Seven steps to a loyalty program that brings customers back
Pick the form that fits your business, decide on the reward and put the card on your customer's phone. You need no app built and no discounts given away.
What is a loyalty program?
A loyalty program is a standing deal with your customer: they come back and collect something for it. The collecting runs on a stamp, a point, a level or a fixed monthly amount. At enough stamps they get their reward. That turns coming back into a habit instead of a chance decision.
For a small business this works because you already know your customers. Winning a new customer costs five to twenty five times as much as bringing an existing one back, and according to Bain five percent more customers who stay already means twenty five percent more profit.
And you see who drops off. A paper card tells you nothing, but a card in the wallet shows who has not come in for six weeks and how many stamps they still need. You send one message about that, and that message is often enough.
Four forms, which one fits you
Look at how often your customer comes now, then pick the form.
| Form | How it works | Fits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stamp card | One stamp per visit, full at ten | Businesses customers visit often, like a cafe | Pick a reward your margin can carry |
| Points | One euro is one point, points become credit | Shops with big differences per receipt | Keep the maths simple or nobody joins in |
| Levels | More visits means a higher tier with more perks | Businesses with costly treatments, like a jeweller | The top level has to stay reachable |
| Membership | A fixed amount per month for fixed perks | Businesses with a steady crowd, like a gym | You have to keep delivering value every month |
Setting up a loyalty program in seven steps
- 1
Pick one goal
Do you want customers to come more often, spend more per visit or stay longer? Pick one. A program that tries three things at once manages none of them.
- 2
Pick the form that fits how often they visit
If a customer comes every week, a stamp card works. If they come twice a year, they will never reach ten stamps and you pick levels or points instead.
- 3
Decide on the reward
Take something with high value for your customer and a low cost for you. A free wash, some nail art or a glass of house wine. No discount on everything, because then you teach customers to wait for a discount.
- 4
Decide on the number of stamps or points
Work back from your margin. Over ten visits you give away roughly one visit, so the reward can cost around a tenth of your revenue per customer. At twenty stamps nobody starts.
- 5
Put the card on your customer's phone
The card goes into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, next to their bank card. They scan your QR code and tap add once. No app and no password, so you lose nobody at the download.
- 6
Launch at the till, not on social media
Ask at checkout, every customer, for two weeks. One sentence is enough: shall I put your card on your phone, then your sixth cut is free. A post gets you a handful of cards, the counter gets you all of them.
- 7
Measure after eight weeks how many came back
Look at how many cards you handed out, how many customers reached a second stamp and how many reached the reward. If it stops at one stamp, your reward is too small or nobody is asking at the till.
Six loyalty programs from real shops
See how businesses like yours have set theirs up.
Hair salons
Six cuts, then the wash is free. A customer comes every six weeks, so that card runs for nine months.
See this industryCafes
Ten coffees, the eleventh free. A regular gets there in two weeks, so you see straight away who really comes by every morning.
See this industryNail salons
Six treatments, then nail art on the house. Costs you fifteen minutes and no materials, and your customer puts it on Instagram.
See this industryRestaurants
Five visits, then a bottle of house wine. Works best on your quiet days, because that is when you hand the reward over.
See this industryClothing shops
One euro is one point, a hundred points is ten euros in credit. Credit brings your customer back, a discount at the till does not.
See this industryJewellers
Levels instead of stamps: free cleaning at the first level, an invitation to the private evening at the top.
See this industryThree messages that do the work
You set them once and after that they go out on their own.
Birthday message
On their birthday your customer gets a message with a small treat attached, a free coffee for instance, valid for fourteen days. Hardly anyone says no to a reason to drop by.
We miss you
If a customer stays away longer than usual, say eight weeks, a message goes out automatically with a reason to come back. You do not have to track who has gone quiet.
Two stamps to go
When your customer is close to the reward they get a nudge: two more stamps and your cut is free. That is the moment they book the next visit instead of putting it off.
What does a loyalty program cost?
Testing is free. You create an account without a credit card and put your card on three phones, your own and two team members' for instance. That way you see exactly how the card looks in a customer's wallet before you pay anything.
When you go live you pick a plan of 54, 104 or 249 euros per month excluding VAT, and every plan starts with 14 days free. Pay yearly and you pay for ten months instead of twelve. An extra location or an extra scanner you buy on top.
The real cost is the rewards themselves. Count on eight to twelve percent of the revenue from the customers who take part. If a cut costs 35 euros and after six cuts you give away a 10 euro wash, you are at five percent and you keep room to spare.
Frequently asked questions
What is a loyalty program?
A loyalty program is a deal where your customer collects something by coming back. Every visit earns a stamp, a point or a higher tier, and at enough collecting they get their reward. The point is not giving a discount, it is turning coming back into a habit. The card sits on their phone, in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
What are examples of a loyalty program?
Ten coffees and the eleventh free at a cafe. Six cuts and then the wash free at a hair salon. Six nail treatments and then nail art on the house. Five restaurant visits and a bottle of house wine. At a clothing shop one euro is one point and a hundred points is ten euros in credit. At a jeweller levels work better than stamps.
What forms of loyalty program are there?
Four. The stamp card, where every visit earns a stamp. Points, where your customer collects per amount spent. Levels, where more visits give more perks. And membership, where your customer pays a fixed amount per month for fixed perks. How often your customer comes decides which form fits.
How do you set up a loyalty program?
Pick one goal, pick the form that fits how often they visit and decide on the reward. Then work the number of stamps back from your margin. Put the card on your customer's phone, ask everyone at the till for two weeks, and after eight weeks look at how many customers came back. With Beepify your card is ready in five minutes.
What does a loyalty program cost?
Testing is free with three phones and no credit card. When you go live a plan costs 54, 104 or 249 euros per month excluding VAT, and every plan starts with 14 days free. Yearly you pay for ten months. On top of that, count on eight to twelve percent of the revenue from participating customers for the rewards themselves.
Does a loyalty program work without an app?
Yes. The card goes into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and those are already on every phone. Your customer scans your QR code and taps add once. No app, no password, no account. You scan with the phone you already have, or with the Beepify app on one device behind the counter.
Read on
Loyalty program examples: 12 that really work
Twelve programs from real shops, with the number of stamps, the reward and what it cost the owner.
Read the articleSetting up a loyalty program in 7 steps
From goal to reward to the first week at the till, with the maths behind the number of stamps.
Read the articlePut your loyalty program on the counter today
Make your card in five minutes, print the QR code and ask at checkout. Testing is free with three phones.