Choose a stamp card if customers buy the same main product often and at roughly the same price, like coffee at a kafé or lunch at a gatukök. Choose points if the basket varies, cashback (återbäring) if purchases are larger and less regular, and a klippkort or membership if you want customers to pay up front.
The rest of this article shows how to reach that answer for your own shop in Sweden: a decision table, worked examples in kronor, a question checklist and the most common pitfalls.
What types of loyalty card are there?
Small Swedish shops mostly use five kinds.
- Stamp card (stämpelkort). One stamp per visit or purchase, a reward when the card is full. The classic tenth coffee free.
- Points. The customer earns points per krona, for example 1 point per 10 kr, and redeems them for one or more rewards.
- Cashback (återbäring). A percentage of each purchase is added to the card as a balance, and the customer pays with that balance next time.
- Klippkort and prepaid balance. The customer pays in advance, for example 10 lunches or 10 gym sessions, and one is used per visit. Or they top up a balance, sometimes with a bonus.
- Membership. The customer is a member for a period and gets a fixed discount or perk, such as 10 % off every haircut.
The klippkort is an old Swedish habit: the lunch card at the local restaurant, the ten-visit card at the gym, the coffee card at the office café. The kundklubb with a bonus voucher is just as familiar from the big chains. Both work for a small shop too, but they solve different problems.
Which card type suits which shop?
Start with the table, then read the worked examples for the types closest to your situation.
| Card type | Fits when | Typical trades | Instantly clear to customers? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stamp card | One main product, bought often, similar price | Kafé, gatukök, ice-cream bar, car wash | Yes |
| Points | Varied basket and amounts | Konditori, delicatessen, boutique | Yes, if the rules are few |
| Cashback | Larger, irregular purchases | Blomsterhandel (florist), boutique, beauty | Yes, “5 % back” |
| Klippkort | The same service is bought repeatedly, you want prepayment | Gym, lunch restaurant, kafé | Yes |
| Prepaid balance with bonus | Regular customers spending varying amounts | Kafé, konditori | Yes |
| Membership | Ongoing relationship, discount or perk | Frisör (hairdresser), gym, beauty | Yes |
The rule of thumb: the more even the price and the more often the customer comes, the better stamps fit. The more the amount varies, the less fair a stamp becomes, and the better points or cashback fit.
How do you work out what a loyalty card costs?
The key number is the effective discount. The formula in words: the value of the reward divided by what the customer pays to earn it. For a stricter view, count the reward as part of everything the customer receives: the value of the reward divided by the sum of what the customer paid plus the reward.
The effective discount is measured at selling price. What you actually give up is the cost of goods for the reward, which is usually much less.
Notice that a 10-stamp card and a ten-visit klippkort for the price of nine give almost the same discount. The difference is when the money arrives. With a klippkort you are paid today for visits used later.
To try your own numbers, the reward cost tool is linked at the bottom of this page.
Which questions decide the choice?
Go through this list before you decide.
- Do most customers buy the same main product every time?
- Do purchases sit in a fairly narrow price range, for example 35–60 kr?
- Do your regulars come at least weekly, or a few times a year?
- Does the basket range from 50 kr to 500 kr?
- Do you want to reward the visit or the amount spent?
- Do you have a service sold repeatedly that could be sold as a pack?
- Do you want money up front, and are you ready to keep track of what you owe customers?
- Can staff explain the rule in one sentence at the till?
- What effective discount can your margin take?
Yes to the first two almost always means a stamp card. Yes to the varied basket points to points or cashback. Yes to packs and prepayment points to a klippkort or prepaid balance.
Can you combine several card types?
Yes, and it often makes sense. Some combinations that work well together:
- Kafé: a stamp card on coffee for everyone, plus a ten-coffee klippkort for office regulars who prefer to pay ahead.
- Frisör: a membership with a discount on haircuts, plus stamps on products like shampoo.
- Konditori: points on everything in the display, plus a separate seasonal stamp card for semlor or Friday buns.
- Gym: a klippkort for drop-in visitors and a membership for people who train regularly.
Keep the number of cards low. Two cards with clear purposes work; five confuse both customers and staff.
In Fidelia, one stamp card is included in Essential (299 kr a month excl. moms). Points, cashback, membership, prepaid balance and packs, plus several cards at once, are part of Pro (599 kr a month excl. moms). For points, cashback and balances, staff type the purchase amount on a till-style keypad, and the card in the customer’s wallet updates within seconds.
How do VIP levels work?
VIP levels group customers by how much they buy and give your best customers something extra. That could be a higher cashback rate, a bigger reward or a simple perk like a free extra on their coffee.
Levels can be based on number of visits or, for points, cashback and prepaid balances, on how much the customer has spent. Three levels are plenty, and Fidelia Pro lets you set up to three.
Include the VIP perk in your effective discount. If the gold level gives 8 % cashback instead of 5 %, then 8 % is what applies to your best customers, and they bring in a large part of your revenue.
Which pitfalls should you avoid?
The reward is too far away. A 20-stamp card for one coffee is a 5 % discount and takes months to fill. Many customers give up before then. If you want more boxes, make the reward bigger in step.
Stamps on varying amounts. If one stamp is given per purchase regardless of amount, customers learn to split purchases or buy the cheapest item. Switch to points or cashback, or set a minimum amount per stamp.
Cashback that is too low. 1 % on a 300 kr bouquet is 3 kr. Fair, but it feels like nothing. Fewer, clearer rewards beat tiny ones.
Too many rules. “Double points on Tuesdays except public holidays” is hard for staff and easy to get wrong. A rule that fits in one sentence works best.
Staff doing it differently. Decide whether it is one stamp per visit or per item, and whether group orders count. Write it on a note by the till.
Do not change the rules midway. Customers with seven stamps out of ten do not like hearing the card now needs twelve. Let cards in progress finish on the old terms.
How do you get started?
- Pick a card type using the table and checklist above.
- Work out the effective discount and compare it with your margin.
- Write the rule in one sentence and teach it to your staff.
- Launch one card and review it after a few months.
- Add a second card only when you see a clear need.
If in doubt, a stamp card is almost always a good start. It is easy to understand, easy to calculate and customers recognise it. For how digital cards work in the phone wallet, read the complete guide to digital loyalty cards, and for costs, what a digital loyalty card costs in Sweden. The plans are on the pricing page.