A restaurant and café loyalty programme that actually brings guests back
Paper stamp cards get lost. An aggregator app awards points to them, not you. Your own loyalty programme — points, stamps, birthday coupons — keeps the guest in your venue and gives a reason to order again.
The most expensive guest is the new one from ads. The cheapest is the one who comes back on Thursday because they are two stamps short of a free coffee. A restaurant loyalty programme works when it lives on the phone, counts itself and does not need a waiter with a pen. Otherwise it is a three-week gimmick.
Why paper and someone else’s app fail
- The card in the wallet is lost, or the guest will “remember next time”.
- Points in an aggregator build loyalty to the platform, not the venue.
- You do not know who has not returned in a month — so you cannot send a coupon.
- Staff have no time to stamp cards at peak, so the programme dies.
What works in hospitality
Simple rules you can explain at the till in ten seconds. Models we typically ship:
- Digital stamps: 9 coffees = 10th free. QR on the receipt or at the till.
- Percentage points on the bill, redeemed for a menu item or a discount.
- Birthday visit: an automatic coupon in a 7-day window.
- Tiers (regular / VIP) for guests who spend a set amount in a month.
- A “come back within 14 days” coupon for people who went quiet.
A list, not only a discount
The programme is the reason to legally collect a phone number and SMS consent. Then you have a cheaper channel than ads: “weekend breakfast”, “soup of the day”, “a table free at 5 pm”. The same list connects to booking and online orders.
An app or a card in the browser?
At the start: a site / PWA the guest saves to the home screen. An Android app once you have hundreds of active cards and want push. We do not force an app download to get the first stamp — that kills conversion.
If you have regulars and no way to keep them — describe the venue and whether loyalty should sit on coffee, lunch or delivery. We will propose a model staff can run on a Friday night, not only on paper.
Frequently asked questions
- Does loyalty have to be a native app?
- No. We usually start with a phone card (link + QR). We add an app when the list and notifications need it.
- How do staff add points at peak?
- The waiter scans the guest code or types a phone number. Points can also land automatically on an online order.
- Can several venues share one card?
- Yes — one card across a café or restaurant group, with per-venue reports for the owner.
- How does it pay back?
- From returning guests and cheaper SMS versus paid ads. One extra lunch a week from a regular usually beats the cost of running the programme.
Describe your project