Many organizations print gift cards and other promotional material from their office headquarters and have them delivered to their various retail outlets. This has been the model for most businesses but many are shifting to decentralized card printing because of the benefits it affords business owners and customers. By investing on direct-to-card printers for your chain stores or satellite branches, you gain the following advantages:

1. No more delivery costs. Since cards no longer need to be printed from the company’s head office, the cost for having them delivered to the firm’s different branches is totally eliminated. This does away with having to package the cards for distribution, saving you a lot of man hours and labor costs. Expenses for fuel and courier services are also removed.
2. Card printing cost savings. With desktop/counter-mountable card printers stationed in your satellite branches, the price for batch print jobs is significantly lessened. Store and shop managers are generally more knowledgeable about their location and can gauge how many cards should be printed for the launch of a new marketing campaign. This minimizes or completely eradicates gift card over-printing.
3. Faster card issuance with on-the-spot printing. One disadvantage of centralized card printing is having to make customers wait and come back several days or a week later before they can get and use their cards. A dedicated promo card printer at each store site lets cards be produced within a few minutes or in just a few seconds. This improves customer satisfaction by allowing people to avail of discounts, free items, or special giveaways right after inquiring about current promos.
4. Increased sales revenue. By being able to use blank PVC cards to generate and dispense gift cards to customers your managers will be able to reach their sales targets and meet their quotas much faster. This also allows their staff to engage customers and upsell products or services.
5. Localized gift cards. Managers have a freer hand to implement their own promotional programs more suited to their locality. Gift cards can be customized to show familiar celebrities, places, mascots or brands that may not be known in other areas.
6. Test marketing strategies. It goes without saying that before engaging in a statewide or nationwide marketing blitz, campaigns should be first tested at the local level to measure its potential for success. One of the most cost-effective ways to do that is by issuing promo cards for a district or region. Depending on its success or failure at this juncture, the drive can then be adopted or changed for a larger demographic, or be discarded for a better one.

Don’t let your competitors get the upper hand! Society’s fast-paced lifestyles have spurred businesses to evolve with how they provide products and services and products to customers. Improve your competitiveness today. Fill-out our contact form and we will gladly help you choose the right printers for launching your gift card programs.

For Further Reading:

• 5 Gift Card Stats You Need to Know to Maximize Revenue
• Common Gift Card Fraud Schemes You Should Know About
• By Industry: Retail, Grocery and Restaurant Loyalty and Gift Cards