Print loyalty punch cards and appointment cards at business card size, 3.5 x 2 in, on 14pt or 16pt matte or uncoated stock, so they fit a wallet and take a pen, stamp or hole punch. For a punch card, print ten spaces with the first two already marked rather than eight blank ones. In a published field study, that change raised the share of customers who earned the reward from 19 to 34 percent.
All four card types are small, cheap and easy to get slightly wrong. The difference between one that works and one that ends up in a drawer is mostly the stock, the layout and what the card asks the customer to do.
Which card does what?
| Card | What it does | Stock and finish | Must include |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loyalty and punch card | Counts visits toward a reward | 14pt or 16pt uncoated or matte; folded card for more spaces | The reward, the spaces, any expiry, your phone |
| Appointment card | Reminds a client of the next visit | Matte or uncoated on the side people write on | Lines for date, time and provider, your cancellation policy |
| Referral card | Gives clients something to pass on | Matte, with a unique code or number per client | The offer for both people, the code, an expiry date |
| Loyalty program card | A membership card for a rewards program | Plastic or heavy card stock | Member number, barcode or QR code, terms on the back |
How many spaces should a punch card have?
Eight to ten spaces is the usual range, and a head start does more than a smaller number. In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, a car wash handed out 300 loyalty cards. Half had eight blank spaces; half had ten spaces with two already stamped. Both groups needed eight more washes for the same reward.
Over nine months, 34 percent of customers with the pre-stamped card earned the reward, against 19 percent with the blank card, and they got there faster. The authors call it the endowed progress effect, and found it works better when the card gives a reason for the head start. See Nunes and Dreze, The Endowed Progress Effect (2006).
In print, that means designing a ten-space card with the first two spaces already filled with your logo and a line such as "Two on us for joining". It costs nothing extra to print.
For more than about ten spaces, or room for a menu or a price list, use a folded business card, which doubles the printable area and still fits a wallet.
Should a punch card be punched, stamped or signed?
Punch or stamp it. Initials in pen are the easiest mark to fake, and a shaped hole or a custom stamp is much harder to copy.
- Hole punch: fast at a busy counter. A shaped punch, such as a star or your logo, is harder to fake than a round hole. Keep the spaces far enough from the edge that the punch does not tear the card.
- Rubber stamp: the most branded option, and a custom stamp can carry your logo. It needs uncoated or matte stock, because stamp ink sits wet on gloss and smears. We list custom stamps with our office stationery.
- Numbered cards: variable data printing can give every card its own number, so you can see how many were handed out and how many came back.
What should an appointment card include?
An appointment card needs your name, phone and address, plus blank lines for the day, date and time, and the provider's name if you have more than one. Add your cancellation policy in one line, since this is the moment the client is most likely to read it.
Many practices print the appointment lines on the back of their business card, so one card does both jobs. The front can be any finish, but the back must be matte or uncoated, because ballpoint ink skips and smears on gloss. Write the time on the card, not the treatment: a card can fall out of a wallet. Our guide to medical practice printing covers the other patient-facing pieces.
How do referral cards get tracked?
Give each client cards printed with their own code or number, then record the code when a new customer brings one in. Variable data printing puts a different code or QR code on every card in the same run, so you know exactly who sent whom without asking.
- Reward both people. A card that only rewards the new customer gives the existing one no reason to hand it over.
- Print an expiry date. An open-ended offer gets saved for later and forgotten.
- Keep the offer on the front and the terms on the back, in a size people can read.
Paper or plastic for a loyalty program card?
Choose plastic for a membership card that is meant to last for years and gets scanned at the register, and heavy card stock for a program that runs a season. Punch cards are best on paper, since they fill up and get replaced every few weeks.
If the card carries a barcode or QR code for your point-of-sale system, scan a printed proof with the actual scanner before approving the run. Our post on plastic, metal and kraft cards covers the plastic options in more detail.
Test the card with the tools your staff will use before you order the full run. Ask for a printed proof on the real stock, then stamp it, punch it and write on it with the pens on your counter. Soft touch and silk laminate feel lovely and reject stamp ink, a punch too close to the edge tears 14pt card, and small spaces are hard to hit with a stamp during a rush.
Loyalty and appointment card questions
What size is a loyalty punch card?
Usually 3.5 x 2 in, the standard US business card size, so it fits a wallet slot. A folded business card gives twice the space for more punches or a menu.
What paper is best for punch cards?
14pt or 16pt matte or uncoated stock. It is stiff enough to punch without tearing and takes stamp ink and pen. Avoid gloss, silk and soft touch laminate on the side that gets stamped.
How many punches should a loyalty card have?
Eight to ten. Research on loyalty cards found that a ten-space card with two spaces already filled was completed more often than an eight-space blank card, even though both needed eight visits.
Can an appointment card be the back of my business card?
Yes, and it is common. Print the appointment lines on a matte or uncoated back so a pen writes cleanly.
How fast can these cards be printed?
Standard turnaround is two to three business days after proof approval, and rush is 24 to 48 hours on most cards. Delivery anywhere in Manhattan is free.
See stocks, sizes and finishes on our business card printing page, and our guide to card stocks for how the point weights compare.
Need this printed? We are at 40 Wall Street, and we deliver free anywhere in Manhattan.