A digital loyalty card for your hair salon or barbershop

Hair clients are loyal by nature, but they move for small reasons: a stylist who left, a barber closer to the new office, a friend’s recommendation. A barber sees a client every 3 to 4 weeks, a salon every 6 to 10. That’s only a handful of visits a year, so each one counts. A loyalty card gives clients something to look forward to at their next appointment, and gives you a direct line to them when you have free chairs on a Tuesday.

What to reward, and after how many stamps?

Because visits are less frequent, use fewer stamps than a café would. A reward that’s out of reach after a year won’t change anyone’s behaviour.

• 8Free beard trimFor barbers: about 8 months of monthly cuts.
• 5A care treatment or hair maskFor salons: adds value to the next appointment, little extra time.
• 5A styling product of your choiceCosts you the purchase price, not chair time.
• 10Free cutFor barbers with very regular clients.

In a salon, your real cost is time. A free cut is 30 to 60 minutes of a stylist’s chair time, which you could have sold. A product costs you its purchase price. Example: a styling wax sells for €18 and costs you about €8. A client who comes 5 times at €55 has spent €275, so the reward costs you under 3 % of that. A free €55 cut, counted as lost chair time, is 20 %.

That’s why many salons reward products or add-ons, and many barbers reward a beard trim rather than a full cut. Cards can have 3 to 30 stamps; if you change the number, only new cards follow the new rule.

Which card type fits a hairdresser or barber?

The stamp card in Essential covers most salons: one stamp per appointment.

On Pro:

• Pack card: 5 beard trims or 5 blow-dries paid up front. The card shows “Not active yet · pay at the counter” until you tap Activate, then Use 1 at each visit. Since you are holding the client’s money, check the rules with your accountant.
• VIP levels by visits: for example a level after 20 visits that gets 10 % off products. The level shows on the pass and on the scanner.
• Points: useful if your prices vary a lot, from a €25 men’s cut to a €180 colour. Staff type the amount and the client earns points per euro.

How does stamping work during the rush?

A salon doesn’t have a queue at the till in the same way a bakery does. The busy moment is the end of an appointment on a Saturday, when one client is paying, another is waiting to be washed and the phone is ringing.

Scan at reception, at payment, while the client taps their Bancontact card. If you don’t have a reception desk, the stylist scans from their own phone at the chair. The scanner shows a big “+1” and the client’s first name with progress, for example “Yasmine · 3/5”.

• Each stylist on their own phone with the staff role, or one tablet at reception with a PIN login per person.
• Cooldown: 5 minutes by default, so a card can’t be stamped twice for the same appointment.
• Two people, one appointment: a parent and child both getting a cut can each have their own card. If one person pays for both, decide whether that’s one stamp or two.
• Mistakes: the owner or a manager corrects the card in the dashboard with Adjust stamps; the reason and who made the change are logged.
• Reward: when the card is full, the pass says “reward ready” and the client gets a notification. At the next visit, tap Claim + add today’s stamp.

Seasonal and occasion ideas

• Late August and 1 September: back to school (the rentrée). Kids’ cuts and parents who want to look fresh.
• Spring: communions and first proms.
• May to September: wedding season. Bridal parties, groom cuts, beard grooming the day before.
• June: end of exams and graduation parties.
• December: party season. Your busiest weeks; announce open slots early.

What to send by push or e-mail

Push messages and e-mails are Pro features, only sent to clients who ticked the news box. They work best for filling gaps in your schedule.

Example push messages:

• Title: “Free slots Tuesday afternoon” Text: “Two chairs free between 14:00 and 17:00. Book your cut on our booking page or call us.”
• Title: “December is filling up” Text: “Book your party cut or colour now. Our last free evening slots before Christmas are going fast.”
• Title: “Your free beard trim” Text: “Your card is full. We’ll do the trim with your next cut.”

Which audience? The built-in “not seen in 30 days” audience fits a barbershop, where 30 days without a visit means someone is late. For a salon with a 7-week rhythm, 30 days is too short, so send to all clients instead.

E-mail idea: an automatic welcome e-mail from your salon’s own address, with your booking link and the products you recommend.

Common objections

“My clients book online anyway.” Booking is how they get an appointment; loyalty is why they choose you again. Fidelia sits in their wallet next to whatever booking tool you use.

“My booking app has loyalty points.” If you’re happy with it, keep it. Fidelia’s card lives in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, sends lock-screen notifications and works whatever booking tool you use or change to later.

“I don’t want to give away chair time.” Then don’t. Reward a product, a mask or a quick add-on, as above.

“Many of my clients are older.” Many already use their phone wallet for boarding passes or cinema tickets. Staff can help them add the card in a few seconds, and the web card works without a wallet app.

What does it cost?

Essential is €29 a month excl. VAT: one location, one stamp card, unlimited clients and scans, the scanner for the whole team and the first QR stand. Pro is €59 a month for packs, VIP levels and push messages to fill quiet afternoons. You can try Pro free for 14 days. A second salon costs €19 a month.

Run a beauty or nail salon too? See the beauty salon page.