69% of companies using gift cards stated that they are more effective than cash in motivating and rewarding employees.  Another benefit to your business is that it is estimated that 10 – 15% of gift card recipients never redeem the full value of a card, meaning the business keeps it as profit.  Most retailers estimate that when they switch from paper gift certificates to gift cards, they sell anywhere from 50-100% more.

To start increasing your business sales and cash flow, call Signature Card today to start your personalized gift card program. You can start making your custom gift cards now!

Do you want your customers to return to your establishment? Then give them more incentive.  A Loyalty or Rewards Program might just give them the motivation to return. Many businesses confuse Loyalty Programs with Reward Programs; a Reward program is a customer retention strategy, not a loyalty strategy. Either type of program could work in your companies favor, because your goal is to entice people to transact again with your company based on a reward or incentive. By having customer loyalty cards you’re provided with profile data and the ability to track buying behavior. Having this information is a key insight into the identity and behaviors of your customers.  The Loyalty Program helps increase product and/or service sales, introduce new products, increase buying frequency, drive customer retention, and motivate customers to register while tracking profile data and buying behaviors.

Rewards Programs open up a world of choices and experiences for your customers to partake in. Having innumerable options, special offers, and the ability to customize promotions based on your customers buying habits, works to keep your loyal customers happy, and help increase sales.

Signature Card would be happy to custom design rewards cards for you business. If you’d like a faster option, check out our Reward Card Templates. Your best customers deserve the best looking rewards card. So begin rewarding them by contacting Signature Card today!

WMH Group Completes Acquisition of Signature Card

Enables WMH Group to Capitalize on Printing Industry Experience
January 9, 2012 – Dallas, Texas

WMH Group, a Chicago-area, lower middle market private equity firm, has acquired Signature Card, a leading provider of custom plastic cards in North America.  Signature Card, based in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas, specializes in the artistic design, printing, and encoding of plastic cards, and custom plastic card solutions.

Signature provides magnetic stripe cards and bar coded cards that are used at retail locations (e.g., gift cards and loyalty programs), in hospitality (e.g., hotel keys and access cards), for promotional and other commercial purposes (e.g., phone cards, membership cards, and security access.)  With thirteen years of operating experience, the Company has a diverse customer base, skilled employees, and sufficient equipment to sustain significant growth.  Customers range from stand-alone businesses to Fortune 1000 retailers.

Commenting on the acquisition, Bill Hunter, Founding Partner of WMH Group stated, “Signature’s excellent reputation for customer service, quick turn-around and high-quality products and services have enabled it to thrive in a competitive industry.  WMH Group looks forward to using its decades of experience in printing and strong industry relationships to help Signature expand further in its core markets and enter new markets.”

Michael Gallant, one of the selling shareholders commented, “During our many years of owning Signature the company grew to be many times the size of our original acquisition.  We put an excellent team in place that will remain with the company and I am confident they will also expand the business by continuing to provide the same services and quality that Signature has become known for.”  Gallant further stated, “We spoke with many potential buyers of Signature and WMH Group was by far the most professional and capable.  We recommend them to any prospective seller.”

Plaisance Advisors was the exclusive financial advisor to WMH Group in this transaction.

About WMH Group

WMH Group LLC is a Chicago-based private equity firm with significant operating experience.  It has a history of building industry-leading businesses through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.  In each transaction it completes WMH Group invests its own capital and that of its partners and it takes an operating role in each company it acquires.  Because WMH Group does not invest out of a traditional private equity fund, it has significant flexibility in how it structures transactions and it does not have a set timeframe in which we must divest the companies it acquires.

Company Info:
Signature Card is one of the premier plastic membership card printers in the United States. Signature Card provides the highest quality of custom printed plastic swipe cards for all types of business. Custom plastic cards include gift cards, loyalty and reward cards, plastic hotel key card, VIP cards, download cards, fundraising cards, membership cards, promotional cards and more. Plastic cards can come with multiple cards and key tags.

WMH Group can be contacted at:
Bill Hunter
Phone: (972) 783-7600
Email: bhunter@wmhgroup.com
Web: www.wmhgroup.com and www.signaturecard.net

Custom printed hotel key cards are a great way to highlight the quality of your hotel brand to your guests. Signature Card’s professional plastic card printing can create outstanding hotel key cards with your logo, messaging and more at an affordable price.

Your custom hotel key cards can also be encoded with a variety of data and access controls to make it easy for your hotel to create a key card system that covers all your needs. These programmable hotel key cards can easily be reused and reprogrammed at your location.

If your hotel hosts conventions and business meetings, then you’ll want to make sure you’re covered with custom event cards that look great and are easy to use. Signature Card’s custom printing services allow you to create unique badges, access cards and key cards for a variety of uses.

If you’re looking for custom printed hotel key cards that showcase the quality of your hotel brand at an affordable rate, then contact Signature Card today.

Security is a huge concern for businesses because companies want to make sure their information and their customers’ information remains safe. Custom access cards give companies the ability to control access to certain areas of their facilities and track who enters and leaves those areas to increase company security.

Signature Card makes creating your own access card system easy and gives your business plenty of options for encoding your cards with employee information and levels of access for a complete system. Your custom access cards can display employee photos, information and other data you so choose. You can also encode your cards via the magnetic striping to contain additional pieces of information for security reasons.

Smart access cards and/or badges can be produced in large or small quantities to meet the needs of your company. You may want to require every employee have a card for access in and out of your facility, or you may only want to require a few employees to have access badges to access the secure areas in your facility. Signature Card will work directly with you to design and create access cards that meet your specific needs.

Securing your facility with access cards could, potentially, save your company thousands if not millions in stolen assets or information so it is imperative that your business have some level of security. Access cards are a cost-effective way to keep your facility secure and often times act as a deterrent to would-be thieves.

The holiday season is quickly approaching and companies across the country are looking for ways to boost sales. One proven way to increase sales is to create a loyalty card program. Whether you design your loyalty card program to reward customers with points, discounts or other benefits, customers are more likely to continue to shop with you if you offer them a loyalty card. Plus, creating your loyalty card program before the holidays can ensure your customers do their holiday shopping with you and not your competitors.

Loyalty Card Program Success

Starbucks is a perfect example of a how a loyalty card program can increase sales and revenue for a business. In November 2001, Starbucks started issuing loyalty cards to its customers. Since then, Starbucks has seen over $2 billion dollars in revenue from their loyalty cards alone. In fact, customers have reloaded their loyalty cards over 40 million times showing that their loyalty card program has helped boost customer retention and brand loyalty.

Creating Your Loyalty Card Program

You don’t have to be a coffee giant to take advantage of a loyalty card program. Signature Card makes it easy to print your own custom loyalty cards and track the results. Our custom printed plastic cards have magnetic strip or bar codes that allow for full customer tracking. This enables you to reward your customers for their purchases and track the effectiveness of your program.

Get started with your loyalty card program today so you can take advantage of the upcoming holiday shopping season. Request a quote now to see how Signature Card can help.

Signature Card makes printing gift cards, reward cards or other plastic gift cards easy by offering pre-designed plastic card templates. Simply put your logo, business message and other details on one of Signature Card’s pre-designed plastic card templates and you’re ready to print large or small quantities of custom plastic cards.

Our high-quality plastic card printing service provides enables your business to print professional plastic cards that represent the quality of your company. Put your unique brand art and company message on display with custom plastic cards, which can act as mini billboards when your customers carry them around.

Once you’ve chosen the plastic card layout you like and added your business information, Signature Card will send you a proof of your card within 48 hours. You’ll be able to confirm the front and back of your custom plastic card meets your standards, and then you’re ready to confirm your order.

Upon confirmation of your order, Signature Card will ship your plastic cards in 7-10 working days. It’s that easy to order and receive plastic cards for your business. Start creating your plastic cards today with our pre-designed templates. Save time and boost sales, request a quote today.

Stand out from the crowd with quality custom plastic cards. Whether you’re looking to create gift cards, loyalty cards, membership cards or other custom cards, it is important that the quality of the card reflects the quality of your brand. Signature Card offers professionally printed cards with a variety of options so you can match the right look with the right message.

Personalizing your plastic cards with your company’s distinct brand helps set you apart from your competitors. But to do this, you need to make sure you match your brand’s color and look. Signature Card offers high-quality color matching and several types of varnish, plus gloss and matte laminate finishes to further enhance your card’s look and durability.

You can also set your brand apart by using custom die cut cards. Signature Card can print almost any shape of card or key tag you need to match your logo or campaign message. These die cut plastics cards still offer full functionality including barcodes, sequential numbers, individual member names and any other personalization you may need. Using unique, die cut cards is a great way to highlight your brand and grab your customer’s attention.

In a very competitive marketplace, utilizing custom plastic cards is a great way to retain customers with a loyalty or membership program or gain new customers with gift cards and discount cards. Contact Signature Card to find out how you can set your brand apart from the competition.

Though it’s early October, the holiday season is quickly approaching and companies looking to boost their sales with custom printed gift cards need to start thinking about ordering soon. According to a survey done by the National Retail Federation, 57 percent of Americans say they want to receive a gift card and 77 percent polled said they plan to buy a gift card as a present.

Since most consumers spend over the value of the gift card when they redeem them, this is a great way to boost sales and increase revenue. When consumers purchase holiday gift cards from you, your business benefits by: gaining the initial gift card sale; encouraging the recipient of the gift card to shop with you; and, likely, increasing the sale amount when the recipient spends more than the face value of the gift card.

Ordering your custom holiday gift cards now will help your business ensure timely delivery of your gift cards. In order to fully optimize your custom gift card campaign, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of time to distribute the cards before the holiday shopping season. If you wait too long, you may receive your small or large order of custom gift cards too late to sell them before the holiday shopping season is over.

Creating your gift card program, whether by ordering custom printed gift cards or by creating your own gift card system, is easy with Signature Card. Simply request a quote or call in and speak to a representative to see how Signature Card can help your business.

QR (Quick Response) codes are an innovative way to enhance your direct mail campaigns. QR codes are 2D barcode images that work in conjunction with smart phones, which scan the QR codes and take the user to a landing page of your choosing on a normal or mobile website. Large and small companies alike have utilized this new marketing approach to make their direct mail campaigns stand out.

There are several advantages to using QR codes in your direct mail campaigns. One advantage is accessibility. You can print the QR code on the exterior of your envelope, on a plastic postcard, or on the front/back of a plastic promotional card , giving your recipients instant access to your product message. Another distinct benefit is engagement. When your direct mail recipients scan your QR code, they are already engaged with your brand and the landing page you direct them to can further that engagement with the consumer. QR codes allow you to track how many people viewed your message so you can gauge the effectiveness of your direct mail campaign. Though not everyone is going to scan the code, you can gain insight with concrete numbers illustrating how many people were interested enough to scan in your QR code.

The greatest benefit of using QR codes for direct mail is that it adds additional value for the consumer.  You have the advantage of taking the consumer to the landing page on your website you choose and customizing that page to fit your specific campaign and call to action. The consumer gets the specific information they’re looking for in a unique way that enhances their experience with your brand.

Take your direct mail campaign to the next level by introducing QR codes for mobile (smart) phones. Showcase your product or services in an engaging way that will turn your mail recipients into customers. Contact us to find out how QR codes can work for your business.