Guide
Tiered loyalty programmes for your best regulars
A tiered loyalty programme gives customers a named level, such as Silver or Gold, once they have been coming back for a while, often with a reward at each level. On NextStamp, tiers sit on top of the stamp card. Customers keep filling cards as usual, and every stamp also counts toward a lifetime total; pass the number you set and they reach the tier, earn its reward and wear its badge.
Tiers suit places with a core of regulars who visit for months or years, where the card alone stops feeling special after the fifth free coffee.
How tiers work in NextStamp
- 1
Name the tier and set its threshold
Give the tier a name and the number of lifetime stamps that reaches it, for example Gold at fifty.
- 2
Attach a reward if you like
Add a reward customers get when they reach the tier, such as a free cake, with its own expiry. The loyalty reward ideas guide has more that suit a tier.
- 3
Customers move up with their next stamp
Anyone already past the threshold when you add the tier reaches it with their next stamp, so long-standing regulars are recognised straight away.
- 4
Retire a tier when it has run its course
Nobody new reaches a retired tier, and everyone who already has it keeps the badge and any reward they earned.
Stamp card or tiers: what each one counts
| Compared | The stamp card | Tiers |
|---|---|---|
| What it counts | Stamps on the current card | Every stamp the customer has collected |
| After the reward | A fresh card starts | The tier stays, and the count keeps going |
| How often it rewards | Every time the card fills | Once, when the tier is reached |
| Best at | Bringing people back soon | Recognising people who have come back for years |
Designing tiers that feel earned
Two or three tiers are plenty
More levels than that are hard to remember at a counter, for staff and customers alike.
Space them against the card
On a ten-stamp card, tiers at thirty and a hundred lifetime stamps give newer regulars something within reach and loyal ones something to aim for.
Name them like your place
Regular, Local and Family can suit a café better than precious metals. The name appears on the customer’s card and at the till.
Let the badge do some of the work
Staff see the tier on the till when a request comes in, which makes it easy to greet a long-standing regular like one.
Where customers see their tier
The tier name sits next to the card on the customer’s phone, and the till shows it on the customer’s card while staff approve a stamp. Before anyone joins, the card’s rules list each tier and how many stamps reach it.
Questions, answered
What is a tiered loyalty programme?
A programme where customers reach named levels by coming back over time, with rewards or recognition at each level. On a stamp card, the level is usually set by lifetime stamps.
How many tiers should a small business have?
Two or three. Enough for a newer regular to reach one within a few months, and for your most loyal customers to have something longer to aim for.
Can customers lose a tier?
No. Once a customer reaches a tier on NextStamp, they keep it, even if a stamp is later taken back or the tier is retired.
Can I add tiers to a card customers already use?
Yes. Customers already past the threshold reach the tier with their next stamp, and everyone else gets there as they collect.
Do tiers replace the stamp card?
No. The card keeps rewarding each full set of stamps, and tiers add longer-term recognition on top.
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