A café loyalty card is a digital stamp card that a guest saves to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet and that rewards them for coming back, for example with a free tenth coffee. A café launches it without a new till and without an app of its own: the guest scans a QR code on the table, and staff add a stamp by scanning the card on the guest's phone with their own phone.

This guide covers the whole way, from choosing the reward to the first message to your guests.

Why a café needs a loyalty card

Most of what a café takes does not come from passers-by, but from guests who come back regularly. A loyalty card gives them a reason to choose you again tomorrow morning, and not the café across the street.

A paper stamp card only does half the job. It gets lost or left at home, and it tells you nothing: you don't know how many regulars you have or who has stopped coming. A digital card is always on the phone the guest takes out to pay anyway, and the visit data stays with you.

What a wallet pass is and how it works is explained in What is a wallet pass?. Everything about the program for cafés is on the Walletap Loyalty for cafés page.

What you need before you start

• A phone or tablet with a camera, your own or the business's.
• Internet at the venue.
• The café's logo and colours, or its Instagram, Facebook or web page.
• A decision on the reward: what the guest gets, and after how many stamps.

You don't need a new till, a new app or a new device.

Step 1: Choose the reward and the number of stamps

This is the most important decision in the whole program. Three rules:

• A reward after 5 to 10 stamps. Guests understand "9 coffees, the 10th free" at a glance. Nobody finishes a 20-stamp program, so nobody starts one either.
• Give a drink, not a percentage. "The tenth coffee is free" is clear. "10% off" is not a reward, it is small change.
• Keep the reward close. A regular should reach it in a few weeks, not in six months.

No two venues are the same, and no program has to be:

Step 2: Create the card

The card carries your café's name, logo and colours. In Apple Wallet and Google Wallet the guest doesn't see a "Walletap card", they see yours.

1. Download the Walletap app to your phone.
2. Personalize the card and choose loyalty.
3. Set the rules: the number of stamps, the reward, and whether the card works at all your locations or only one.

The same design works in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. You can change the rules and the look later, and the cards guests already have update on their own.

Step 3: Put the QR code where guests wait

The guest scans the QR code, taps "Add to Wallet", and the card is on their phone. No app and no password.

Where to put the QR code:

• On the table, not only at the bar. Guests scan it while they wait for their coffee, with no queue behind them.
• At the bar, by the till, on the receipt or on a sticker at the entrance.
• As a link in your Instagram bio, on your Google profile and on your website.
• In a text message, on WhatsApp or on Viber, to guests you already know.
• On an NFC sticker: the guest just holds their phone to it, with nothing to scan.

For guests without a smartphone there is a physical NFC card with your brand. It works in the same system.

Step 4: How staff add a stamp and hand out the reward

Behind the bar nothing changes except one scan:

1. The guest opens the card in their wallet.
2. Staff scan the QR code on the card with a phone.
3. The stamp is added, and the card updates straight away.

Any staff member with access can scan, each on their own device, and it all ends up in one place. If you have an NFC reader at the till, the guest just holds their phone to it.

When the guest collects the last stamp, the card shows on its own that the reward is ready. Staff scan it, the reward is marked as used, and the count starts again. No slips of paper, and no redeeming the same reward twice.

When a QR code is enough and when NFC pays off is covered in QR or NFC? How to choose the right technology for your wallet pass.

Step 5: The first 30 days

The card only works once guests know about it. This is what separates a program that works from one that just sits there:

1. Have staff mention the card once, when guests pay. One sentence, not a sales pitch. A QR code on the table works, but a member of staff who points it out works better.
2. Bring the whole team in. If staff don't ask, guests don't scan.
3. Post the card on Instagram and your Google profile. One link, two new channels.
4. Send the first message in the second week. Guests who are close to a reward come back fastest.

Messages to guests through the card

A card in the wallet is also a channel to the guest. A message lands on the lock screen, with no app and no email nobody opens. For example:

• "☕ One more stamp to a free coffee. See you soon!"
• "🎉 The tenth stamp is yours! The next coffee is on us, just show your card."

Messages are tied to the card: the stamp count, a new reward, an offer that is about to expire. That is what Apple and Google require, and it is why guests don't switch them off. If you've added the café's address to the card, Apple Wallet can suggest it on the lock screen when the guest is nearby, if they've allowed location access.

How to send messages guests actually want, and what GDPR says about them, is in the guide Push notifications from Wallet.

What you see after the first month

On your phone or computer you see:

• how many cards have been issued, and how many regulars you really have;
• how often guests come in, and at what time;
• who has stopped coming, and when;
• which reward gets used the most.

After a month, look at the numbers. If guests collect stamps but rarely reach the reward, lower the number of stamps. The cards in your guests' wallets update on their own.

What it costs

Walletap Loyalty has a free plan with no time limit and a capped number of cards, so you can try the program before you pay anything. Prices for the paid plans are on the Walletap Loyalty for cafés page.

Frequently asked questions

Want to see what your café's card would look like? Open walletap.com/demo on your phone and add a demo card to your wallet, or get in touch and we'll show it to you in person, at your café.