Ten stamps, one free coffee, no idea who
The stamp card is a small piece of card and a rubber stamp by the till. In the rush, the stamp gets missed, or a friendly barista gives two for one. Regulars have three half-full cards in different coat pockets. One customer shows up with a full card that looks suspiciously crisp, and the ink is a slightly different shade of green. You give the free coffee anyway, because arguing at 8am is not worth it.
At the end of the year you have given away a lot of free coffees, and you know nothing about who got them. You cannot tell whether the loyalty scheme brings people back more often or just rewards people who were coming anyway.
Where paper stamps fall down
- Cards get lost, so customers start again and feel short-changed.
- Stamps depend on the barista remembering, which is hard in a queue.
- Stamps can be copied or given out too generously.
- You have no record of who your regulars are or how often they visit.
- You cannot contact loyal customers about a new blend, longer hours or a closure day.
Many loyalty apps exist, but some require customers to download yet another app, and some sit outside your till, so staff have to scan a code and ring up the sale separately.
The quiet cost of a scheme you cannot see
Loyalty free drinks cost you ingredients and cups. That is fine if the scheme brings people back. With paper cards you have no way of knowing whether it does. Missed stamps annoy regulars. Generous stamping costs money. And you miss the chance to spot a regular who has stopped coming, which is often the first sign a competitor has opened nearby.
How we build loyalty that works from your till
- Where your till has a loyalty feature or an integration, such as the loyalty options in Square, we set it up properly first. Often this is all you need.
- If not, we build a simple loyalty service linked to your till by API: a customer is recognised by their contactless card, a phone number or a QR code on their phone wallet.
- Stamps are added automatically when a qualifying drink is paid for, so the barista does not have to remember.
- When a reward is due, the till shows it, and the barista applies it with a tap.
- Customers can check their stamps on a simple web page, with no app to download.
- You see visit frequency for your regulars, how many rewards are redeemed and which customers have not been in for a while.
| Paper cards | Till-linked loyalty |
|---|---|
| Stamp depends on memory | Stamp added when they pay |
| Lost card, lost stamps | Stamps kept against the customer |
| Easy to copy | Rewards checked by the system |
| No customer data | Visit history for regulars |
Customers choose to join, and what you collect and how you contact them should follow your own privacy notice and whatever advice you take on it.
The morning with digital stamps
A regular taps her card, the till recognises her, and the stamp is added with no extra step. On her tenth coffee the till shows a free drink, and the barista applies it. You see that most rewards go to a core group who come in several times a week, and that a few long-time regulars have gone quiet, so you send them a note about the new single origin. Staff no longer argue about stamps in the queue.
Is your loyalty scheme like this?
- You use paper stamp cards and a rubber stamp.
- Staff often forget to stamp during the rush.
- You suspect some cards are not genuine.
- You do not know who your regulars are.
- You have no way of contacting loyal customers.