Guide
How to start a loyalty program.
A loyalty program is not an IT project. It is three decisions: what members get, how they join, and what you send them afterwards. Get those three right and the rest is admin.
This guide walks through the decisions in order, with European privacy rules built in. All of it works without an app, a card reader or a developer.
1. Do the math on why
A regular buys more often, spends more per visit and recommends you onwards. Winning a new customer typically costs five times more than keeping one you have. The loyalty program is the tool that moves customers from first visit to habit.
Set one goal before you start: share of return visits, member count, or visits per member per month. A club without a goal becomes a discount scheme without direction.
2. Pick the reward model that fits the visit rhythm
If customers buy often and buy the same thing, coffee or lunch, the stamp card is right: “buy 9, get the 10th” is understood in a second. If purchases vary a lot, points or standing member benefits fit better, like a member price or early access.
Pick one model and keep it simple enough to explain across the counter in one sentence. A club that needs a leaflet does not get used.
3. Skip the app, use Wallet
Nobody downloads an app for their bakery. The membership card belongs where your customers already are: Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, pre-installed on every phone. Joining is one QR scan at the till.
The card in Wallet is also your channel: the balance updates on the lock screen, and messages arrive without fighting the spam filter.
4. Stay inside GDPR from day one
A customer club processes personal data, and consent must be freely given, specific and documented. Ask only for what you need, like a name and an email, and say plainly what membership involves.
Make leaving as easy as joining, and delete data when someone asks. A member who could easily leave but does not is the best measure that the club is worth something.
5. Launch at the counter, not on social media
Your first hundred members are already standing in your shop. A stand by the till, one sentence from whoever takes payment, and an immediate benefit for joining, like an extra stamp in the first week.
Train the team on one line: “Want our stamp card on your phone? It takes ten seconds.” The question at the counter beats any campaign.
6. Send reminders, not adverts
Members gave you permission to speak up, not to nag. Send when it matters: when the reward is one visit away, when six weeks have passed, or when a quiet Tuesday needs people.
One good message a month builds the club. Four generic ones a week empties it.
7. Read the numbers monthly and tune the reward
Watch three numbers: new members per week, share of visits from members, and how many complete a full card. If almost nobody completes one, the reward is too far away. If everyone completes one in a week, you are giving away too much.
Change one parameter at a time, and give the change a month before you judge it.
Start simple: one reward, joining in one QR scan, and one good message a month. KORTA is free for your first 100 members, so the club can be live before lunch.
