How to set up a loyalty programme in one afternoon

Most loyalty programmes in small businesses don’t fail because of the technology. They fail because they never get started: they stay on the to-do list, under the supplier who hasn’t delivered and the payroll that needs closing.

This guide is the opposite: set it up in one sitting, on a quiet afternoon, and start handing it out tomorrow.

Before you start: the only decision that matters

You only have to choose between two models.

Stamps. One visit, one stamp. Complete the card, get the reward. Best when the ticket is small and always similar: cafés, bakeries, set-menu bars, car washes, hair salons.

Points. They accumulate according to how much is spent and are redeemed from a catalogue of rewards. Better when the ticket varies a lot: restaurants, pizzerias, shops, clinics.

If in doubt, start with stamps. They need no explaining and they are easier to pitch at the bar.

Step 1 — Choose the reward (15 minutes)

The rule is simple: the reward must cost you little and feel valuable to the customer.

A free coffee costs you cents and is perceived as €1.50. A dessert in a restaurant costs you just over a euro and is perceived as €5. That is what you are looking for.

Then the number of visits: not so few that you give things away without building loyalty, not so many that nobody gets there.

• Café or bakery: 10 visits.
• Restaurant or pizzeria: every €100 spent.
• Hair salon: 6 services.
• Clinic or physiotherapy: follow-up works better than a prize.

If 20–30% of the cards handed out get completed, you got it right. If almost nobody completes them, you set the bar too high.

Step 2 — Set up the programme (10 minutes)

This is where people expect the worst and where the least time goes. In a tool built for small businesses it is four fields: programme name, number of stamps, what the reward is and your logo.

One tip: the customer will see the programme name on their card. “Free coffee at 10 stamps” works better than “Loyalty Programme 2026”.

Step 3 — Print the poster (20 minutes)

The poster with the QR code is your entire acquisition channel. It goes next to the till, where the customer is already looking while they pay.

Three rules that make the difference:

1. At eye level, not on the back wall.
2. Say what they get, not “Join our programme”. Better: “Your tenth coffee, free”.
3. One per payment point. Two tills, two posters.

Step 4 — Try it yourself (10 minutes)

Everyone skips this step, and it is the one that prevents the most problems.

Scan your own poster with your phone, sign up as if you were a customer, and give yourself a stamp from the counter. Watching the stamp appear on your own screen is what makes the flow click — and from then on you know how to explain it.

Step 5 — Explain it to whoever is behind the bar (15 minutes)

This is where it is decided whether the programme works or dies in a fortnight.

Your team needs to know three things, and only three:

1. What to say: “Have you got our card? Scan there, and the tenth coffee is on me.”
2. What to do: the customer shows their code, you scan it and press +1.
3. What to do if something fails: if the customer doesn’t have their phone, look them up by phone number or email.

Write it on a sheet of paper and stick it behind the bar for the first week.

Step 6 — The first thirty days

Don’t look at the numbers on day two. Give it thirty.

What should happen in that month:

• Week 1: the regulars sign up. They are the ones who appreciate it most.
• Weeks 2–3: they start accumulating. Someone asks how many they need: good sign.
• Week 4: the first cards get completed. This is the moment of truth, when the customer sees the reward is real.

That first reward handed over is worth more than any campaign. Tell people, make a small moment of it at the bar.

The three mistakes everyone makes

Reward too far away. Twenty visits for a coffee is a programme nobody finishes. Lower the bar.

Telling nobody. The poster alone isn’t enough in the first week: someone has to say it out loud when taking payment.

Letting it die. If the team stops mentioning it after two months, the programme disappears. Check it once a month: how many active customers, how many completed cards.

By sector, in one line

• Bar or café: stamps, reward at 10 visits, poster next to the till.
• Pizzeria or restaurant: points per euro, reward at €100, poster on the menu and at the collection counter.
• Hair salon: stamps per service, reward at 6, plus a nudge to anyone missing for three months.
• Dental or physio clinic: less prize, more follow-up; the valuable part is knowing who missed their check-up.

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Frequently asked questions

How long does it really take?
Between an hour and a half and two hours if you do it in one go, including printing the poster. What takes time isn’t setting it up, it’s deciding the reward.

Do I have to change my till or point of sale?
No. The programme runs separately, on the phone or tablet at the counter. If you later want to integrate it with the till, there is an API, but you don’t need it to start.

What if I have two locations?
You can run one programme per location or a shared one. Shared has an advantage: the customer accumulates in both places and perceives a single brand.