Set up NextStamp, step by step

NextStamp puts your loyalty card on your customers’ phones. You design the card, print a poster for the counter, and your team approves each stamp at the till. There’s no app for customers to download and nothing to connect to your card machine or till system. For the big picture, see how NextStamp works for customers and staff. This article is the setup, in the order you’ll do it.

How it fits together

• Your business is the account everything belongs to. You’re its owner.
• Outlets are the places customers collect stamps: one shop, or several.
• A card is your stamp card: how many stamps fill it, what they win and the rules around them.
• Posters carry a QR code for each card at each outlet. The till poster sits where people pay.
• The till is the screen your team uses to approve stamps, scan customers’ cards and hand over rewards. It runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer.

1. Create your account and business

1. Go to create your business account and enter your name, email and a password of at least 12 characters, or use Continue with Google.
2. On Set up your business, add your logo if you have one, then your business name, What kind of business?, your timezone and your currency.
3. Tap Create my business.

When your business name makes the kind of business clear, such as “Clip Joint Barbers”, NextStamp picks it for you. Check it: it shapes the campaign drafts NextStamp suggests. Choose the timezone carefully: daily stamp limits reset at midnight there. The currency can’t be changed once it’s set.

Your business opens on its Overview. The first time, the getting-started guide opens with it: how NextStamp works, then the four steps below with a button for each. Until setup is done, the Overview shows the four steps too, with a button for the next one. Tap Guide at the top of the Overview to open the guide again, or Take the tour for a walk round the screen.

2. Add your outlet

Step 1 is Add your outlet. Give it a name customers will recognise, such as the street it’s on, and its address. Add, edit and archive outlets covers the rest, including pinning it on the map.

3. Design and publish your card

Step 2 is Design and publish your card. Tap New card, name it (for example “Coffee Card”) and tap Create and design it. The editor opens with sensible defaults: 10 stamps to fill the card, one stamp a visit and five a day.

Add the reward for a full card, then tap Publish. Customers can’t join until the card is published. Create and publish your first card goes through every field.

4. Print your till poster

Step 3 is Put up your till poster. Once the card is live, its page has a Posters section. Tap Print on the till poster and put it at eye level where customers pay. Print and manage your posters explains the till poster and the window poster.

5. Test it with your own phone

1. Open the Give stamps tab on the phone or tablet you’ll use at the counter. With more than one outlet, check the outlet named at the top, and tap it to switch.
2. With another phone, scan the till poster using the camera app. Create a customer account or sign in, and join your card.
3. The request arrives on the till with a chime. Match the four-character code on both screens and tap Approve 1 stamp.

The customer’s phone shows “Stamp added!”. That’s the whole loop your customers will go through. Stamp requests from the till poster explains it in detail.

This is step 4, Give your first stamp. Once it’s done, the Overview shows Open the till instead of the steps.

6. Invite your team

Open Settings, then Team, and tap Invite someone. Choose their role and the outlets they work at, then send them the link. Staff can approve stamps and hand over rewards at the till; managers can also see customers and correct stamps. Invite your team covers roles and links.

What to do next

• Set stamp limits per visit and per day that suit your trade.
• Decide what a new customer’s first scan does.
• Link your Google or Tripadvisor listing so customers see a Leave a review button. See ask for Google and Tripadvisor reviews.
• When customers start coming back, try a campaign. Bring customers back with campaigns explains the four kinds.