Loyalty programme: points or stamps, which to choose?

Two reward logics

A loyalty programme answers a simple question: what do I want my customers to do more of? Come back more often, or spend more on each visit? The stamp card pushes the first, points per euro the second.

Neither is more modern. A digital card can carry both, and the choice is made on the reality of your till, not on the technology.

The stamp card

Each visit is worth one stamp, whatever the amount. After a set number of stamps, the customer gets their reward: ten coffees, one free coffee.

What it does well

• The customer understands it without explanation.
• The gesture at the till is the shortest: one scan, one button, no amount to enter.
• It rewards frequency, which builds a habit.

Its limits

• A small purchase is worth as much as a big one. The customer who has one coffee and the one who orders for the whole office get one stamp each.
• A shared bill credits only one card.
• It says nothing about your loyal customers' revenue, since the amount is not entered.

Points per euro

You set how many points one euro is worth. At the till, the staff member enters the receipt amount, and the points are calculated. In AnkorCard, they are rounded down to the nearest whole number: a €12.80 receipt at one point per euro earns 12 points.

What they do well

• They reward big baskets at their true value.
• They suit businesses where amounts vary a lot from one customer to another.
• The amounts entered feed the revenue and average basket in the dashboard.

Their limits

• The amount has to be entered at each visit, which adds a few seconds.
• The customer has to do a calculation to know where they stand, where they used to count boxes.
• A regular customer with small purchases progresses slowly, and may lose heart.

And cashback?

Cashback gives the customer back a share of what they spend, as credit to use on a next visit. It is a variant of points per euro, presented as money rather than points: “5% of your purchases back” is understood immediately.

In AnkorCard, cashback is a kitty in euros shown on the card: you choose the rate, and at the till your team deducts the amount of the customer's choice, up to the balance.

Which programme for your business

The rule below is a trend. Your till will tell you better than this table what holds true for you.

If in doubt, start with stamps: it is the rule your customers will understand without you having to explain it at the counter.

Working out what the reward costs

Before setting a tier, do a simple calculation: what the reward is worth, compared with what the customer spent to get it. It is not a margin rate, it is the share of their purchases that you give back.

The same reasoning applies to points: at one point per euro and 100 points for an €8 dessert, you give back 8% of what the customer spent. This figure tells you whether the programme is sustainable, and lets you compare two settings.

The other half of the calculation is distance. A reward that is too far away motivates nobody: a customer who comes once a month will not wait ten months for a coffee. A modest, reachable reward is better than a generous one out of reach.

One or several tiers

A single tier is clearer. Several tiers give everyone a close goal and the most loyal a distant one: 5 points for a coffee, 15 for a pastry, 30 for a set menu. In AnkorCard, the card always shows the next tier and how far there is to go.

To single out your best customers without multiplying tiers, levels (for example Bronze then Gold) are another way: they do not change the rewards, but let you reserve a message for the most loyal.

Changing the rule along the way

It is possible, but it needs preparing. In AnkorCard, a change of programme does not recalculate balances already earned: the new rule applies to the following visits. Warn your customers with a message before changing the tiers; a reward that moves further away without explanation is the kind of surprise that gets noticed.

The details of the settings are on the points and rewards page.