How to create a loyalty card for your business (step by step)

What you need to get started (spoiler: nothing technical)

Working out how to create a loyalty card for your business is simpler than it looks. You don't need your own app, a developer or new hardware on the counter. You need three things:

• A clear idea of the reward and what it actually costs you.
• Your logo (a photo of your shop sign will do if you don't have the file) and one or two brand colors.
• A phone at the counter so your staff can scan customers' cards.

Customers don't need anything special either. The card goes into Apple Wallet (iPhone) or Google Wallet (Android), the wallets already on their phones. For how each one works, see our Apple Wallet loyalty card and Google Wallet loyalty card guides.

Still torn between cardboard and digital? Read paper punch card vs digital first. This guide assumes you've decided.

Step 1: choose the card type

Not every business should run a punch card. The right type depends on how your customers buy:

The quick rule: if people buy the same thing each time, use stamps; if the ticket varies a lot, use points. There are worked examples in points vs stamps vs cashback.

Stampaz lets you run several cards at once (say, a coffee punch card and a gift card), but start with one. Two cards on day one confuse customers and staff.

Step 2: set the rule and the reward (do the math)

This is where a program wins or loses. A stingy reward doesn't motivate; an overly generous one eats your margin. Run the numbers before you print anything.

Work out the real discount

Example (coffee shop): 10 stamped coffees = 1 free coffee. The customer pays for 10 and gets 11. The real discount is 1 in 11, or about 9%. And what it actually costs you isn't the menu price but the cost of the coffee, milk and cup: much less.

Example (barber): 6 haircuts, the 7th free. Real discount: 1 in 7, about 14%. If your margin can take it, great. If not, go to 8 cuts or switch the reward to something cheaper to deliver (a beard trim, a small product).

Example (bakery with points): 1 point per €1, 50 points = a loaf and a pastry you sell for €3. The customer gets €3 back for every €50: 6%.

Check the pace

The key question: how long does a regular take to reach the reward? If they come twice a week, 10 stamps is about 5 weeks: good. If they come once a month (barbers), 10 cuts is almost a year: too long. Aim for your good customers to reach it in one or two months.

Write the rule in one sentence

If it doesn't fit in one sentence, it's too complicated. Good rules:

• "One stamp per coffee. Your 10th is on us."
• "One point per €1. 50 points gets you a free breakfast."
• "One stamp per haircut. On your 6th, the beard trim is free."

Step 3: design the card

The card sits in the customer's phone next to their gym pass, supermarket card and bank cards. It has to be recognizable at a glance.

• Logo: make sure it reads small. If your logo is very wide or uses thin lettering, try a simplified version.
• Colors: use your brand color as the background and a high-contrast text color (white on dark, black on light). Avoid combinations like gray on beige.
• Background photo: optional. A shot of your own product (your coffee, your bread, your shop) beats stock imagery. Keep text off it; the card already has its own.
• Custom stamps: in Stampaz you can use your own icon as the stamp (a coffee bean, scissors, an ice cream cone). A small detail that makes the card yours.
• Labels: use your customers' words. "Coffees" beats "Units"; "Cuts" beats "Visits".

One thing paper can't do: change the design and it updates on every phone, with no one losing stamps, points or balance. You don't have to get it perfect first time.

Step 4: the QR poster and where to put it

Customers sign up by scanning a QR code with their phone camera, filling in the minimum and saving the card. It takes seconds. Stampaz generates the poster for you to print; your job is to put it where people see it.

Where it works:

• On the counter, next to the till or card reader. That's where the phone is already in their hand.
• In the waiting area (barbers, salons, restaurants with a wait). Idle time is sign-up time.
• On tables, if people sit down. A small table stand is enough.
• In the window, so people know you have a card before they walk in.

Where it doesn't: behind the counter, two meters up a wall, or anywhere no one walks past. If customers have to ask permission to scan it, you've lost them.

Step 5: how your staff use it

Day to day, your staff do one thing: scan the customer's card with a phone and add the stamp, points or balance. With Stampaz any phone works, with no accounts or apps, and double-scan protection stops two stamps going on by mistake.

Before launch, spend five minutes on this with your team:

1. Everyone does a test run: sign up on their own phone, add a stamp, redeem a reward.
2. Agree what counts as "a purchase": is a takeaway coffee plus a sit-down coffee two stamps? Does a €2 purchase earn one? Decide now, not in front of a customer.
3. Decide what happens if someone doesn't have their phone: usually "I'll add it next time". One clear rule beats different answers depending on who's serving.

The first two weeks: what to say at the counter

The card won't promote itself. The first two weeks decide whether it takes off or becomes a forgotten poster.

The line at the till

Short, with the benefit up front. For example:

• "Have you got our card? Scan this and your 10th coffee's on us."
• "Scan this to save the card on your phone. Sixth cut, free beard trim."

Everyone on the team says it, to every customer, for two weeks. After that it runs itself.

A head start

One idea that works: give the first stamp free on sign-up. A card that starts at 1 of 10 feels closer to the reward than an empty one.

Your first notification

After a week or ten days, once a group of customers has the card, send your first push notification to their lock screen. Make it useful, not generic advertising: "Double stamps this afternoon" or "Pumpkin bread is back this week". The Local plan includes 4 campaigns a month; the automatic messages for each stamp or reward don't count toward that.

Common mistakes

• An unreachable reward. 20 stamps for a coffee when people come once a week: nobody finishes it.
• Small print. "Not valid weekends, excludes offers…" Every exception kills enthusiasm.
• A hidden poster. If the QR isn't visible from where customers pay, it doesn't exist.
• Untrained staff. If whoever's serving can't scan or never mentions it, the card won't take off.
• Notifications at all hours. Messages are a privilege. Annoy people and they switch them off or delete the card.
• Ignoring the data. After four weeks, check how many cards you have and how many rewards were redeemed. If almost no one reaches the reward, lower the bar.

Final checklist before launch

• Card type chosen based on how your customers buy.
• Rule written in one sentence.
• Real cost of the reward worked out (percentage and product cost).
• Pace checked: a regular reaches the reward in one to two months.
• Readable logo, high-contrast colors, labels in your customers' words.
• QR poster printed and placed by the till.
• Staff trained: test run done and agreement on what earns a stamp.
• Counter line agreed for the first two weeks.
• First notification planned for week two.

For trade-specific ideas and examples, see our pages for coffee shops, barber shops, bakeries and restaurants.