A digital loyalty card for your bar, pub or kvarterskrog

A good neighbourhood bar runs on regulars: the afterwork crowd on Thursdays, the pubquiz team that has had the same table for years, the people who come in for the match. In Sweden a pint costs 70 to 95 kr and people go out less often than they used to, so every Friday someone is choosing between your place and the new one down the street. A loyalty card that rewards coming in, rather than drinking more, keeps that choice going your way, and fits Swedish rules on alcohol marketing.

What can you legally reward?

Start with the rules. The Swedish Alcohol Act (alkohollagen) requires “particular moderation” (särskild måttfullhet) in all marketing of alcohol to consumers. A loyalty programme where the reward is free alcohol, or where people collect stamps per drink, is very hard to square with that. Rewarding visits with food, non-alcoholic drinks, entry or merch avoids the question. If you’re unsure, ask the alcohol licensing officer (alkoholhandläggare) at your municipality before you launch. This page is not legal advice.

What to reward, and after how many stamps?

• 8A free bar snack plateChark, cheese or nachos, shared at the table.
• 5Free pubquiz entry for your teamRewards the quiz regulars who fill your Tuesdays.
• 10A free burger from the kitchenFor pubs with a food menu.
• 12Bar merch: tote bag or T-shirtRegulars love wearing their local.

Example calculation: a regular spends around 300 kr per evening. Eight visits bring in 2,400 kr. A snack plate with a food cost of 45 kr is under 2 % of that. Quiz entry at 40 kr per person for a team of four is 160 kr in lost entry fees after five visits, around 10 % of what the team spent in those evenings, which is fine for a slow weeknight you want full. These are example figures.

Cards can have between 3 and 30 stamps. Changing the number affects only new cards.

Which card type fits a bar?

The stamp card (Essential), one stamp per visit, is the right base. Set the cooldown long enough that a card can only be stamped once per evening: the default is 5 minutes and you can change it.

VIP levels (Pro) suit a bar best. Set up to three levels by number of visits, for example “Stamgäst” after 20 visits, and attach a perk such as a reserved quiz table or free entry to events. The new level shows on the customer’s pass and on the scanner as “New level”, so the bartender knows who’s who. Levels and perks are listed on the back of the pass.

Points or cashback by amount (Pro) reward spending more, which in a bar means drinking more. Avoid them for the bar side.

How does stamping work during the rush?

Friday and Saturday nights at the bar are not the time for anything slow. Scan once, either at the first order of the evening or when the round is paid. The person who pays shows their card; the bartender scans it with the bar phone, and the screen shows “+1” and “Oskar · 6/8”.

• Bar phone: one phone on a stand by the card terminal, logged in with a PIN, so any bartender can scan. Staff accounts only open the scanner.
• One stamp per evening: set a long cooldown, so a second scan the same night is blocked.
• Wrong customer: the owner or a manager corrects the card in the dashboard with Adjust stamps; the reason and who made the change are logged.
• Reward ready: the pass shows it on the customer’s phone. Tap “Mark as claimed” when the snack plate goes out, or “Claim + add today’s stamp” to also count tonight.

The scanner needs internet; keep it on the bar Wi-Fi, not the guest network that drops when the place is full.

Seasonal and occasion ideas

• Every week: pubquiz night, trubadur evening, afterwork on Thursday or Friday.
• Football and hockey: Allsvenskan, SHL, the national teams, the big European finals.
• Melodifestivalen (February to March): Saturday-night screenings.
• Valborg (30 April): the start of the outdoor season.
• Uteservering (May to September): terrace opening is news worth sending.
• December: julfest for companies and friend groups. Fill the weekdays early.

What to send by push or e-mail

Push messages (Pro) show on the lock screen. Keep them about events, food and atmosphere, never about cheap alcohol. Examples:

• Example · title: “Pubquiz tonight 19:30” · message: “Bring your team. Card holders on 5 stamps get free entry. Tables from 18:30.”
• Example · title: “Big match on the big screen” · message: “Kick-off 20:45. Burgers from the kitchen until 22:00.”
• Example · title: “Terrace is open” · message: “The uteservering is open from today. Come by after work this week.”

E-mail works for the month’s events calendar, sent from your bar’s own address. Once a week is the maximum for pushes, and only for something happening. Only customers who opted in to news receive messages.

Common objections

“A loyalty card without free drinks won’t work.” Regulars come for the people and the events. A quiz table, a snack plate and a stamgäst level are rewards they talk about, and you stay within the moderation rule.

“It’s too loud and busy for scanning.” It’s one scan per customer per evening, two seconds at payment, with the phone fixed by the terminal.

“People will share cards.” The cooldown blocks repeat stamps on one card, and each stamp records the bartender, location and device.

“My customers won’t give their details in a bar.” They give a first name and an e-mail, nothing else, and news is opt-in.

What does it cost?

Essential costs 299 kr a month for one bar with a stamp card, unlimited customers and scans. Pro costs 599 kr a month and adds VIP levels, push messages for quiz and match nights, and e-mails, which is where a bar gets most value. Pro has a 14-day free trial. Prices are excl. VAT.