Guide
How to start a loyalty programme, step by step
To start a loyalty programme, decide what you want customers to do more often (for most small businesses, come back), pick a reward they already want, set how many visits earn it, and make joining quick enough to happen while you serve. A stamp card covers all four, and a small business can have one running within a week.
The order matters. Settle the reward and the number of stamps before you print anything, and brief the team before the first customer asks what the poster is.
Seven steps to a working loyalty scheme
- 1
Decide what you want more of
Usually it’s return visits. That points to a stamp card, which rewards each visit, rather than points, which reward spend and need a till that counts it.
- 2
Choose a reward people already want
Your best seller, or the treatment regulars ask about. It should be something the person at the till can give without calling a manager, and there are reward ideas by trade if you’re stuck.
- 3
Set the number of stamps
Count how often a good customer comes in, and aim for a reward they can reach in weeks rather than seasons.
- 4
Give everyone a head start
One or two welcome stamps make the first visit count and the card feel already under way. The guide to whether loyalty cards work explains why a head start helps.
- 5
Write down the rules
Stamps per visit and per day, how long rewards last, and anything customers agree to. On NextStamp they see all of this before they join.
- 6
Make joining take seconds
Put a QR poster by the till and another by the door. Customers join with their phone camera, and the first scan can already ask for a stamp.
- 7
Brief the team, then launch
Show everyone how to approve a stamp and use a reward. For the first fortnight, mention the card to every customer.
Mistakes that sink new loyalty schemes
A reward that feels years away
If a regular can’t picture reaching it, the card feels like no reward at all. Shorten the card before you shrink the reward.
Rules nobody remembers
If staff need a leaflet to explain it, the scheme is too complicated for a busy counter.
Relying on the poster
A poster on the wall grows a scheme slowly. The person serving saying one sentence about it grows it quickly.
Launching and forgetting
Schemes stall when nobody checks who joined, who came back and who drifted away.
Reading the first month’s numbers
After four weeks, compare how many customers joined with how many have come back since. If lots of people joined but few returned, the card is probably too long or the reward too small, and both are easy to change for new cards.
Look at the days and hours that stay quiet too. On NextStamp, Insights shows repeat visits, rewards used and customers who are drifting away, and a campaign such as double stamps on a slow afternoon can go live the same day.
Questions, answered
How long does it take to start a loyalty programme?
The setup fits in an afternoon: design the card, print the posters and invite the team. Give it a few weeks of asking every customer before you judge how it’s going.
Do I need a loyalty app to start?
No. Customers can join a digital stamp card from a QR code in their phone’s browser, and your team approves stamps on a till screen that runs on any phone, tablet or computer.
Should I tell customers before launch day?
Yes. Mention it at the till the week before, put the window poster up early, and give early joiners a welcome stamp so the first visit counts.
What should the terms of a loyalty scheme say?
How stamps are earned, what the reward is, when it expires, and that it can’t be exchanged for cash. NextStamp shows your terms beside the join button.
How do I know if my loyalty programme is working?
Watch whether customers who join come back, and how many rewards get used. A card that people join but rarely finish needs fewer stamps or a better reward.
Give them a little something
to come back for.
Make a card that feels like your business and put the poster up by the till.
Create your card