NEW: "Gift Code/Membership Code" Feature For s2Member Pro #386
Description
@clavaque @raamdev @BruceCaldwell @jaswsinc @ethanpil @Reedyseth
Hi all, I've discovered that A LOT of potential and current customers of s2Member are in high demand of a "Gift Code" feature. What is a gift code feature you ask? Well simply put, it's a way for us, as businesses, to allow anyone to pay for a membership NOW that they can "Gift" LATER, either to someone else or even themselves. IT'S A GIFT CARD :-)! This is not to be confused with a coupon code which is applied at checkout for someone signing up for a membership AT THAT MOMENT. Instead, this is the ability for someone to purchase just a code by itself that can be used later, similar to a coupon code ( or integrated if you like ;-) ) to sign up for a SPECIFIC membership type at a later point. This allows the benefit to the purchaser to say, lock in a price at purchase, which can then be redeemed upon membership sign up later. For us as businesses the benefit is that this will immediately increase sales DRASTICALLY by allowing the static event of membership signup to be enhanced with the dynamic purchase of a membership code that can be activated at a later time in the FUTURE, either for the purchaser or someone else. Thus, you could run promotions such as, "Buy a gift code today for 50% off and activate anytime within the next year for yourself" or "Buy a membership for a friend or relative who is interested in what we offer and send it to them for the holidays". Think of when you go to a store. You can buy an item for yourself, or you could buy a gift card for someone else (or even yourself) to be used later. FOR EXAMPLE: Target is letting customers get 10% off "Gift" cards on Black Friday that they can use later, see image here: http://i.imgur.com/ekO3FG2.jpg The whole gist of it is that if those stores didn't have gift cards (which is where s2Members are right now) they would be losing a considerable amount of POTENTIAL income from those people.
UPDATE: You can further extend the "Gift" code idea by adding a "Gift" card so that not only can you buy a pre determined membership type for a future date, but you can also just buy full dollar denominations that can be applied at a later point ( as opposed to a coupon code, which just takes off a discount at checkout, this allows the purchaser to pay money up front ahead of time! SMART RIGHT?! )
In relation to s2Member here's how I envision it would work (top down design):
DESIGN OPTION 1
Purchaser goes to a page with a registration form.
Radio button allows them to select an option for "Gift".
Purchaser has the option to select how many "Gift" codes they want to buy.
Purchaser only enters THEIR email where "Gift" code(s) can be emailed.
s2Member generates new RANDOMIZED "Gift" code(s).
Upon payment completion, s2Member emails the "Gift" code(s) to the Purchaser.
The Purchaser then has the choice to either forward the "Gift" code to a person of their choice, print it out or use it for themselves at a later date.
With a "Gift" feature enabled in the s2Member Pro Dashboard, you can add a Gift="1" to Pro Forms which will add a radio button to the forms for selecting a "Gift".
DESIGN OPTION 2:
Purchaser goes to a page with a gift form.
Purchaser selects how many "Gift" codes they would like to purchase.
Purchaser enters their email address and makes payment.
s2Member generates "Gift" codes and emails it to the Purchaser.
The Purchaser then has the choice to either forward the "Gift" code to a person of their choice, print it out or use it for themselves at a later date.
The benefit of DESIGN OPTION 2 is that for your team this allows you to simply create a "Gift" code generator that does not have to be integrated into Pro Forms. Instead, these dynamically created codes can simply be entered as coupons which make the price $0.00 for a PRE-DETERMINED MEMBERSHIP and once used can not be used again.
By simply emailing the "Gift" code to the Purchaser, you only have 1 thing to deal with: the unique "Gift" code. This way, even if the Purchaser does not know the email of the person they wish to "Gift" a membership to (because some clients are not very computer savvy), they can simply print out the "Gift" code email and physically give it to the new member (say as a print out inside of a Christmas card or a Birthday card, etc.)
Lastly, we should be able to html style these "Gift" code emails for different holidays, events, etc. with a template that simply has an insert-able [GIFT_CODES] tag and we can build around it with our own style sheets, text, etc.
Hopefully this all makes sense!