A digital loyalty card for your restaurant

A restaurant guest spends €20 to €60 a head but might only come back once a month, or once a season. In between, they get suggestions from friends, delivery apps and every new place that opens in your neighbourhood. Loyalty in a restaurant is about staying on the list of places someone thinks of when they decide where to eat. A card in their phone, plus a message when the mussels are back, keeps you on that list.

What to reward, and after how many stamps?

With a high ticket and fewer visits, use fewer stamps and choose a reward that feels like hospitality, not a discount.

• 5Dessert of the houseThe classic restaurant reward. Costs little, ends the meal well.
• 6Aperitif for the tableA glass of cava or a house cocktail, or a non-alcoholic version.
• 8A starter on usWorks well for a menu with a strong starter.
• 10Free plat du jourFor lunch regulars only: weekday lunch, one person.

Here is an example calculation. A dessert sells for €9 and costs you about €2 in ingredients. A guest who pays for two at an average €70 a visit has spent €350 after 5 visits. The free dessert costs €2, under 1 % of that. A free meal for two, by comparison, would cost you around €20 in ingredients plus a table on a busy night.

The number of stamps can be anything from 3 to 30. For an evening restaurant, 5 or 6 is realistic. For a lunch place with weekday regulars, 10 works. Changing the number later only affects new cards.

Which card type fits a restaurant?

The stamp card in Essential works for most restaurants: one stamp per visit, paid by the guest who shows the card.

On Pro you have more options:

• Cashback, for example 5 % of each bill to a balance the guest spends on a later visit with “Pay with balance”. Staff type the bill amount on the scanner. It rewards bigger tables more than a stamp does.
• Points, with up to 6 rewards at different levels, if you want a dessert at a low level and a bottle of wine at a high one.
• Pack card for lunch regulars: 10 weekday lunches paid up front, staff tap Use 1 each time. You hold their money, so ask your accountant how to handle it.
• VIP levels by visits, for example a “regular” level after 15 visits. It appears on the pass and on the scanner, so the floor staff know who they’re serving.

How does stamping work during the rush?

The lunch rush, 12:00 to 13:30, is when office regulars come for the plat du jour and want to be back at their desk on time. In the evening the pace is slower, but the bill still comes at a busy moment.

Scan at payment. When the guest pays at the table with the mobile terminal, or at the counter, they hold up their pass and the waiter scans it with the scanner phone, or the restaurant’s own phone at the bar. The screen shows “+1” with the guest’s first name and progress, for example “Julie · 3/5”. If you want to thank them by name on the way out, now you can.

• Several waiters: each can scan from their own phone with an e-mail invite, or share one phone at the bar with a PIN login.
• One bill, one stamp: the person who pays gets the stamp. The 5-minute default cooldown stops a second scan on the same card.
• Reward: when the card is full the guest gets a lock-screen notification. At the next visit, staff tap Claim + add today’s stamp: dessert is on the house and today’s visit starts card 2.
• Mistake: the owner or a manager corrects the card in the dashboard with Adjust stamps; the reason and who made the change are logged.

Seasonal and occasion ideas

• Mussels season, September to February: moules-frites is back on the menu. Tell your regulars.
• Autumn game season: a short game menu is a good reason for a message.
• May: asparagus season, asperges à la flamande.
• Restaurant weeks in spring and autumn: new guests who might come back. Put the QR stand on the table or at the cash desk.
• December: Christmas and New Year menus, with pre-booking deadlines.
• Quiet Tuesday or Wednesday evenings: the moment to fill tables with a message to people who haven’t been in for a while.

What to send by push or e-mail

Push messages and e-mails are Pro features. They only reach guests who ticked the news box when they joined. For a restaurant, one to two messages a month is plenty.

Example push messages:

• Title: “The mussels are back” Text: “Moules-frites from today until February. Marinière, white wine or garlic: book your table or just walk in.”
• Title: “New menu tonight” Text: “Our autumn menu starts this evening, with game and wild mushrooms. Tables free from 19:00.”
• Title: “A quiet Tuesday?” Text: “We still have tables tonight. Your dessert is on us if your card is full.” Send to the “reward waiting” audience.

E-mail idea: the “not seen in 30 days” automation, sent from your restaurant’s own address, with the new seasonal menu and a photo. Replies land in your dashboard inbox, so a guest can answer to ask about a table.

The Google review invite works on any plan: after a guest’s first visit, one e-mail asks for a review. It goes once per guest, only to people who opted in, and never with a reward attached.

Common objections

“We’re not fast food.” Neither is the card. A dessert or aperitif after five visits reads as hospitality. The card looks like your restaurant, with your logo and colours.

“Our guests don’t want to download an app.” They don’t need to. They scan the QR code on your counter stand, type a first name and an e-mail and add the card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

“The bill is already a busy moment.” The scan happens while the card terminal processes the payment. It takes about two seconds.

“Expats and tourists won’t understand a French card.” The card follows the guest’s phone language: French, Dutch or English.

What does it cost?

Essential is €29 a month excl. VAT: one location, one stamp card, unlimited guests and scans, and the first QR stand included. Pro is €59 a month and adds cashback, packs, VIP levels, push messages and e-mails from your own address. You can try Pro free for 14 days. For a restaurant that wants to bring guests back with seasonal menus, Pro is usually worth it.

For a pizzeria with takeaway, see the pizzeria page. If you mostly serve drinks, the bar and pub page is closer.