A cafe runs a buy nine get one free card. It costs roughly a tenth of the revenue from every customer who uses one.
Almost everybody who uses one is a daily regular who would come in anyway. The scheme has not changed a single person's behaviour, and it is a permanent discount for the most loyal customers in the business.
Start with what you want to change
Not reward loyalty, which is vague. More visits on a Tuesday, larger average orders, customers returning in winter, or new people brought in by existing ones.
Option one: the classic stamp card
Simple, understood and it rewards frequency you already have. Worth running where the margin is comfortable and the goal is retention against a new competitor.
Option two: a quiet period scheme
Double stamps on the days you need people, or a reward only valid Monday to Wednesday. This changes behaviour and costs you capacity you were not selling.
Option three: an order size scheme
Rewards attached to spending rather than visits. This lifts the average order and rewards the customer who buys lunch rather than the one who buys a coffee.
Option four: a referral reward
Something for the customer and something for the person they bring. Far better value than discounting existing visits.
Option five: a prepaid card
Customers load money in advance at a small discount. Cash in advance, guaranteed return visits, and a commitment that keeps them out of the shop down the road.
The digital advantage worth having
Knowing who your regulars are and being able to contact them. That list is worth considerably more than the discount you spend building it.
Be careful about the data promise
Collecting contact details means saying what you will use them for and honouring it. Anything else damages the relationship the scheme exists to build.
Publish the terms simply
Expiry, what qualifies, whether it works on everything. Complicated rules at a busy counter produce arguments at exactly the wrong moment.
Decide what happens to an abandoned card
Most cards are lost at three stamps and the cost sits with whoever printed them. A digital scheme keeps the progress, which is both better for the customer and the reason people return to finish something they had already started.
Make it fast at the till
Anything that slows a morning queue costs you more than it earns. Simplicity is worth more than sophistication here.
Train staff on the exceptions
The lost card, the card from an old design, the customer who forgot it. A consistent generous answer is worth more than a policy nobody can apply.
Use it to sell beyond the counter
Regulars are the most likely buyers of beans, subscriptions and events, which is the audience described in coffee subscription and bean questions from home brewers.
Keep the practical questions answerable
Regulars ask about hours and holidays constantly, which is the ground covered in opening hours and holiday closure questions.
Borrow from retailers who have refined this
The mechanics and the pitfalls are well understood, as set out in loyalty scheme and voucher questions in retail.
Handle the recurring arrangements properly
Prepaid and subscription models bring their own question set, described in ai assistant subscription business.
Answer the scheme questions without a queue
An assistant that explains how the scheme works, what qualifies, when a reward expires and how to replace a lost card removes a counter conversation from a busy morning. See pricing, run the numbers on the chatbot ROI calculator, and the sector view sits under restaurants.