Guide
What is a loyalty program? Types and how to start
A loyalty program is a simple promise to your customers: come back, and you get something back. Coffee shops, restaurants, salons and shops have run them for decades with paper cards and plastic cards. This guide explains what a loyalty program is, which types exist, how to pick one for your business and how to start one in Loyever.
What a loyalty program is
A loyalty program rewards customers for coming back. Every purchase or visit earns something: a stamp, points, a bonus in manats or a bigger discount. After a while, the customer gets a reward they value. The business gets regulars who choose it over the place next door.
The loyalty card is the tool that carries the program. It used to be a paper card with rubber stamps or a plastic card with a barcode. Today it can be a digital card in the customer’s phone, which updates itself after every visit.
A good program is easy to explain in one sentence, gives the first reward within reach, and costs you less than the extra visits it brings.
The five main types of loyalty program
Almost every program is one of these five rules, or a mix of them:
- Stamps: one stamp per purchase, and a free item after a set number. “Buy 9 coffees, get the 10th free” is the classic.
- Visits: one mark per visit, whatever the bill. It suits barbers, beauty salons and gyms, where the visit is the product.
- Points: points for every manat spent, at a rate you choose, exchanged for rewards at different levels.
- Cashback: a share of every purchase comes back as a bonus in manats, which the customer spends on a later purchase.
- Tiered discount: a standing discount that grows with the customer’s total spend, for example 3%, then 5%, then 10%.
Which type fits your business
Start from how your customers buy, not from what other businesses do:
- Frequent, similar purchases, such as coffee or lunch: stamps.
- A service every few weeks, such as a haircut or a manicure: visits.
- Baskets that vary a lot, such as a pastry shop or a restaurant: points or cashback.
- Larger, less frequent purchases, such as perfume, cosmetics or clothing: a tiered discount or cashback.
If you are unsure, start with the simplest rule you can explain at the counter. You can add a second card for a different part of the business later, depending on your plan.
Why a digital Wallet card beats plastic and paper
Paper cards get lost and are easy to fill in at home. Plastic cards cost money to print and sit forgotten in a drawer. A loyalty app asks the customer to download one more app, and most people won’t.
A Wallet card avoids all three problems. It lives in Apple Wallet on iPhone or Google Wallet on Android, next to boarding passes and tickets. The customer adds it from a QR code in a few seconds, with no app and no password. After each visit the card updates on its own and shows the new balance, and it can show a short message from you on the lock screen, or appear when the customer is near your shop.
For you, every entry is recorded with the staff member, the device and the location, so you can see who your regulars are and when someone stopped coming.
How to set up a loyalty program that works
A few simple rules keep a program worth it for your customers and for you:
- Keep the first reward within reach. If a customer comes twice a month, they should reach it within two or three months, or they forget the card.
- Work out what the reward costs. A free coffee after nine is roughly a 10% discount; choose a cashback rate or discount levels with the same arithmetic.
- Write the rule in one sentence and say it to every customer at the counter.
- Remind people, but not too often: when they are close to a reward, on their birthday and after a long gap.
- Protect the program from misuse. In Loyever the same card can’t earn again within 30 minutes by default, and a reward is claimed with a confirmation and can be undone for 2 minutes.
Then watch the results: the analytics show how many members come back, which messages work and your busiest hours.
How to start a loyalty program in Loyever
Setting up takes a few minutes, and every plan starts with a free trial:
- Choose the card type and the reward, and add your logo and colours.
- Print the QR code and put it on the counter, the door or the table.
- Staff scan the customer’s card in the browser or in the Loyever Staff app for iOS and Android.
- Switch on reminders, such as a welcome message, a birthday treat or a note after 21 days without a visit.
If you use till software (POS), it can connect through the public API and webhooks on the Pro plan. Without one, the card works entirely on its own.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between a loyalty program and a loyalty card?
The loyalty program is the rule: what customers earn and what they get for it. The loyalty card is where the program lives: a paper card, a plastic card or, with Loyever, a card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
How does a cashback loyalty program work?
A share of each purchase, for example 5%, comes back to the customer as a bonus in manats. The bonus can be spent from the next purchase on, and you can limit how much of one receipt the bonus may pay.
Do customers need to download an app?
No. Customers scan a QR code with the phone’s camera and add the card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet in one tap.
Can a loyalty program be connected to my till software (POS)?
Yes. On the Pro plan, your till software can use Loyever’s public API and webhooks to find members, record sales and hear about rewards. Without a POS the card still works: staff scan it in the browser or in the Loyever Staff app.
How much does a loyalty program cost with Loyever?
Plans are paid monthly or yearly in manats, and every plan starts with a free trial. The current prices are on the Loyever pricing page.