Loyalty reward software for independent retailers and cafés: what to look for

"Loyalty software" covers everything from a five-franc-a-month Wallet pass to a marketing suite for chains. An independent retailer or a café needs neither: it needs a tool that recognises regulars, rewards them fairly, and tells it what is going on. Here are the seven things to check, in the order they matter.

1. Points on the amount, or stamps on the visit

This is the decision that changes your results the most. A stamp is worth the same for an espresso and for a 120-franc basket. Points credited on the amount reward your good customers for what they actually spend, and the average basket follows. Look at how points expire too: in batches, on dates nobody works out in their head, or one date per customer that every visit pushes back.

2. The gesture at the counter, and what the till can do

Count the seconds. A two-second scan when paying is acceptable; a form is not. If you run a POS like Lightspeed, look for a native integration: points go out at payment, nobody at the counter types anything, and a refund adjusts the points on its own. If your POS is not integrated, check that the phone or tablet at the counter is enough, with no device to buy.

3. What the customer has to hand over

A form at the till kills sign-up. A boutique like Aïfé in Lausanne builds loyalty without ever asking for an address: the customer installs the app, scans, done. Check who sees the data too: you should see your visits and amounts, not your customers' identities, and nobody else should see yours.

4. Messages that send themselves

Without a marketing team, a tool that waits for you to write campaigns will send nothing. Look for automatic messages: the customer told when a reward is close and when it is ready, the Google review request after a visit, news of something new sent to customers in the neighbourhood. You write what you want to say; the software picks the moment.

5. Google reviews

For a local business, the Google listing weighs more than the website. Good software asks for the review on your behalf, at the right moment, and separates in its dashboard the reviews that came on their own from those that followed a request. Avoid any tool that suggests offering something in exchange for a review: Google forbids it.

6. The network

A programme your customers already have for the café next door fills up from day one. A programme you alone use fills up at the pace of your counter. That is what separates a network app, like Badger in French-speaking Switzerland with its 250 businesses, from an app per shop.

7. What you will actually see in the dashboard

Ask to see the screen before signing. Three things must be there without any calculation on your part: who comes back and how often, what a loyal customer spends compared with a passer-by, and the effect of your rewards. If the dashboard shows "impressions" and "views", it is not loyalty software, it is an advertising tool.

The checklist

• Points on the amount, with a readable expiry rule
• Two seconds at the counter, or zero with a connected till
• Nothing for the customer to fill in
• Automatic messages: reward, review, news
• Google review requests that follow Google's rules
• Customers who already have the tool
• A dashboard that talks about visits and amounts

If your business is in French-speaking Switzerland, book a twenty-minute demo: you will see the dashboard with your own figures.