The paper punch card has a good idea behind it: buy nine coffees, get the tenth free. The problem is everything around it. Cards get lost, left at home or washed with the jeans, and the café never knows who its regulars are. A loyalty card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet keeps the idea and fixes the rest.
How a Wallet stamp card works
For your customer, it's three steps:
- Scan. They scan a QR code at the counter with their phone's camera and join with their email.
- Save. With one tap the card lands in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, with your café's name, colors and logo.
- Collect. Every visit, your team scans the card and the stamp shows up on its own. When the reward is ready, their phone tells them.
There's no app to download. The card lives next to their boarding passes and tickets, so it's always with them.
Why it works better for a coffee shop
- Nobody forgets it. People leave cards at home. They don't leave their phone.
- It reminds them for you. Every new stamp shows up on their card, and their phone tells them when the free coffee is ready.
- You see your regulars. How many customers came back in the last 30 days, who hasn't been back in a while, and how many people joined and how many rewards you gave each week.
- Nothing to print or buy. No stamps, no cards, no reprints when you change the reward.
- Harder to fake. Every stamp is recorded by your team, not drawn with a pen.
What you need at the counter
A phone or an iPad. With Zolu Loyalty you scan from the Zolu app on your Android phone, or you connect a register with a PIN so anyone on shift can scan without their own account. If you have more than one location, one account covers up to 10, and each stamp can record which one it came from.
Ideas for your reward
- The classic: 10 coffees, the 11th is free.
- Faster first reward: a free pastry on the 5th visit, then a free drink on the 10th.
- Points instead of stamps: if your tickets vary a lot, points can be fairer than one stamp per visit.
Keep it simple. A reward people can explain in one sentence is a reward people chase. For more reward ideas and how to stamp fast during the morning rush, read our guide to the coffee shop loyalty program.
Switching from paper
Put the new QR next to the register and let your team mention it with every order for a few weeks. If you used another loyalty app, you can import your customers from a CSV file, and they claim the stamps they had at your register.
How to start
Zolu Loyalty is one price per account, not per location, and the first 14 days are free. Create your card, print the QR for the counter and your first customer can have it in their Wallet the same day.
FAQ
Do my customers need to download an app?
No. They scan the QR, join with their email and save the card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. It also works as a web page if they prefer.
What happens if a customer changes phones?
They get their card back with the same email, with all their stamps.
Can I use one loyalty card in several locations?
Yes. One account covers up to 10 locations, and each stamp can record which location it came from.