Digital loyalty card
The digital loyalty card designed for physical shops
A card in your name, in your customers' phones. They add it by scanning a QR code at the counter, you credit their points in a few seconds, and nobody installs an app.
Wallet
Coffee Club
Café Lumière
Customer
Marie D.
The principle
What is a digital loyalty card?
It is also called paperless, electronic or virtual: it is the counter's stamp card, kept in the phone rather than in the wallet. It installs in Apple Wallet on iPhone or in Google Wallet on Android, the apps where your customers already keep their train tickets and boarding passes.
The card carries your logo, your colours, the customer's balance and what they still need to do to get their reward. The balance is not stored in the phone: it lives in your AnkorCard account, and the card only displays it. A customer who changes phone therefore loses nothing.
How it works
How an AnkorCard card works
You create the card
Logo, colours, programme name, points rule and rewards. The simulator shows the result while you set it up.
The customer signs up
They scan the QR code placed on the counter, fill in a short form and add the card to their Wallet.
You credit at the till
The staff member scans the card's QR code with the shop's phone or tablet, and adds the stamp or the points.
The customer is rewarded
When the tier is reached, the reward is confirmed from the scanner. The points are deducted and the operation stays in the history.
Wallet
Apple Wallet and Google Wallet
The same card, the same programme and the same sign-up link for all your customers. The customer's phone decides which app hosts it.
On iPhone: Apple Wallet
Apple Wallet is built into the iPhone. The card appears there with your logo and also shows on the paired Apple Watch. After each visit, its balance updates and a notification lets the customer know.
Nothing to download, not even an update.
On Android: Google Wallet
Google Wallet comes preinstalled on most recent Android phones, and is free on the Play Store. The card is added from the same sign-up form, with your logo and the customer's QR code.
Compatible with Android 5.0 and later versions.
Sign-up
How the customer gets their card
You display the sign-up QR code where the customer waits: on the counter, next to the card terminal, on a table. The same link works on your Google profile or in your Instagram bio.
- The customer scans the code with their phone's camera.
- They give their first name and email. The other fields (last name, phone, date of birth) are up to you.
- A button adds the card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.
- If they delete their card or change phone, they get it back with “Renvoyer ma carte par e-mail” (resend my card by email), or you resend it from your account.
Allow about thirty seconds, while you take payment. The details of the printed code and of each card's code are on the QR code loyalty card page.
Programme
How points work
Three rules to choose from. You set the values, and you can change them after launch.
| Programme | What counts | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp card | Each visit is worth one stamp, whatever the amount | Café, bakery, hair salon |
| Points per euro | The amount of the receipt, entered when crediting | Shop, beauty salon, wine shop |
| Cashback | A share of purchases returned as credit to spend | Businesses that prefer giving credit rather than a gift |
Points do not expire: a balance stays earned as long as you do not change it. To choose between the first two rules, read the guide points or stamps: which programme to choose.
Example
A café's stamp card
- One visit
- 1 stamp
- 5 stamps
- A free coffee
- 10 stamps
- A free pastry
Example settings. You set the tiers and rewards yourself.
Rewards
How rewards work
A reward is a tier: a number of points and what it gives, written exactly as it will appear on the card. You can set several, and the card always shows the next one to reach.
Alongside the tiers, two tools cover special cases. The voucher is given to a specific customer, with an expiry date, and appears on the back of their card while it is valid. Levels (for example Bronze then Gold) identify your best customers so you can write to them separately.
All about points and rewardsAt the till
How the merchant credits points
The scanner is a web page: you open it on the till's phone or tablet, and add it to the home screen to find it like an app.
- The staff member aims at the QR code shown on the customer's card.
- The customer's name and balance appear.
- A button credits the visit. For a programme based on the amount spent, the staff member enters the receipt.
- The customer forgot their phone? Their profile can be found by name in the Customers tab.
Only a staff account logged in to your business's scanner can add points, and each operation is recorded with the name of the staff member who did it.
Café Lumière
Marie
Stamps
7 / 10
3 stamps more before the reward.
Comparison
Digital card or paper card
| Paper card | AnkorCard digital card | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is | In the wallet, or forgotten at home | In the phone's Wallet |
| What it costs | Printing and restocking the cards | A subscription, nothing to print |
| Who can add a stamp | Anyone who has the stamp or copies it | A logged-in staff account, and it is recorded |
| What you know about the customer | Nothing | Their profile, their visits, their last visit |
| Being able to write to them | No | Yes, on their card and on their iPhone's lock screen |
| If the card is lost | The stamps are lost | The balance is kept and the card can be resent |
Sectors
For which types of business?
Any business whose customers come back. The points rule and the reward change from one trade to another, and that is where most of it is decided.
- Restaurant loyalty card
Rewarding the lunchtime regular as much as the weekend dinner.
- Coffee shop loyalty card
Daily visits, and a gesture at the till that takes a few seconds.
- Bakery loyalty card
Small baskets, frequent visits, and a queue that has to keep moving.
- Hair salon loyalty card
Appointments weeks apart, and loyalty built over the year.
- Beauty salon loyalty card
Treatments and products: rewarding the basket as much as the visit.
- Retail shop loyalty card
Very variable baskets, better served by points per euro.
- Wine shop and delicatessen loyalty card
Few visits, high baskets, customers who value advice.
- Another business
Florist, barber, pizzeria: the card suits any business whose customers come back.
Price
How much does a digital loyalty card cost?
With AnkorCard, a fixed-price subscription per location, from €22 a month when paying yearly. The price depends neither on the number of customers, nor on the number of cards issued, nor on your revenue.
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Essentiel | €25 a month | €22 a month |
| Pro | €35 a month | €28 a month |
The first 30 days are free, and we let you know before the end. No set-up fees, no commission on sales.
Compare the plans and their pricesFrequently asked questions
Do my customers have to download an app?
No, and that is the most important point. The card is added to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, which are already installed on their phone, from a simple link or a QR code. No Ankor app to download, no account to create, no password to remember.
Does it work on every phone?
On the vast majority of phones in use, with nothing extra to install.
- iPhone: Apple Wallet is built into the system, there is nothing to download.
- Apple Watch: the card appears on its own as soon as it is on the paired iPhone.
- Android 5.0 and later: Google Wallet, preinstalled on most recent models and free on the Play Store.
- The only exception: an Android phone without Google services, which happens on some imported models.
My customer changes phone: do they lose their points?
No. The balance is not stored in the phone but in their customer account; the card only displays it. From the new phone, they reopen your sign-up link, ask to have their card resent by email and reinstall it with their balance intact.
Is an internet connection needed to show the card?
Not to display it: the card is stored in the phone and opens even without a network. A connection is needed for it to update after a visit, and the phone catches up as soon as it is back online.
I have paper loyalty cards: how do I go digital?
Let the paper cards live on for a few more weeks: the transition finishes by itself once everyone has switched, with no cut-off date to announce to your customers.
- At each visit, you sign the customer up on the spot, in about thirty seconds.
- You carry their stamps over to their digital card from their profile.
- You take back the paper card, or let them keep it while they get used to it.
All the answers are in the frequently asked questions about the digital loyalty card.
Create your card with AnkorCard
Set up your card in a few minutes, then sign up your first customers from the next service. 30-day free trial, and we let you know before it ends!