A digital loyalty card for your deli or cheese shop

A deli lives on a few hundred regulars who come every week or two and spend more than they planned: a wedge of aged Comté, a jar of tapenade, a bottle for the weekend. Their basket can be €15 one week and €80 the next, and they could buy most of it cheaper at the supermarket. What keeps them with you is advice, discovery and the feeling of being known. A loyalty card that counts what they spend, and gives you a way to tell them what just came in, fits that relationship better than a coffee-style stamp card.

What to reward, and after how many stamps?

Reward with things that make people taste more of your range. A reward valued at its shelf price but paid at your cost price is generous for the customer and affordable for you.

• A cheese tasting plate for twoAt 150 points, about one point per euro.
• A bottle of olive oil from your own selectionAt 300 points, a product they may then buy again.
• A seat at your next tasting eveningAt 500 points, the reward is the experience.
• 8Free slice of the cheese of the monthStamp card version: one stamp per visit from €25.

Example calculation. With 1 point per euro, a tasting plate at 150 points means the customer has spent €150 with you. If the plate costs you about €6 in cheese and charcuterie at purchase price, the reward is 4 % of what they spent. A bottle of olive oil at 300 points that costs you €9 is 3 %. These are example figures: plug in your own purchase prices.

If you prefer a stamp card, it can hold between 3 and 30 stamps. For a shop people visit every week or two, 8 to 10 is a good range. Changing the number later only affects new cards; running cards keep their rule.

Which card type fits a delicatessen?

This is where a deli differs from a butcher or a bakery: baskets vary too much for “one visit, one stamp” to feel fair.

Points (Pro) are usually the best fit. After payment, staff type the amount on a till-style pad in the scanner; it takes a few seconds and needs no till integration. You can set up to six rewards, from a tasting plate up to a gift basket.

Cashback (Pro) works if you would rather offer a plain percentage, for example 3 % back on everything, which the customer spends later with “Pay with balance”.

VIP levels (Pro) by spend suit a deli well: a “Connoisseur” level from €500 spent with a perk such as first pick of the Christmas hamper slots, listed on the back of the pass. The pass and the scanner show “New level” when someone reaches it.

Several cards (Pro): if you also run a coffee or lunch corner, you can add a stamp card for coffee next to the points card. New customers pick the one they want on the join page.

How does stamping work during the rush?

A deli’s busy times are Saturday late morning and Friday from 17:00, when people stop for apéro things on the way home. Service is slower than at a bakery, because you cut to order and people ask for advice. That leaves time for the scan:

• Keep one phone or tablet on a stand at the till, logged in with a staff PIN. Whoever takes the Bancontact or Payconiq payment scans the pass.
• For a points card, type the amount from the till receipt, then scan. The customer sees the new total on their phone within seconds.
• Typed €84 instead of €48? The owner or a manager corrects the card in the dashboard with Adjust stamps; the reason and who made the change are logged.
• The cooldown (5 minutes by default) stops a customer who pops back for forgotten crackers from being scanned twice.
• When a reward is ready, staff tap “Mark as claimed” as they hand over the plate or the bottle.

In Brussels, your customers may speak French, Dutch, English or something else entirely. The join page and the pass appear in French, Dutch or English depending on their phone language, so nobody has to ask.

Seasonal and occasion ideas

• October to February: raclette and fondue season. Raclette by the kilo, fondue mixes, the machines to borrow if you lend them.
• December: Christmas hampers, corporate gift baskets, cheese platters for New Year’s Eve. Orders need lead time.
• Easter: chocolate from local makers, spring cheeses, a lamb terrine if you make one.
• May to September: apéro season on terraces and balconies: tapenades, cured sausage, rosé, olives.
• Producer days: when a farmer or cheesemaker comes to the shop, invite your regulars.

What to send by push or e-mail

For a deli, e-mail is often stronger than push: you have something to show, and your customers like to read about it. Both are Pro.

E-mail idea: a monthly “New on the shelf” letter with photos of three arrivals and an invitation to the next tasting evening. Use the event template in the block editor, or let AI write a first draft. Replies arrive in your dashboard inbox, which makes it easy to collect sign-ups. In autumn, a second e-mail with the Christmas hamper list and an order deadline.

Push messages are for short, timely things:

• Title: “Mont d’Or is back” Message: “The first Vacherin Mont d’Or of the season arrived this morning. Perfect for a baked cheese evening. Limited stock until Saturday.”
• Title: “Christmas hampers: last week” Message: “Order your Christmas hamper or company gift baskets before 15 December. Pick your price and we fill it for you.”
• Title: “Tasting on Thursday 19:00” Message: “Six Belgian farm cheeses with the people who make them. Places are limited: reply to our e-mail or ask at the counter.”

Only customers who ticked the news box receive messages. Aim for one e-mail a month and a push only when something truly arrives or closes. You can write each message in French, Dutch and English; the main language is the fallback.

Common objections

“My customers come for the products, not for points.” True, and the card does not change that. It gives you their name and an e-mail address with permission to write, which is what you need to fill a tasting evening or sell hampers in December.

“I already have a web shop with its own discounts.” Fidelia only counts purchases in your shop. If most of your sales are online, it is not the right tool. If the shop is the heart of your business, it rewards the people who come in.

“Typing amounts is extra work.” It is a few seconds per customer, after payment. If you want zero typing, use a stamp card with a minimum spend instead.

“Discounts eat my margin.” Rewards at cost price, like a tasting plate or one bottle of oil, cost far less than a percentage off everything. The calculation above is worth doing with your own numbers.

What does it cost?

Essential, at €29 a month excl. VAT, gives you one stamp card for one shop with unlimited customers and the first counter stand. Most delis will want Pro, at €59 a month, for points by amount, VIP levels and e-mails to their regulars. You can try Pro free for 14 days. In Belgium, the first merchants can keep the founding price of €19 a month for Pro, for life.