Creating a loyalty program in your app

GoodBarber's loyalty card is a points card. On each visit to your outlet, your customer validates a point. Once the card is full, they get their gift. You set all of it: the number of points to reach, the validation method, the nature of the reward.

The whole module sits in Business › Loyalty › The cards, where each panel, loyalty card, validation process, gift and club card, has its own Settings button.

The advantage over a cardboard card is direct. Your customers don't lose it, don't leave it at home, and always have it on them since it lives in their phone. So the scheme actually works, instead of eroding with every mislaid card.

Three processes are available, and the right one depends on what you're trying to bring about.

The purchase, validated by scanning a QR code. This is the method to use if you want to validate the point at the till: you make the QR code available, the customer scans it once they've paid.

Manual check-in, based on a geographic zone you define in your back office. As soon as your customers are inside it, they validate their own point. Handy for cafés and busy locations. It's also the right choice if your goal is to increase footfall rather than basket size, since validating doesn't require a purchase.

Sharing on social networks, where the customer validates their point by sharing the URL of your choice. The point costs you nothing in margin and earns you visibility.

In every case, you can impose a mandatory delay between two validations, which protects you from abuse.

The setting is in Business › Loyalty › The cards, Validation process panel, Settings button.

The end-of-card gift isn't your only lever. You also have two types of reward.

Automatic rewards fire on their own, once switched on in your back office. They cover the moments that count: welcoming a new user, filling quiet hours, winning back a customer who's slow to return, or catching the attention of people passing nearby.

Manual rewards are sent when you decide, with their own settings: title, description, reward, expiry date.

Both are set in Business › Loyalty › The rewards, under the Automatic and Manual tabs.

A loyalty program is only worth as much as its reward. Two questions determine it: what is your goal, and who is your customer.

If you're trying to make something new known, give it away. A spa launching a treatment is better off giving a session than a vague discount: the gift then does the promotional work.

If you're after visibility, bet on sharing, and choose validation through social networks.

The value of the gift depends on your model. On small amounts, a coffee for instance, the maths is simple: you set a number of orders after which the drink is free. On a wide range, a single prize rarely satisfies everyone, and a discount is often fairer. It has a useful side effect too: baskets are generally bigger when there's a discount to be used.

The club card works in a different register from the loyalty card: where that one rewards repetition, this one establishes a status. The customer isn't just rewarded any more, they're recognized, and that recognition is kept over time.

Three levels exist by default, Silver, Gold and Premium, and you can create up to six. You're free to change the names, and for each one you define the number of points needed to reach it and to move up to the next.

It's set in Business › Loyalty › The cards, Club card panel, Settings button.

To each level you attach the privilege of your choice: free delivery, a percentage off online or in store, reserved access. That's where a genuinely personalized mechanic is built.

Let's go back to the spa to see how the two cards fit together. With the loyalty card, after 10 treatments the client receives a body oil. With the club card, after 30 treatments, that is 3 completed cards, she becomes a Silver member and gets one free treatment a month plus 5% off the shop. At 50 treatments she moves to Gold: two treatments a month and 10%. At 100 sessions she becomes Premium, with 30% for life on the shop and on treatments.

The back office gives you detailed statistics and the list of your members. That's what lets you adjust: if nobody reaches the next level, it's too high; if everybody reaches it, the reward costs you without producing anything.

The setting is in the same place as the loyalty card, in Business › Loyalty › The cards, Club card panel, Settings button.

There you define, for each level you switch on, the number of points required, the wording of the privilege and a note explaining how to claim it. Take care with that wording: an ambiguously phrased privilege turns into a discussion at the counter when it's time to redeem it. This is also where you change the design of the cards and the name of the statuses.

Both cards reward customers you already have. The coupon is there to provoke an action, and it works as well for recruiting as for retaining. You can create an unlimited number of them from your back office.

Four uses come up most often:

• Generating footfall. A coupon usable in store gives a concrete reason to make the trip.
• Encouraging impulse buying. Once people are there, baskets grow, and a clear promotion sets you apart from the competition.
• Pushing one specific product. To launch something new or revive an existing offer, it's the most direct tool.
• Working on your image. A well-placed discount establishes you as a trustworthy merchant.

The validation method depends on where the sale is concluded.

For a physical shop, the coupon carries an activation button, which you click at the till.

For an online shop, you offer a customizable promo code, which the customer enters when ordering.

The design of the coupons is fully configurable: fonts, background color or image, additional information.

You fill in the title, additional information such as the terms of use, then the validation method and the conditions: validity period, number of coupons available, number of uses per customer.

You can also categorize your coupons, choose a background image and enter the name and address of the shop concerned. The preview appears on the right throughout creation. The link under that preview leads to My App › Structure, where the section's advanced design options live.

Once your coupons are out there, Business › Couponing › My redeemed coupons keeps the log of validations: the customer's photo and name, the coupon, the shop and the date of use. That's where you see what caught on, and with whom.