Guide
How to start a café loyalty program
Most café loyalty programs fail for the same three reasons: the reward is too far away, the staff never mention it, and nobody ever checks whether it worked. This is how to avoid each.
· 8 min read
1. Decide what behaviour you are buying
A loyalty program is not a thank-you, it is a purchase. You are paying a discount to change behaviour, so decide which behaviour first. More visits from existing customers is the usual answer for a café, and it is the one a stamp card serves best. If you actually want bigger baskets, a stamp card is the wrong instrument — that is a bundle or an upsell, not loyalty.
2. Choose the reward
The reward should be the thing you are best at, have good margin on, and would be pleased to have someone taste. For a coffee shop that is a coffee. Avoid making the reward a slow-moving item you want to clear: customers read it as being handed the leftovers, and the goodwill you were buying evaporates.
3. Set the target honestly
Work out how often a regular actually visits, then set the target so the card completes in roughly four to six weeks. Daily commuters can carry a ten-stamp card. A weekend-only neighbourhood café should be nearer six. If the maths says your customers need three months, shorten the card — an unreachable reward is worse than no reward, because it teaches people the scheme is not for them.
4. Work out what it costs
A nine-and-one card is a ten per cent discount on the customers who complete it. Multiply your average drink price by the number of rewards you expect to give away each month and treat that as a marketing line. If that number frightens you, the card is too short. If it is trivially small, nobody is completing it and the card is too long.
5. Launch it properly
Pick a date, brief every member of staff on the same sentence, and put the code at eye level where people queue. The single highest-leverage thing in the entire launch is your team saying "we do a free tenth coffee — scan that while I make this". Passive signage converts a fraction as well.
6. Check it after a month
Look at three numbers: how many people joined, what share of them came back at all, and how many rewards were redeemed. Joining is a measure of your counter conversation. Coming back is a measure of whether the offer is compelling. Redemption is a measure of whether people can reach the reward.
Questions
- How many stamps should a café loyalty card have?
- Enough that a regular finishes in four to six weeks. For daily customers that is usually eight to ten; for weekly customers, five or six. The right answer depends on your visit frequency, not on what other cafés do.
- Should I ask for email addresses at sign-up?
- Only if you will use them. Every required field reduces sign-ups, and an unused email list is not worth the customers it cost you to collect.
- How long before I know if it is working?
- Give it a month before judging anything, and two before making changes. Loyalty programmes compound slowly and early numbers are dominated by novelty.
Related guides
Coffee shop loyalty program ideas that actually work
Beyond the tenth coffee free: practical loyalty ideas for coffee shops, and the ones that reliably disappoint.
How many stamps should a loyalty card have?
The right number depends on how often your customers visit, not on what the café down the road does. Here is how to work it out.
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